The Revolution in Tanner’s Lane · Chapter
XXII: The Oracle Warns—After the Event explained
George Allen marries Priscilla Broad and moves into a cottage.
What happens
George Allen marries Priscilla Broad and moves into a cottage. The chapter explores their early married life, George's political enthusiasm for Free Trade, and his attempts to explain economic principles to Priscilla, who fails to grasp them. It also depicts a sleepless night when George's mother comforts him, and a domestic crisis when a storm floods their home due to a blocked pipe.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Marriage
George and Priscilla's marriage is depicted with initial bliss but growing strain due to intellectual incompatibility and family interference.
Political Reform and Revolution
George's ardent Free Trade advocacy and the conflict with Protectionist farmers highlight the political tensions of the era.
The Role of Women
Priscilla's inability to engage with political ideas and her focus on domestic trivialities reflect contemporary gender expectations.
Characters to notice
- George Allen
Marries Priscilla, struggles to explain Free Trade to her, experiences a sleepless night of distress, and handles the flooding crisis.
- Priscilla Broad
Now George's wife, she is cheerful but intellectually limited, misunderstanding George's political arguments and offering impractical domestic plans.
- Mrs. Allen
George's mother, who worries about his marriage, comforts him during his sleepless night, and prays fervently for him.
- Mr. Isaac Allen
George's father, who debates with Mrs. Allen about the marriage and is a Protectionist farmer.
- Ellen
The servant who alerts George to the flooding in the cottage.
Key passages
“Every weakness in her was translated by George into some particularly attractive virtue.”
George saw all of Priscilla's flaws as charming qualities.
Highlights George's idealization of Priscilla early in their marriage.
“The great thing is not to have a fool for a wife.”
The most important thing is to avoid marrying a foolish woman.
Mrs. Allen's veiled warning to George about Priscilla's intelligence.
“What an epoch is the first sleepless night—the night when the first wrench has been given us by the Destinies to loosen us from the love of life; when we have first said to ourselves that there are worse things than death!”
The first night of insomnia marks a turning point where one begins to question the value of life itself.
Reflects George's growing despair and disillusionment.
“For this cause shall a man leave father and mother and cleave to his wife? Ah, yes! he does leave them; but in his heart does he never go back? And if he never does, does his mother ever leave him?”
A man may leave his parents for his wife, but he often returns to them in his heart, and his mother never truly leaves him.
Explores the enduring bond between mother and son despite marriage.