The Vicar of the Wakefield
THE VICAR OF WAKEFIELD by Oliver Goldsmith
THE AUTHOR Oliver Goldsmith (c.1728-1774) was born in Ireland, the son and grandson of Church of England rectors much like the central figure of his only novel. His family was poor but did manage to obtain an education for their son at Trinity College in Dublin, where he almost flunked out because he gave far too much attention to drinking and gambling, and at the University of Edinburgh, where he studied medicine. In early adulthood he wandered aimlessly from one job to another, including tutoring and practicing medicine, both of which he found largely unprofitable. Finally he found his true love, writing, beginning as an editor of the Monthly Review. Most of his editing and numerous translations of the works of others left little mark on his own time, let alone on future generations. He wrote on whatever subject would bring in money, whether he knew anything about it or not, and some of his largest works, including an eight-volume History of the Earth and Animated Nature and histories of England and Rome were largely plagiarized and frequently inaccurate. Amidst all the dross, however, were nuggets of gold – two poems, The Traveller (1764) and The Deserted Village (1770), two plays, The Good Natured Man (1768) and She Stoops to Conquer (1773), and one novel, The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), containing some of the finest writing the English language has ever known. Despite his undeniable talent and versatility as a writer, Goldsmith’s personal life was a disaster. He never forgot the poverty in which he had grown up, thus lusted for riches, which he tended to drink and gamble away whenever they came his way. He was remarkably ugly, so socially awkward that even his friends made fun of him, and was jealous of any praise given to others. Yet he attained to the highest literary circles in England, moving among the likes of Samuel Johnson, painter Sir Joshua Reynolds, actor David Garrick, and politicians Edmund Burke and
THE AUTHOR Oliver Goldsmith (c.1728-1774) was born in Ireland, the son and grandson of Church of England rectors much like the central figure of his only novel. His family was poor but did manage to obtain an education for their son at Trinity College in Dublin, where he almost flunked out because he gave far too much attention to drinking and gambling, and at the University of Edinburgh, where he studied medicine. In early adulthood he wandered aimlessly from one job to another, including tutoring and practicing medicine, both of which he found largely unprofitable. Finally he found his true love, writing, beginning as an editor of the Monthly Review. Most of his editing and numerous translations of the works of others left little mark on his own time, let alone on future generations. He wrote on whatever subject would bring in money, whether he knew anything about it or not, and some of his largest works, including an eight-volume History of the Earth and Animated Nature and histories of England and Rome were largely plagiarized and frequently inaccurate. Amidst all the dross, however, were nuggets of gold – two poems, The Traveller (1764) and The Deserted Village (1770), two plays, The Good Natured Man (1768) and She Stoops to Conquer (1773), and one novel, The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), containing some of the finest writing the English language has ever known. Despite his undeniable talent and versatility as a writer, Goldsmith’s personal life was a disaster. He never forgot the poverty in which he had grown up, thus lusted for riches, which he tended to drink and gamble away whenever they came his way. He was remarkably ugly, so socially awkward that even his friends made fun of him, and was jealous of any praise given to others. Yet he attained to the highest literary circles in England, moving among the likes of Samuel Johnson, painter Sir Joshua Reynolds, actor David Garrick, and politicians Edmund Burke and