# Miscellaneous-Historical explained — Sartor Resartus

> Chapter companion for Sartor Resartus by Thomas Carlyle.

## What happens

The Professor delves into the history of European costume from the Middle Ages through the seventeenth century, describing extravagant fashions and their social implications. He reflects on the transience of fame and the law of progress, using vivid examples such as peaked shoes, bell-girdles, and the mishap of a courtier whose bran-stuffed breeches burst. The chapter concludes with a stark contrast: the simple blanket-uniform of Bolivar's cavalry.

## Themes in this chapter

### Clothing as Symbol

The chapter is a detailed study of historical costumes, treating garments as symbols of social status, vanity, and the absurdity of fashion.

### Historical and Social Transformation

Teufelsdröckh reflects on the law of progress and the inevitable obsolescence of even the greatest figures, using fashion as a lens.

### Critique of Society and Materialism

The extravagant and often ridiculous descriptions of clothing serve as a critique of material excess and societal pretension.

## Character check-ins

### Diogenes Teufelsdröckh

The Professor is the primary voice, offering historical observations and wry commentary on fashion and human vanity.

### The Editor

The Editor frames the chapter, introducing Teufelsdröckh's historical chapters and interjecting with his own remarks.

### Sir Walter Raleigh

Mentioned in connection with his famous cloak-spreading incident; Teufelsdröckh questions the Queen's cosmetic state.

### Napoleon

Cited as an example of how even the greatest figures become obsolete within a few years.

### Lord Byron

Cited alongside Napoleon as a figure who quickly becomes a foreigner to his own Europe.

## Key lines

> the very Napoleon, the very Byron, in some seven years, has become obsolete, and were now a foreigner to his Europe.

Even the most famous and influential people, like Napoleon and Byron, become outdated and alien to their own society within just a few years.

_Teufelsdröckh uses this to illustrate the relentless march of progress and the fleeting nature of fame._

> Vain was the prayer of Themistocles for a talent of Forgetting: my Friends, yield cheerfully to Destiny, and read since it is written.

Themistocles' wish to be able to forget is futile; we should accept fate and learn from what history records.

_The Professor concludes the anecdote of the courtier with a philosophical reflection on memory and destiny._

> The simplest costume, which I anywhere find alluded to in History, is that used as regimental, by Bolivar's Cavalry, in the late Columbian wars.

The most basic uniform I have ever come across in history is the blanket worn by Bolivar's cavalry in the recent Colombian wars.

_Teufelsdröckh contrasts the elaborate historical fashions with the stark simplicity of a soldier's blanket._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/sartor_resartus_se/chapters/vii-miscellaneous-historical
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/sartor_resartus_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/sartor_resartus_se/chapters