Gil Blas · Chapter
The Lady's Treatment from the Robbers—The Vent of the Great Design, Conceived by Gil Blas explained
Gil Blas, having been captured by Captain Rolando's banditti, devises a plan to rescue a noble lady from the robbers and escape the subterranean hideout.
What happens
Gil Blas, having been captured by Captain Rolando's banditti, devises a plan to rescue a noble lady from the robbers and escape the subterranean hideout. He feigns illness to stay behind while the bandits go to Mansilla, then threatens the cook Leonarda for the key to the grate, frees the lady, fills his pockets with money, and flees with her on horseback to Astorga, where they share their stories.
Themes in this chapter
Deception and Appearance
Gil Blas feigns a colic to deceive the robbers, allowing him to stay behind and execute his escape plan.
Fortune and Fate
Gil Blas seizes the opportunity presented by the old negro's illness and the robbers' departure to change his fortune.
Corruption and Morality
The robbers' intent to violate the lady and Leonarda's callous advice highlight the moral decay within the banditti.
Characters to notice
- Gil Blas
Feigns colic to stay behind, threatens Leonarda, rescues the lady, and escapes with her to Astorga.
- Captain Rolando
Leads the banditti, orders the lady to be left in Leonarda's care, and departs for Mansilla with the others.
- Dame Leonarda
The cook who holds the key to the grate; she is threatened by Gil Blas and tied to a table.
- Dame Leonarda
The old cook who babbles to the lady and is forced to surrender the key.
Key passages
“I pretended to have the colic. A lad in the colic cannot help whining and groaning; but I went further, and cried out lustily, as loud as my lungs would let me.”
Gil Blas faked a severe stomachache, groaning and crying out loudly to convince the robbers he was ill.
Gil Blas uses deception to manipulate the banditti into leaving him behind.
“I then took some ropes which were opportunely in the kitchen, and with her assistance tied Leonarda to the legs of a large table, protesting that I would kill her if she only breathed a murmur.”
Gil Blas tied the cook Leonarda to a table with ropes, threatening to kill her if she made a sound.
Gil Blas secures the cooperation of Leonarda through intimidation.
“Day was beginning to dawn when we emerged from that abyss. Our first object was to get as far from it as possible.”
At dawn, Gil Blas and the lady escaped the underground hideout and rode away quickly.
The escape marks a turning point in Gil Blas's captivity.