# XXI: After Dinner (Continued) explained — The Wonderful Visit

> Chapter companion for The Wonderful Visit by H. G. Wells.

## What happens

The chapter recapitulates the story so far: the Angel's arrival, his transformation into a man, and the varied reactions of the villagers. The Angel dreams of his heavenly home, while the Vicar lies awake troubled by Mrs. Mendham's potential gossip and a newfound sense of wonder. Other villagers, like Gully, Sandy Bright, Annie Durgan, and Lumpy Durgan, each react in their own way, and a ploughman gets a black eye from an argument about the Angel.

## Themes in this chapter

### Innocence vs. Experience

The Angel's dream of a perfect, painless world contrasts with the Vicar's troubled, worldly concerns, highlighting the clash between innocence and the burdens of experience.

### Faith, Doubt, and the Supernatural

The Vicar's sense of 'something seen darkly' and his terror at the unfamiliar wonderland reflect a struggle between faith and doubt in the face of the supernatural.

## Character check-ins

### The Angel

Dreams of his heavenly world, sleeping peacefully after being transformed into a man.

### The Vicar

Lies awake, troubled by Mrs. Mendham's potential gossip and a new sense of wonder about the world.

### Mrs. Mendham

Mentioned as a source of anxiety for the Vicar, her tongue 'hanging above him like the sword of Damocles.'

### Gully

Unloads his gun after a blank day of hunting.

### Lumpy Durgan

Sits up in bed, crooning a tune and listening for a sound he longs to hear again.

## Key lines

> Swiftly, dexterously, as the reader must admit, wings have been clipped, halo handled off, the glory clapped into coat and trousers, and the Angel made for all practical purposes a man, under a suspicion of being either a lunatic or an impostor.

The Angel has been quickly and skillfully stripped of his divine attributes and dressed as a man, now seen as either mad or a fraud.

_Summarizes the Angel's transformation and the villagers' perception of him._

> But the Vicar lies awake, too perplexed for dreaming. Chiefly he is troubled by the possibilities of Mrs. Mendham; but the evening’s talk has opened strange vistas in his mind, and he is stimulated by a sense as of something seen darkly by the indistinct vision of a hitherto unsuspected wonderland lying about his world.

The Vicar cannot sleep, worried about Mrs. Mendham's gossip but also intrigued by the new, mysterious possibilities the Angel's arrival has revealed.

_Highlights the Vicar's internal conflict between mundane worries and spiritual wonder._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_wonderful_visit_se/chapters/xxi-after-dinner-continued
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_wonderful_visit_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_wonderful_visit_se/chapters