Short Fiction · Chapter
The Paradise of Bachelors explained
The narrator describes the Temple in London as a serene oasis from the bustling city, where modern-day Templars—now lawyers—live a life of refined bachelorhood.
What happens
The narrator describes the Temple in London as a serene oasis from the bustling city, where modern-day Templars—now lawyers—live a life of refined bachelorhood. He recounts a lavish dinner among nine bachelors, characterized by conviviality, wit, and decorum, and concludes that this existence is the very Paradise of Bachelors.
Themes in this chapter
Appearance vs. Reality
The narrator contrasts the romanticized, chivalric past of the Knights Templar with the modern reality of lawyers enjoying a luxurious dinner, highlighting the disparity between historical ideals and contemporary life.
Isolation and Alienation
The bachelors' insulated, carefree existence in the Temple is portrayed as a deliberate retreat from the wider world, suggesting a form of social isolation from family and societal responsibilities.
Characters to notice
- The Narrator (Paradise of Bachelors)
The narrator is a guest at the bachelor dinner, observing and participating in the evening's festivities.
Key passages
“Sick with the din and soiled with the mud of Fleet Street—where the Benedick tradesmen are hurrying by, with ledger-lines ruled along their brows; thinking upon rise of bread and fall of babies—you adroitly turn a mystic corner—not a street—glide down a dim, monastic way, flanked by dark, sedate, and solemn piles, and still wending on, give the whole careworn world the slip, and, disentangled, stand beneath the quiet cloisters of the Paradise of Bachelors.”
Escaping the noise and grime of Fleet Street, where merchants worry about bread prices and children, you turn a hidden corner into a quiet, monastery-like lane and find yourself in the peaceful cloisters of the Temple, a haven for bachelors.
The narrator describes the transition from the chaotic city to the serene Temple, emphasizing the contrast between worldly cares and bachelor tranquility.
“But the iron heel is changed to a boot of patent-leather; the long two-handed sword to a one-handed quill; the monk-giver of gratuitous ghostly counsel now counsels for a fee; the defender of the sarcophagus (if in good practice with his weapon) now has more than one case to defend; the vowed opener and clearer of all highways leading to the Holy Sepulchre, now has it in particular charge to check, to clog, to hinder, and embarrass all the courts and avenues of Law; the Knight-combatant of the Saracen, breasting spear-point at Acre, now fights law-points in Westminster Hall. The helmet is a wig.”
The modern Templar has traded his armor for a lawyer's attire, his sword for a quill, and his holy mission for legal practice, now obstructing rather than clearing paths.
The narrator humorously details the transformation of the Knights Templar into contemporary lawyers, highlighting the shift from martial to legal pursuits.
“It was the very perfection of quiet absorption of good living, good drinking, good feeling, and good talk. We were a band of brothers. Comfort—fraternal, household comfort, was the grand trait of the affair.”
The dinner was an ideal blend of fine food, drink, camaraderie, and conversation, creating a sense of brotherly comfort.
The narrator sums up the essence of the bachelor dinner, emphasizing its harmonious and fraternal atmosphere.