Phineas Redux · Chapter
The Verdict explained
Phineas Finn is acquitted of murder.
What happens
Phineas Finn is acquitted of murder. The chapter describes his emotional and physical exhaustion following the trial, his interactions with friends and officials, and his desire to return to his lodgings in Great Marlborough Street to be alone. He reflects on the ordeal and his uncertain future, feeling unable to resume his place in the House of Commons.
Themes in this chapter
Justice and Injustice
The chapter explores the tension between legal acquittal and public suspicion, as Phineas feels that officials believed him guilty despite the verdict.
The Cost of Ambition
Phineas's political career is shattered by the trial; he feels he can never return to the House of Commons, illustrating the personal toll of his ambitions.
Friendship and Loyalty
Friends like Mr. Low, Lord Chiltern, and Lord Cantrip rally around Phineas, offering support and hospitality after his acquittal.
Characters to notice
- Phineas Finn
Acquitted of murder, he is pale, haggard, and emotionally drained. He refuses offers of hospitality and returns to his lodgings alone.
- Mr. Chaffanbrass
Collects his papers after the verdict, disregarding his junior counsel.
- Mr. Low
Clasps Phineas by the arm after the acquittal and offers to take him to his own house.
- Lord Chiltern
Supports Phineas after the verdict and offers Harrington Hall for his recovery.
- Lord Cantrip
Visits Phineas in the small room after the trial, expressing sympathy and offering a country house.
- Sir Harry Coldfoot
As Home Secretary, expresses regret for Phineas's ordeal and conveys Mr. Gresham's sympathy.
- Mrs. Bunce
Weeps and offers to care for Phineas when he returns to his lodgings.
- Mr. Gresham
Attends the trial and sends a message of sympathy through Sir Harry Coldfoot.
Key passages
“Thus Phineas Finn was acquitted, and the judges, collecting up their robes, trooped off from the bench, following the long line of their assessors who had remained even to that hour to hear the last word of the trial.”
Phineas Finn was found not guilty, and the judges gathered their robes and left the bench, followed by their assistants who had stayed until the very end to hear the final verdict.
Describes the formal conclusion of the trial with Phineas's acquittal.
“He had conceived that everyone connected with the administration of the law had believed him to be guilty, and none in his present mood could be dear to him but they who from the beginning trusted in his innocence.”
He thought that all legal officials had considered him guilty, and in his current state, he only valued those who had always believed he was innocent.
Reveals Phineas's bitterness toward the legal system and his reliance on true supporters.
“One thing seemed certain to him. He could never again go into the House of Commons, and sit there, an ordinary man of business, with other ordinary men. He had been so hacked and hewed about, so exposed to the gaze of the vulgar, so mauled by the public, that he”
He was sure that he could never return to the House of Commons as a normal member, because the trial had left him too damaged and publicly exposed.
Phineas reflects on the irreversible impact of the trial on his political career.
