# Epigraph explained — Wieland

> Chapter companion for Wieland by Charles Brockden Brown.

## What happens

The epigraph sets the moral tone for the novel, warning that those who are duplicitous ('double-tongued') will stray from the path of virtue, while honesty and directness lead to goodness, and complex or deceptive paths lead to ruin.

## Themes in this chapter

### Deception and Illusion

The epigraph directly warns against the 'double-tongued' and 'mazy paths,' establishing deception as a central concern.

### Guilt and Innocence

The epigraph contrasts the 'blissful paths' of virtue with the 'ill' that follows straying, framing a moral dichotomy of innocence and guilt.

## Key lines

> From Virtue’s blissful paths away The double-tongued are sure to stray; Good is a forthright journey still, And mazy paths but lead to ill.

Those who speak with duplicity will inevitably abandon the happy road of virtue; honesty is a straight and good path, while intricate and deceptive routes only bring misfortune.

_This opening epigraph foreshadows the novel's central conflict between Carwin's deceptive 'double-tongue' and the Wielands' pursuit of virtue._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/wieland_se/chapters/epigraph
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/wieland_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/wieland_se/chapters