# I explained — The Last Man > Chapter companion for The Last Man by Mary Shelley. ## What happens The narrator reflects on the devastating impact of the plague, which has reduced humanity to a few scattered survivors. Society has collapsed, and all human achievements—art, science, politics, and culture—are mourned as lost. The chapter describes the equalizing effect of the plague, where the poor can now inhabit palaces, but death looms equally over all. The narrator's family, including Idris and their children Clara and Evelyn, struggles with anxiety and despair. The chapter ends with a call to abandon England for the more hospitable south, as the island's glory has faded. ## Themes in this chapter ### Grief and Memory The narrator mourns the loss of human achievements—art, science, politics—and the death of loved ones, emphasizing the pervasive grief of the survivors. ### Isolation and Solitude Humanity is reduced to scattered individuals; the narrator describes man as solitary, like Adam expelled from Paradise, wandering a desolate earth. ### Social Class and Equality The plague levels social distinctions: the poor can now inhabit palaces, but death makes all equal, rendering wealth and birth meaningless. ## Character check-ins ### Idris Idris becomes thin and pale from anxiety, suffers from sleeplessness and a slow fever, and weeps in secret over the fate of her children. ### Clara Clara grows in years and remains unsullied by disease, but her mother fears for her future. ### Evelyn Evelyn is mentioned as one of Idris's children, young and blooming, but doomed by the plague. ### Adrian Adrian is referenced in comparison to Idris, as one who spent the vital oil of life early. ### Lionel Verney Lionel is the narrator, observing the collapse of society and struggling to comfort Idris. ## Key lines > Farewell to the patriotic scene, to the love of liberty and well earned meed of virtuous aspiration!⁠—farewell to crowded senate, vocal with the councils of the wise, whose laws were keener than the sword blade tempered at Damascus! The narrator bids goodbye to patriotism, liberty, and wise governance, as the institutions of society have collapsed. _This lament underscores the total loss of political and civic life due to the plague._ > We were all equal now; but near at hand was an equality still more levelling, a state where beauty and strength, and wisdom, would be as vain as riches and birth. The plague has made everyone equal in material terms, but death will soon make all human distinctions irrelevant. _Highlights the theme of social class and equality, as the plague erases all hierarchies._ > To the south then, to the sun!⁠—where nature is kind, where Jove has showered forth the contents of Amalthea’s horn, and earth is garden. The narrator urges a migration to the south, where the climate is mild and nature provides abundantly without labor. _This call to abandon England reflects the despair and the search for survival in a more hospitable land._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_last_man_se/chapters/volume-iii-i - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_last_man_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_last_man_se/chapters