The Luck of Barry Lyndon · Chapter
IX: I Appear in a Manner Becoming My Name and Lineage explained
Barry reflects on the honor and skill of gambling as a gentleman's profession, comparing it favorably to the hypocrisy of merchants, lawyers, and doctors.
What happens
Barry reflects on the honor and skill of gambling as a gentleman's profession, comparing it favorably to the hypocrisy of merchants, lawyers, and doctors. He recounts his and his uncle's exploits as professional gamblers across European courts, including a famous game against the Duke of Courland, and the dangers they faced from unpaid debts and vengeful nobles. The chapter culminates in Barry's daring escape from Berlin disguised as the Chevalier de Balibari, with the Chevalier following safely after.
Themes in this chapter
Deception and Self-Delusion
Barry justifies gambling as an honorable profession while condemning the dishonesty of other trades, revealing his own self-deception.
Class and Pedigree
Barry asserts that play is an institution of chivalry, a privilege of gentlemen, and contrasts it with middle-class shopkeeper cant.
Fate and Luck
Barry describes the role of luck in gambling, noting that tipsy beginners often win, and that a bank is a certainty but bad days come.
Characters to notice
- Barry Lyndon
Narrates his life as a professional gambler, boasting of his skill, courage, and success at the tables across Europe.
- Monsieur de Balibari
Barry's uncle and partner in gambling; described as a devotee and martinet at play, but lacking Barry's daring.
- Count Alessandro Pippi
A fellow gambler and partner, portrayed as fainthearted and parsimonious, often quarreling with Barry over extravagance.
- Princess Frederica Amelia
An Imperial princess who wept when Barry turned up the ace of hearts; she was passionately fond of play.
- Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick
Mentioned as the prince whose army Barry served in before deserting to the Prussians.
- Old Fritz
King Frederick the Great, who reviewed his troops as the Chevalier passed and wished him a good journey.
Key passages
“The broker of the Exchange who bulls and bears, and buys and sells, and dabbles with lying loans, and trades on State secrets, what is he but a gamester?”
Barry argues that stockbrokers and merchants are no better than gamblers, as they also rely on deceit and speculation.
Barry's rhetorical defense of gambling as no worse than other professions.
“I say that play was an institution of chivalry: it has been wrecked, along with other privileges of men of birth.”
Barry claims that gambling is a noble tradition of gentlemen, now destroyed by the moralizing of the middle classes.
Barry's self-serving view of gambling as a mark of aristocratic honor.
“When Seingalt engaged a man for six-and-thirty hours without leaving the table, do you think he showed no courage?”
Barry compares the endurance of a gambler to that of a soldier, asking if such dedication does not require bravery.
Barry equates gambling stamina with martial courage.
“The point of honour is not understood by the charming sex; and it was with the greatest difficulty... that we could keep them from the table, could get their money if they lost, or, if they paid, prevent them from using the most furious and extraordinary means of revenge.”
Barry complains that women love to gamble but often refuse to pay their debts, sometimes resorting to theft or violence.
Barry's misogynistic view of female gamblers as unreliable and vengeful.
“I was, I may say, the author of our common good fortune, by putting boldness into our play.”
Barry takes credit for the success of the gambling partnership, claiming his daring was the key.
Barry's pride in his own audacity as the driving force behind their wins.
