The Last Man · Chapter
Chapter II explained
Adrian proposes emigration to Italy to escape the plague, and Lionel convinces Idris to leave their home.
What happens
Adrian proposes emigration to Italy to escape the plague, and Lionel convinces Idris to leave their home. Idris struggles with the loss of her country but ultimately agrees for the sake of her children. The chapter also depicts Idris's desperate search for Lionel during a storm, the death of their son Alfred from plague, and a night of feverish reflection on loss and mortality.
Themes in this chapter
Grief and Memory
Idris weeps for her lost country and the dead world; Lionel mourns Alfred and reflects on the fragility of life.
Isolation and Solitude
Idris seeks solitude in the park; the family faces the desolation of plague-stricken London; Lionel feels alone in his search.
Love and Sacrifice
Idris agrees to leave her home for her children's sake; Lionel risks infection to find Idris.
Characters to notice
- Adrian
Proposes emigration to Italy as a distraction from despair; cares for Lionel's children during the storm.
- Idris
Struggles with leaving her homeland; weeps in the park; later wanders alone in a storm seeking Lionel; falls ill but survives.
- Lionel Verney
Narrates the chapter; convinces Idris to emigrate; finds Alfred dead from plague; searches for Idris in the storm; falls ill.
- Clara
Asks about Athens; tends to Alfred's body; shows grief and seriousness.
- Alfred
Dies of plague; his body is found by Lionel.
- Evelyn
Mentioned as a child who brings a favorite rose tree and marble vase for the journey.
Key passages
“If we went to Italy, to sacred and eternal Rome, we might with greater patience submit to the decree, which had laid her mighty towers low.”
Adrian suggests that traveling to Rome would help them accept the destruction caused by the plague.
Highlights the theme of finding solace in ruins and the sublime.
“Take me where you will; where you and my children are, there shall be Windsor, and every country will be England to me.”
Idris tells Lionel that home is wherever her family is, not a specific place.
Emphasizes love and sacrifice over attachment to homeland.
“I saw full well that no spark of life existed in that ruined form, his features were rigid, his eyes glazed, his head had fallen back.”
Lionel realizes that Alfred is dead from the plague.
Marks the tragic death of the child and the onset of Lionel's own illness.