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The Vicar of Wakefield - Abridged

by Oliver Goldsmith

Length 7 hours 14 minutes

Language English

Narrators David Thorn & a supporting cast

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Summary
About the author
About the narrator

The story opens in the country parsonage of Dr. Primrose, a kindly man who has a good heart, a good family, and a good income. Suddenly, his idyllic life is cruelly devastated by a series of misfortunes, and he ends up in prison. Yet, despite all this calamity and injustice, the vicar never loses sight of Christian morality, a conviction which lends him genuine nobility and, in the end, also brings justice and the restoration of his family and fortune.

Through this simple, almost fairy-tale plot, Goldsmith gives us a charming comedy. It is not a novel of sentiment but an artful send-up of many of the familiar literary conventions of his day: the pastoral scene, the artificial romance, the unquestioning stoic bravery of the hero—all culminating in a gloriously improbable dénouement.

Classics Fiction

Oliver Goldsmith (1731–1774), an Irish-born poet, playwright, essayist, and novelist, was noted for his graceful and lively writing style and for being a member of Dr. Samuel Johnson’s literary circle. Among his best known works are The Vicar of Wakefield; The Deserted Village, a pastoral poem; and The Good-Natur’d Man, a play.

David Thorn spent his childhood in the Channel Islands off the coast of France, was schooled in England, and then immigrated to the United States at the age of twenty-three. He is retired from international commerce and currently resides in California.