The Luck of Barry Lyndon · Chapter
II: I Show Myself to Be a Man of Spirit explained
Barry, swelling with pride after his altercation with Quin, returns home with Captain Fagan.
What happens
Barry, swelling with pride after his altercation with Quin, returns home with Captain Fagan. His mother, though anxious, supports his honor. Barry boasts of his father's dueling legacy and prepares for a duel with Quin. He writes farewell letters to his mother and Nora, then recalls the earlier dispute at Castle Brady where Nora fainted and Quin slunk away. Mick Brady rebukes Barry for interfering, but Barry defiantly swears that any man who marries Nora must first kill him. Captain Fagan advises Barry that Nora is a flirt and too old for him, but Barry remains resolute.
Themes in this chapter
Violence and Dueling
The chapter centers on Barry's preparation for a duel with Quin, invoking his father's dueling legacy and the code of honor.
Deception and Self-Delusion
Barry deludes himself about Nora's affection, ignoring Fagan's advice that she is a flirt and does not care for him.
Class and Pedigree
Barry proudly displays his father's sword and pistols, emphasizing his family's noble lineage and gentlemanly status.
Characters to notice
- Barry Lyndon
Swelling with pride, boasts of his father's dueling exploits, writes farewell letters, and defiantly swears to fight Quin for Nora.
- Nora Brady
Faints during the dispute, then recovers and walks away; Barry writes a letter to her to be found on his body.
- Captain Fagan
Accompanies Barry home, advises him about Nora's character, and arranges the duel with Quin's second.
- Michael Brady
Angrily rebukes Barry for interfering with Nora and Quin, threatens to have Nick the huntsman flog him.
- Captain Quin
The Englishman Barry hates; he slinks away after Nora faints, and Barry is determined to fight him.
- Mrs. Barry
Anxious but supportive of her son's honor; she fetches wine and leaves the men to talk.
- Roaring Harry Barry
Barry's father, whose dueling sword and pistols are displayed; his legacy inspires Barry.
Key passages
“Look at that sword, sir... It was with that sword, sir, that my father pinked Mohawk O’Driscol, in Dublin, in the year 1740; with that sword, sir, he met Sir Huddlestone Fuddlestone, the Hampshire baronet, and ran him through the neck.”
Barry boasts that his father used the same sword to wound Mohawk O'Driscol in Dublin and to run Sir Huddlestone Fuddlestone through the neck.
Barry invokes his father's dueling history to assert his own courage and honor.
“Nora Brady has not a penny; you are not a whit richer. You are but fifteen, and she's four-and-twenty. In ten years, when you're old enough to marry, she will be an old woman; and, my poor boy, don't you see—though it's a hard matter to see—that she's a flirt, and does not care a pin for you or Quin either?”
Fagan warns Barry that Nora is poor, much older, and a flirt who cares for neither him nor Quin.
Fagan's pragmatic advice contrasts with Barry's romantic delusion.
“The man that marries Nora Brady must first kill me—do you mind that?”
Barry swears that any suitor for Nora must kill him first.
Barry's defiant vow sets the stage for the duel with Quin.
