The Way of All Flesh · Chapter
XIV explained
The narrator describes his visit to Battersby-on-the-Hill, the village where Theobald Pontifex is now Rector.
What happens
The narrator describes his visit to Battersby-on-the-Hill, the village where Theobald Pontifex is now Rector. He vividly recalls the old church service, the congregation of farmers and labourers in traditional smocks and cloaks, and the discordant but moving music of the village choir with their violoncello, clarinet, and trombone. The chapter contrasts the old rustic ways with the later restoration of the church and the changes in worship. Theobald and Christina are welcomed by the neighbouring clergy, and the narrator reflects on how a person's work—whether architecture or writing—inevitably reveals their character.
Themes in this chapter
Money and Social Class
The social hierarchy is evident: the obsequious labourers, the civil farmers, and the welcoming clergy neighbours who value Theobald's expected inheritance from his father.
Hypocrisy of Victorian Morality
The narrator subtly critiques the superficial praise of Theobald and Christina as a perfect couple, and the pride in parishioners 'knowing their betters'.
Self-Discovery and Authenticity
The narrator reflects that every man's work is a portrait of himself, and that Theobald's church rebuilding reveals his character despite his attempts to conceal it.
Characters to notice
- Theobald Pontifex
Now Rector of Battersby-on-the-Hill; preaches in the old church and later undertakes its rebuilding as his own architect.
- Christina Pontifex
Proudly comments on the respectful parishioners and supports Theobald's ministry; later buried under the yew trees in the churchyard.
- George Pontifex
Mentioned as the distinguished publisher and father of Theobald, whose reputation enhances the family's standing in the neighbourhood.
- Mr. Overton
The narrator who recalls his visit to Battersby church and reflects on the old choir and the changes over time.
Key passages
“Even now I can see the men in blue smock frocks reaching to their heels, and more than one old woman in a scarlet cloak; the row of stolid, dull, vacant ploughboys, ungainly in build, uncomely in face, lifeless, apathetic, a race a good deal more like the pre-revolution French peasant as described by Carlyle than is pleasant to reflect upon”
The narrator still vividly pictures the labourers in long blue smocks and the old women in scarlet cloaks, and the dull, vacant ploughboys who reminded him of Carlyle's description of French peasants before the Revolution.
The narrator contrasts the old rural population with a newer, more hopeful generation.
“I may say here that before Theobald had been many years at Battersby he found scope for useful work in the rebuilding of Battersby church, which he carried out at considerable cost, towards which he subscribed liberally himself. He was his own architect, and this saved expense; but architecture was not very well understood about the year 1834, when Theobald commenced operations, and the result is not as satisfactory as it would have been if he had waited a few years longer.”
Theobald rebuilt Battersby church at his own expense, acting as his own architect, but the result was unsatisfactory because architectural knowledge was still limited in 1834.
The narrator uses the church rebuilding as an example of how a person's work reveals their character.
“Every man's work, whether it be literature or music or pictures or architecture or anything else, is always a portrait of himself, and the more he tries to conceal himself the more clearly will his character appear in spite of him.”
A person's creations inevitably reveal their true nature, and attempts at concealment only make the portrait clearer.
The narrator reflects on the autobiographical nature of all creative work, including his own writing.