Lavengro · Chapter
The Landlord's Desperate Scheme explained
The narrator visits the public-house multiple times, finding strength and cheer from the ale.
What happens
The narrator visits the public-house multiple times, finding strength and cheer from the ale. The landlord, once the 'wonder and glory' of the neighborhood, has lost all his money on a cockfight and is deeply in debt to the brewer. He proposes a fraudulent boxing match between the narrator and the young woman he keeps company with, intending to fix the outcome and profit from betting. The narrator refuses to persuade her to fight cross, and the landlord grows frustrated.
Themes in this chapter
Honor and Morality
The landlord's reputation is shattered by debt, and he proposes a dishonest scheme, contrasting with his earlier pride in fair fighting.
Social Class and Gentility
The landlord's respectability is shown as fragile and dependent on financial solvency; he is willing to sacrifice it for money.
Characters to notice
- Lavengro
Visits the public-house regularly, drinks ale, and listens to the landlord's schemes. Refuses to participate in a fixed fight.
- The Landlord
Former pugilist and cockfighting enthusiast, now in debt and desperate. Proposes a cross fight between the narrator and Belle to raise money.
- Belle
Referred to as 'the young woman you keeps company with'; the intended opponent in the landlord's proposed fixed fight.
- Mr. Hunter
Mentioned as having insulted the landlord by calling him an 'old fool' after his financial troubles.
- Tom of Hopton
Referenced as the opponent the landlord defeated in his fighting days, establishing his former reputation.
Key passages
“After each visit which I made to the public-house, I found my frame stronger, and my mind more cheerful than they had previously been.”
Every trip to the pub left me physically stronger and mentally brighter.
Shows the restorative effect of the ale on the narrator.
“Confound my reputation! No reputation that I have will be satisfaction to my brewer for the seventy pounds I owe him.”
To hell with my reputation! It won't pay my debt of seventy pounds to the brewer.
The landlord dismisses his former pride in reputation as worthless in the face of financial ruin.
“I intend that you and the young woman should understand one another and agree beforehand which should be beat; and if you take my advice you will determine between you that the young woman shall be beat.”
I want you and the girl to fix the outcome in advance, and I suggest you let her lose.
The landlord outlines his plan for a fixed fight to maximize betting profits.