47 pages • 1 hour read
The Last Man
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Volume 2, Chapters 4-9 Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Volume 2, Chapter 4 Summary
Lionel returns to Windsor in the fall of 2092. England seems like paradise compared to the war-ravaged cities he has returned from. He talks with Ryland, the republican politician, and others about the plague. The others do not fear it will reach England, as they believe England is inherently superior to other places and will be able to avoid it.
The plague reaches Athens, yet most of England is too concerned with the upcoming election of a new Lord Protector to care. Reports of the plague come from America and an eclipse over many countries east of Britain is interpreted as a bad omen.
Volume 2, Chapter 5 Summary
The following winter is harsh. The people of England finally begin to fear the plague. Ryland is elected as Protector. He attempts to downplay both the seriousness of the plague and the natural disasters that are simultaneously springing up around the world.
In August, the plague reaches France and Italy, and thousands emigrate to England. Adrian gives everything he can to the people in need and campaigns for fellow wealthy families to do the same.
Volume 2, Chapter 6 Summary
Lionel grows increasingly anxious about the plague; he is convinced everyone around him will die from it. Ryland tells Lionel and his friends at Windsor that it is useless to try to avoid the plague—it is now everywhere, including London. Ryland renounces his protectorship and Adrian offers to take it up, believing that Ryland is betraying the people. Adrian becomes determined to do whatever he can in London and tries to assuage Idris and Lionel’s fears for him.
When Lionel visits Adrian in London, he is surprised to see an improvement in Adrian’s health. Adrian asks Lionel to nominate him as Deputy Protector, but in Parliament Lionel hesitates, not wanting to see his friend take up the role everyone is afraid of. He offers himself instead, but Adrian is officially elected. Adrian asks Lionel to protect Idris in his absence.
Volume 2, Chapter 7 Summary
Lionel hears of a sick man whose friends have deserted him. Lionel goes to him but finds him dead. People flee from him, afraid he is contagious, and he debates whether or not to return to Windsor Castle.
Outside the castle, he finds a “maniac” speaking as if he were a prophet, trying to tell the people of Windsor that death is among them.
Volume 2, Chapter 8 Summary
The plague spreads across England, and it is even more devastating outside of London. Lionel begins to institute plans to help country towns cope with the plague like Adrian is doing in London. In the city, people try to distract themselves with theater and drinking. Lionel tries to distract Idris from her anxieties about their children but their youngest son, Evelyn, becomes sick with a fever. Though the fever quickly breaks, Idris is never again calm.
The Countess of Windsor comes back to London and, though she consents to see her children and grandchildren, she refuses to see Lionel.
Volume 2, Chapter 9 Summary
Some American and Irish people descend upon England. They are violent and plan on taking over London. Adrian leads troops against them, desiring peace over victory. On the battlefield, Adrian convinces both sides to lay down their weapons by telling them all that they are humans and brothers.
As more people die, class inequality lessens, as the wealthy are forced to take on the tasks of laborers. At the end of winter, Lionel decides to leave England for a better climate if they survive the summer.
Volume 2, Chapters 4-9 Analysis
In this section of the novel, Wollstonecraft Shelley mocks the idea of English exceptionalism that prevailed throughout her time, highlighting the true perils of this belief. The hollowness of xenophobic nationalism emphasizes, in turn, the Equality of the Human Race. Lionel contemplates the humanity and civilization he saw in Greece and Turkey, having come to understand, like Adrian, that the people of other countries are not so different from the English. Lionel is surprised to hear the people around him in England discuss the plague, especially how they argue that it will not reach the country because the plague is, supposedly, a symptom of other countries’ inferiority.
Ryland is not at all concerned with the plague while it rages in places like Constantinople, arguing, “it is as wise to discuss the probability of a visitation of the plague in our well-governed metropolis, as to calculate the centuries which must escape before we can grow pine-apples here in the open air” (245). His rhetoric reveals how unnatural he thinks a plague in London would be. Even Lionel considers that perhaps “The cleanliness, habits of order, and the manner in which our cities were built, were all in [the English people’s] favour” (273), suggesting his hope that human-made efforts of hygiene, “order,” and urban planning could combat the plague.
The Equality of the Human Race is also highlighted once more by the opinions and actions of Adrian. Shortly after the plague arrives in England, Adrian uses the vast resources he has to attend to the sick and dying, turning Windsor Castle into a makeshift basecamp for those battling the plague. He also converts its pleasure grounds into farms to make sure the town can sustain itself. He advocates in Parliament for other wealthy nobles to do the same, and volunteers to take on the perilous job of Lord Protector when no one else is willing to risk their life to do so. Lionel notes that Adrian’s health, which has always been bad since his fever in the first volume, improves significantly when he is able to exert himself for the benefit of others. Furthermore, just as he did in Greece, Adrian preaches the virtues of peace and cooperation. He stops a battle in London by pointing out that both sides are human and should see one another as family. Adrian’s selflessness and cosmopolitan outlook once more form an important contrast with the selfishness and xenophobia of those around him.
As the plague continues, Lionel notes its equalizing effects, mentioning how the wealthy have had to learn the skills of the poor to stay alive and that “there was nothing to prevent each from assuming possession of his share” (351) of the riches of the deceased aristocracy. Lionel also knows that what comes after the plague is the ultimate form of equality: “The grave yawned beneath us all, and its prospect prevented any of us from enjoying the ease and plenty which in so awful a manner was presented to us” (351). Neither the plague nor the inevitability of death discriminates against anyone, rendering all equal in the end.
These chapters also challenge the notion of anthropocentrism, or the belief that humans are the most important things on earth, reflecting the theme of Humanity Versus Nature. For the first several months of the plague, the characters ignore the oncoming threat. Lionel recounts the politics of the time and shows how the election and its drama draws focus away from the plague. Even after the plague reaches England, there is still a prevailing belief that humans will, without a doubt, survive the plague and that it will only be a minor occurrence in the history of civilization. Speaking from the future once he has realized the follies of this belief, Lionel remarks that it is “arrogance” that makes people believe that “though the individual is destroyed, man continues for ever” (256). As the last remaining person on earth, Lionel is able to understand what others at this time do not: that nature is far more powerful than civilization, and that “if she put forth but a finger, we must quake” (258).
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