Lavengro · Chapter
XCVII explained
In the dingle after the storm, Lavengro, Belle, and the postillion sit by a charcoal fire.
What happens
In the dingle after the storm, Lavengro, Belle, and the postillion sit by a charcoal fire. The postillion, initially suspicious, now believes Lavengro and Belle are runaway gentry from college and boarding-school who eloped to Gretna Green. Lavengro reveals his true background as an educated man who chose a wandering life as a tinker, and Belle expresses her regard for him. The postillion shares his own observations of high life and oratory.
Themes in this chapter
Social Class and Gentility
The postillion's mistaken belief that Lavengro and Belle are runaway gentry contrasts with their actual lowly station, highlighting themes of class perception and the gap between appearance and reality.
Adventure and Roving
Lavengro recounts his deliberate choice to abandon the busy world for a wandering life as a tinker, embracing freedom and adventure over conventional success.
Characters to notice
- Lavengro
Explains his background as the son of honourable parents with a first-rate education who failed in London and retired to a wandering life as a tinker and blacksmith.
- Belle
Sits by the fire with her long hair; she is moved by Lavengro's praise of her heroic nature and sobs, burying her face in her hands.
- The Postillion
A well-made fellow of about thirty, initially suspicious but now friendly; he smokes a pipe, shares his theories about Lavengro and Belle being runaway gentry, and reveals he learned rhetoric from listening to his master's elocution lessons.
Key passages
“I am the son of honourable parents, who gave me a first-rate education, as far as literature and languages went, with which education I endeavoured, on the death of my father, to advance myself to wealth and reputation in the big city; but failing in the attempt, I conceived a disgust for the busy world, and determined to retire from it.”
Lavengro explains that he was well-educated by his parents, tried to succeed in London after his father's death, but failed and chose to leave society behind.
Lavengro reveals his personal history to the postillion, explaining his retreat from urban life.
“I entertain the highest regard and admiration for her, being convinced that I might search the whole world in vain for a nature more heroic and devoted.”
Lavengro declares his deep respect and admiration for Belle, calling her nature heroic and devoted.
Lavengro expresses his feelings for Belle, which moves her to tears.
“What I call a shame is, that some people I have known are not in your place and you in theirs—you with their estates and borough interest, they in this dingle with these carts and animals; but there is no help for these things.”
The postillion laments that the worthy people like Lavengro and Belle are not in the positions of the wealthy, while the undeserving rich are not in the dingle.
The postillion reflects on the injustice of social hierarchy.