World’s End · Chapter
VI explained
Sternhold Baskette, now aged 72 and childless, is confronted with the question of his heir.
What happens
Sternhold Baskette, now aged 72 and childless, is confronted with the question of his heir. The Corporation of Stirmingham and various religious and charitable organizations vie for his fortune, while he is also besieged by marriage proposals. Despite his initial resistance, Sternhold becomes obsessed with founding a dynasty and secretly marries a woman he discovers performing in a fourth-rate theatre, a decision that shocks the city.
Themes in this chapter
Wealth and Poverty
The chapter contrasts Sternhold's immense wealth with the poverty of the masses, and critiques the hypocrisy of charitable solicitations versus the criminalization of individual begging.
Madness and Obsession
Sternhold's obsession with founding a dynasty and his methodical, yet irrational, pursuit of a wife from a theatre suggest a form of madness.
Deception and Corruption
The Corporation and other parties use flattery and manipulation to try to secure Sternhold's fortune, while Sternhold himself deceives the city by marrying in secret.
Inheritance and Entitlement
The central conflict revolves around who will inherit Sternhold's vast estate, with various claimants and the Corporation asserting their perceived rights.
Characters to notice
- Sternhold Baskette
Sternhold, now 72, grapples with his loneliness and the question of his heir. He is courted by the Corporation and others, and ultimately decides to marry a woman from a theatre to found a dynasty.
- Dodd
Dodd, the hotel landlord, is bothered for his opinion on Sternhold's situation and later witnesses the secret marriage.
Key passages
“His heir! Sternhold seriously believed that he had no living relations.”
Sternhold was convinced he had no surviving relatives.
Highlights Sternhold's initial belief in his isolation, which drives the chapter's events.
“The Corporation at their meetings incidentally alluded to the matter, and it was delicately suggested that Sternhold would crown his memory with ineffable glory if he devised his vast estate to the city.”
The city council hinted that Sternhold could achieve lasting fame by leaving his fortune to the city.
Illustrates the Corporation's manipulative approach to securing Sternhold's wealth.
“If a poor wretched mortal... asks you for a copper, it means seven days’ imprisonment as a rogue. If all the clergymen and ministers... come in crowds begging for hundreds and thousands, it is meritorious, and is applauded.”
A poor person begging for a small coin is punished, but clergy begging for large sums are praised.
Critiques the double standard in Victorian society regarding charity and begging.
“He was deluged with photographs of females... all ready, willing, and waiting.”
He received many photographs from women eager to marry him.
Shows the extent of the marriage proposals Sternhold received.
“He began to seriously contemplate marriage. He brooded over the idea. He was not a sentimental man... But he looked upon himself as a mighty monarch; and as a mighty monarch he wished more and more every day to found not only a kingdom, but a dynasty.”
Sternhold started to consider marriage not out of sentiment, but to establish a dynasty like a monarch.
Reveals Sternhold's motivation for marriage as a desire for legacy and power.
“Sternhold, deeply pondering, arrived at the notion, true or false, that the wife for him must possess physical development.”
Sternhold decided that his wife must have a strong, physically developed body.
Explains Sternhold's unusual criterion for a wife, leading him to the theatre.
