# My Good Fortune Begins to Waver explained — The Luck of Barry Lyndon

> Chapter companion for The Luck of Barry Lyndon by William Makepeace Thackeray.

## What happens

Barry Lyndon faces increasing social ostracism and familial strife as his stepson Lord Bullingdon flees to America after a violent confrontation. Barry's marriage to Lady Lyndon deteriorates, and he reflects on the burdens of wealth and a troublesome wife, while rumors and public scorn mount against him.

## Themes in this chapter

### Social Climbing and Ambition

Barry's rise is met with ostracism and slander, revealing the fragility of his social position.

### Marriage as Transaction

Barry laments the burdens of his marriage to Lady Lyndon, viewing it as a costly arrangement.

### Deception and Self-Delusion

Barry portrays himself as an innocent victim while glossing over his own provocations and misdeeds.

## Character check-ins

### Barry Lyndon

Narrates his waning fortunes, social rejection, and domestic troubles with Lady Lyndon.

### Lady Lyndon

Depicted as melancholy and jealous; Barry describes her as a troublesome wife.

### Lord Bullingdon

Flees to America after a horsewhipping from Barry; writes a defiant letter to his mother.

### Bryan Lyndon

Barry's young son, used by Bullingdon in a prank at a ball.

### Lord Tiptoff

Skeptical of Barry's claims about Bullingdon's bill.

### Rev. Edmund Lavender

Brings Barry news of scandals circulating about him.

## Key lines

> I cannot bear to witness his treatment of you, and loathe his horrible society as if it were the plague, I am determined to quit my native country: at least during his detested life, or during my own.

Lord Bullingdon declares he can no longer endure Barry's behavior and resolves to leave England.

_Bullingdon's letter to Lady Lyndon announcing his flight._

> They are the deuce, these troublesome wives, and that is the truth. No man knows until he tries how wearisome and disheartening the burden of one of them is, and how the annoyance grows and strengthens from year to year, and the courage becomes weaker to bear it.

Barry complains that wives become increasingly burdensome over time.

_Barry's reflection on the difficulties of marriage._

> I lost all patience, rode at the urchin straight, wrenched him out of his saddle with all my force, and, flinging him roughly to the ground, sprang down to it myself, and administered such a correction across the young caitiff's head and shoulders with my horsewhip as might have ended in his death.

Barry violently horsewhips Lord Bullingdon in the hunting field.

_The incident that precipitates Bullingdon's flight._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_luck_of_barry_lyndon_se/chapters/xviii-my-good-fortune-begins-to-waver
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_luck_of_barry_lyndon_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_luck_of_barry_lyndon_se/chapters