LXXIII explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Family and Community

  The chapter emphasizes the importance of family and community bonds, as seen in Kit's marriage to Barbara, their harmonious living with their mothers, and the gathering of children to hear Nell's story.

• Death and Transcendence

  Nell's death is remembered as a source of moral instruction and hope for heaven, while Frederick Trent's unclaimed death underscores the consequences of a dissolute life.

• Greed and Exploitation

  Sampson Brass's punishment for perjury and fraud serves as a cautionary tale against greed and exploitation, while the gamblers Isaac List and Jowl face legal consequences for their schemes.

Characters to notice

• Christopher Nubbles

  Kit marries Barbara, gains prosperity through the help of those who once wronged him, and becomes a father, telling his children the story of Nell.

• Richard Swiveller

  Dick marries the Marchioness (Sophronia), becomes a domesticated husband, and remains a philosophical figure, though he long holds a grudge against Kit.

• Sampson Brass

  Sampson is convicted of perjury and fraud, sentenced to prison with hard labor, and struck from the roll of attorneys.

• Sally Brass

  Sally's fate is uncertain; rumors suggest she may have disguised herself as a sailor or soldier.

• The Schoolmaster

  The schoolmaster remains in his quiet village, content with his school and the churchyard, and is made a poor schoolmaster no more through the gratitude of the single gentleman.

• Frederick Trent

  Frederick Trent dies abroad, his body recognized in a Paris hospital after drowning, but never claimed.

Key passages

• “Kit's story having got abroad, raised him up a host of friends, and many offers of provision for his future life.”

  Once Kit's innocence was known, many people offered to help him, and he received several job opportunities.

  This shows the community's support for Kit after his wrongful accusation.

• “Thus, as Kit often said, his great misfortune turned out to be the source of all his subsequent prosperity.”

  Kit believed that his wrongful imprisonment ultimately led to his later success and happiness.

  This reflects the theme of redemption and the idea that adversity can lead to good fortune.

• “Mr. Swiveller, having always been in some measure of a philosophic and reflective turn, grew immensely contemplative, at times, in the smoking-box, and was accustomed at such periods to debate in his own mind the mysterious question of Sophronia's parentage.”

  Dick Swiveller, being thoughtful by nature, often sat in the smoking-box and pondered the mystery of the Marchioness's origins.

  This highlights Swiveller's reflective character and his curiosity about his wife's past.

• “It was not long before his body was recognised by a stranger, who chanced to visit that hospital in Paris where the drowned are laid out to be owned; despite the bruises and disfigurements which were said to have been occasioned by some previous scuffle.”

  Frederick Trent's body was identified in a Paris hospital for the drowned, though it was bruised and disfigured from a fight.

  This describes the grim end of Frederick Trent, unclaimed and unrecognized by his family.

• “That friend—single gentleman, or younger brother, which you will—had at his heart a heavy sorrow; but it bred in him no misanthropy or monastic gloom. He went forth into the world, a lover of his kind.”

  The single gentleman, though deeply saddened by Nell's death, did not become bitter or reclusive; instead, he became a kind and generous person.

  This illustrates how grief can lead to compassion rather than despair.