The Way of All Flesh
Encyclopedia
The Way of All Flesh is a semi-autobiographical novel by Samuel Butler
which attacks Victorian-era hypocrisy. Written between 1873 and 1884, it traces four generations of the Pontifex family. It represents a relaxation from the religious outlook from a Calvinistic
approach, which is presented as harsh. Butler dared not publish it during his lifetime, but when it was published it was accepted as part of the general reaction against Victorianism
.
In 1998, the Modern Library
ranked The Way of All Flesh twelfth on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century
First generation
Second generation
Third generation
Fourth generation
Fifth generation
Others
The novel takes its beginnings in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in order to trace Ernest's emergence from previous generations of the Pontifex family. John Pontifex was a carpenter; his son George rises in the world to become a publisher; George's son Theobald, pressured by his father to become a minister, is manipulated into marrying Christina, the daughter of a clergyman; the main character Ernest Pontifex is the eldest son of Theobald and Christina.
The author depicts an antagonistic relationship between Ernest and his hypocritical and domineering parents. His aunt Alethea is aware of this relationship, but dies before she can fulfill her aim of counteracting the parents' malign influence on the boy. However, shortly before her death she secretly passes a small fortune into Overton's keeping, with the agreement that once Ernest is twenty-eight, he can receive it.
As Ernest develops into a young man, he travels a bumpy theological road, reflecting the divisions and controversies in the Church of England in the Victorian era. Easily influenced by others at university, he starts out as an Evangelical
Christian, and soon becomes a clergyman. He then falls for the lures of the High Church (and is duped out of much of his own money by a fellow clergyman). He decides that the way to regenerate the Church of England is to live among the poor, but the results are, first, that his faith in the integrity of the Bible is severely damaged by a conversation with one of the poor he was hoping to redeem, and second, that under the pressures of poverty and theological doubt, he attempts a sexual assault on a woman he had incorrectly believed to be of loose morals.
This assault leads to a prison term. His parents disown him. His health deteriorates.
As he recovers he learns how to tailor and decides to make this his profession once out of prison. He loses his Christian faith. He marries Ellen, a former housemaid of his parents, and they have two children and set up shop together in the second-hand clothing industry. However, in due course he discovers that Ellen is both a bigamist and an alcoholic. Overton at this point intervenes and pays Ellen off. He gives Ernest a job, and takes him on a trip to Continental Europe.
In due course Ernest becomes 28, and receives his aunt Alethea's gift. He returns to the family home until his parents die: his father's influence over him wanes as Theobald's own position as a clergyman is reduced in stature, though to the end Theobald finds small ways to purposefully annoy him. He becomes an author of controversial literature.
Samuel Butler (novelist)
Samuel Butler was an iconoclastic Victorian author who published a variety of works. Two of his most famous pieces are the Utopian satire Erewhon and a semi-autobiographical novel published posthumously, The Way of All Flesh...
which attacks Victorian-era hypocrisy. Written between 1873 and 1884, it traces four generations of the Pontifex family. It represents a relaxation from the religious outlook from a Calvinistic
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
approach, which is presented as harsh. Butler dared not publish it during his lifetime, but when it was published it was accepted as part of the general reaction against Victorianism
Victorianism
Victorianism is the name given to the attitudes, art, and culture of the later two-thirds of the 19th century. This usage is strong within social history and the study of literature, less so in philosophy. Many disciplines do not use the term, but instead prefer Victorian Era, or simply "Late 19th...
.
In 1998, the Modern Library
Modern Library
The Modern Library is a publishing company. Founded in 1917 by Albert Boni and Horace Liveright as an imprint of their publishing company Boni & Liveright, it was purchased in 1925 by Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer...
ranked The Way of All Flesh twelfth on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century
Main characters
Pontifex family.First generation
- "Old" John Pontifex (16 August 1727-8 February 1812)
- Ruth Pontifex (13 October 1727-10 January 1811; wife of Old Pontifex; married 1750).
Second generation
- George Pontifex (c.1765-1838; son of Old John and Ruth Pontifex; married c.1792 to unnamed woman who died 1805).
Third generation
- Eliza (179?-18??; George Pontifex's eldest child; never marries)
- Maria (179?-18??; George Pontifex's second child; never marries)
- John (ca.1800-18??; George Pontifex's third child; marries & has unnamed son early 1837)
- Theobald (1802-1881; George Pontifex's fourth child; marries Christina Allaby July 1831; has 3 children)
- Alethea Pontifex (1805-1850; George Pontifex's fifth child; loves Overton but never marries him).
- Christina Pontifex (nee Allaby; wife of Theobald Pontifex; married July 1831; died ca.1863-65).
Fourth generation
- Ernest Pontifex, the central character (born 6 September 1835; eldest child of Theobald and Christina Pontifex).
- Ellen Pontifex (born ca.1831; housemaid of Theobald and Christina; pregnant to John the coachman & married him 15 August 1851; separated; married bigamously to Ernest late 1850s; annulled 1862).
- Joseph (born 1836; second child of Theobald & Christina; married between 1875 & 1876).
- Charlotte (born 1837; third child of Theobald & Christina; married between 1876 & 1882).
Fifth generation
- Alice (born September 1860; illegitimate daughter of Ellen and Ernest; married Jack Rowlings (born 1855))
- Georgie (born late 1861; illegitimate son of Ernest and Ellen)
- Ted (born 1870s; son of Ernest and an unnamed mistress. Mention of Ted in the final chapter of the manuscript was removed by the editor in the posthumous published edition).
Others
- Dr Skinner (Ernest's teacher).
- John (Theobald & Christina's family coachman. Gets Ellen pregnant; marries her 15 August 1851. Later separated due to her drunkenness).
- Mr Overton, the narrator (born 1802, friend of Alethea Pontifex but does not return her love; trustee of her estate; godfather to Ernest).
Plot summary
The story is narrated by Overton, godfather to the central character.The novel takes its beginnings in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in order to trace Ernest's emergence from previous generations of the Pontifex family. John Pontifex was a carpenter; his son George rises in the world to become a publisher; George's son Theobald, pressured by his father to become a minister, is manipulated into marrying Christina, the daughter of a clergyman; the main character Ernest Pontifex is the eldest son of Theobald and Christina.
The author depicts an antagonistic relationship between Ernest and his hypocritical and domineering parents. His aunt Alethea is aware of this relationship, but dies before she can fulfill her aim of counteracting the parents' malign influence on the boy. However, shortly before her death she secretly passes a small fortune into Overton's keeping, with the agreement that once Ernest is twenty-eight, he can receive it.
As Ernest develops into a young man, he travels a bumpy theological road, reflecting the divisions and controversies in the Church of England in the Victorian era. Easily influenced by others at university, he starts out as an Evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
Christian, and soon becomes a clergyman. He then falls for the lures of the High Church (and is duped out of much of his own money by a fellow clergyman). He decides that the way to regenerate the Church of England is to live among the poor, but the results are, first, that his faith in the integrity of the Bible is severely damaged by a conversation with one of the poor he was hoping to redeem, and second, that under the pressures of poverty and theological doubt, he attempts a sexual assault on a woman he had incorrectly believed to be of loose morals.
This assault leads to a prison term. His parents disown him. His health deteriorates.
As he recovers he learns how to tailor and decides to make this his profession once out of prison. He loses his Christian faith. He marries Ellen, a former housemaid of his parents, and they have two children and set up shop together in the second-hand clothing industry. However, in due course he discovers that Ellen is both a bigamist and an alcoholic. Overton at this point intervenes and pays Ellen off. He gives Ernest a job, and takes him on a trip to Continental Europe.
In due course Ernest becomes 28, and receives his aunt Alethea's gift. He returns to the family home until his parents die: his father's influence over him wanes as Theobald's own position as a clergyman is reduced in stature, though to the end Theobald finds small ways to purposefully annoy him. He becomes an author of controversial literature.
External links
- The Way of All Flesh, full text with audio.
- A review of The Way of All Flesh by Anthony Daniels (psychiatrist)Anthony Daniels (psychiatrist)Anthony Daniels , who generally uses the pen name Theodore Dalrymple, is an English writer and retired prison doctor and psychiatrist. He worked in places including a number of Sub-Saharan African countries and the east end of London...
- The Way of All Flesh Map