63 pages • 2 hours read
Mark Twain, Charles Dudley WarnerThe Gilded Age: A Tale of Today
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1873A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 38-51Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 38 Summary: “Reception Day in Washington—Laura Again Meets Col. Selby and the Effect Upon Her”
Laura sees Col. Selby, the man who married and then scorned her, at a party. Her hatred and heartache return in full force. She makes up a story about fearing burglars in order to get one of Washington’s pistols, then finds out where Col. Selby is staying. She then lures him to Dilworthy’s house at a time when nobody else will be home.
Chapter 39 Summary: “Col. Selby Visits Laura and Effects a Reconciliation”
Col. Selby shows up at Dilworthy’s house at the appointed time and is shocked to find Laura there. She confronts him for his previous treatment of her, and he admits his wife is in DC with him. Fearing Laura’s rage, Col. Selby expresses remorse and professes to still love her. Laura believes him and thinks they’ll be together now. She doesn’t feel bad for his wife, who she thinks he’ll now abandon. Her passion for Col. Selby supersedes logic and makes her feel he belongs to her.
Chapter 40 Summary: “Col. Sellers’ Career in Washington—Laura’s Intimacy With Col. Selby Is Talked About”
Beriah has become quite popular in DC among politicians and even the president. His lofty speeches have convinced Washington that he can expect at least $2 million for half the Tennessee land and that he might be able to lease the land to the government rather than selling it outright.
Laura forces Col. Selby to continue seeing her through every manipulation she can think of. Col. Selby makes one excuse after another for why he must delay dissolving his marriage and having an official relationship with Laura.
Chapter 41 Summary: “Harry Brierly Becomes Entirely Infatuated With Laura—Declares His Love and Gets Laughed at”
Harry begins spending most of his time at Dilworthy’s in the hopes of spending time with Laura, whom he realizes he’s in love with. He tells her the word around town is that Col. Selby is planning to go abroad with his family imminently. Laura is devastated.
Philip has been recovering from his injuries in Philadelphia. At first Ruth took on most of his care. As he got better, Alice took over more and more. He’s always content and happy with Alice, but still only thinks of her as a friend. Harry writes Philip about his love for Laura, who won’t listen to him about the dangers of continuing her affair with Col. Selby. Harry thinks she might listen to Philip and asks him to come to DC.
Chapter 42 Summary: “How the Hon Mr. Trollop Was Induced to Vote for Laura’s Bill”
Laura enlists Mr. Buckstone to help garner support for the bill regarding the sale of the Tennessee land, which is now referred to as the Knobs University bill. Mr. Buckstone’s plan to win Laura without being won himself has failed, and now he’s her pawn.
Laura must mitigate the influence of Mr. Trollop, an outspoken critic of the bill. She entraps him with a clever scheme, then blackmails him. She reveals that she’s getting many other votes for the bill through bribery, specifically by giving positions at the university to the voters’ relatives. Mr. Trollop capitulates to Laura’s blackmail and agrees to vote for the bill and work his influence to make sure it’s passed. Laura believes Col. Selby will be taking her to Europe with him rather than his wife.
Chapter 43 Summary: “Progress of the Bill in the House”
The bill, titled “An Act to Found and Incorporate the Knobs Industrial University,” is officially introduced in the House of Representatives. Newspaper articles reviewing the bill are extremely negative. Dilworthy says this persecution in the press will evoke public sympathy and help the bill pass. Over the next ten days, many congressmen waver in their support of the bill and announce they no longer plan to vote for it. Then Mr. Trollop comes out in support and swings favor back toward the bill’s passage.
Chapter 44 Summary: “Philip in Washington—Visits Laura”
When Philip arrives in DC, he learns how much Laura’s reputation has suffered because of her affair with Col. Selby. When Philip confronts Laura, she admits that she cares nothing for Harry and has no pity for him. She tells Philip to tell his friend to keep away from her and stop making a fool of himself. Philip relays this message to Harry, who decides Philip doesn’t know anything.
Chapter 45 Summary: “The Passage of the Bill in the House of Representatives”
Chapter 45 details the provisions of the Knobs University bill and the strategy by which its advocates plan to bring it to vote at the most favorable time. It goes through a tedious process on the floor of the House of Representatives, consisting of multiple readings with congressmen hashing out every detail of the bill over and over. Finally, it passes. Though the bill must still pass in the Senate, Washington considers it a done deal and views himself and his family as millionaires.
Chapter 46 Summary: “Disappearance of Laura, and Murder of Col. Selby in New York”
Dilworthy and Philip look for Laura to tell her the bill has passed, but they find that she is not home. She appears to have been gone since the previous evening. Philip learns that Col. Selby was departing for Europe with his family out of New York, and that Laura went after him. She tricked Harry into going with her, saying it was related to getting the bill passed. Philip gets on a train to New York, but on the way he reads a newspaper headline saying that Laura has shot and killed Col. Selby at his hotel. She was arrested on the spot. Harry was taken into custody as well.
Chapter 47 Summary: “Laura in the Tombs and Her Visitors”
Harry is released from custody once Philip and his uncle help prove he didn’t know Laura’s intentions. As journalists uncover more background details about Laura and Col. Selby, newspaper accounts of the crime reveal changes in how sympathetically Laura is viewed by the public. Some see her as the champion of wronged women, while others see her as a demon incarnate.
Washington and Beriah visit Laura in jail. Mrs. Hawkins comes from Missouri to support her. Laura tells her mother she didn’t know what she was doing when she shot Col. Selby. Harry agrees to go with Philip back to Ilium to work on the coal mining operation.
Laura is indicted for murder in the first degree. She begins working with the city’s two most experienced criminal lawyers. The Knobs University bill fails to pass in the Senate and must wait for the next congressional session for another vote.
Chapter 48 Summary: “Mr Bolton Says Yes Again—Philip Returns to the Mines”
Back in Philadelphia, Eli continues to let Mr. Bigler swindle him on new speculations. Philip converses with Ruth about her career goals and society’s gender role expectations, hoping she’ll choose marriage and a family with him over a demanding job in medicine. Ruth gives Philip a spark of hope but makes no promises or declarations of love.
The mining work in Ilium progresses much more slowly than the project’s mounting costs. Laura’s trial is scheduled, and Harry is summoned to New York to testify. The trial is postponed, however. Her lawyers say delays help their case because public rage fades over time.
Chapter 49 Summary: “The Coal Vein Found and Lost Again—Philip and the Boltons—Elated and Then Cruelly Disappointed”
Eli becomes desperate as more and more of his investments fail. He’s on the verge of selling their large house to pay off his debt and living within his means. Then he learns that Philip has finally found coal in Ilium and once again loses all restraint. The mining crew eventually realizes they’ve only found a small seam. Though Eli does sell the house, it’s not enough, and he’s forced to surrender all his property to his creditors. With Eli’s financial failure, work at the mine halts. Philip feels like a failure but the Bolton family treats him with kindness and sympathy. He buys the Ilium land from Eli for a song, though he knows paying the mortgage on it will be a great hardship.
Chapter 50 Summary: “Philip Visits Fallkill and Proposes Studying Law With Mr. Montague—The Squire Invests in the Mine—Ruth Declares Her Love for Philip”
Philip, believing wholeheartedly that there is coal in the Ilium mine, tries to figure out how to proceed without any capital. He opts to return to Fallkill, study law, and work a steady job until he can save enough money to open the mine again. He remains blind to evidence that Alice is hopelessly in love with him. Inspired by Philip’s enthusiasm for finding Ilium’s coal, Alice’s father offers to finance further mining efforts in the spring. Philip returns to Philadelphia to prepare. He visits the Boltons, and Ruth finally declares how much she cares for him.
Chapter 51 Summary: “Col Sellers Enlightens Washington Hawkins on the Customs of Congress”
Washington and Beriah discuss the congressional process for investigating corruption. As it’s portrayed, the process is a barefaced charade. Washington feels hopeless about the Tennessee land and his family’s future. Even with Beriah’s compelling optimism, he’s barely able to cheer Washington up. Laura’s trial is postponed again, with a new date set for February.
Chapters 38-51 Analysis
Chapter epigraphs in this section from The Barnard Castle Tragedy and King Henry IV emphasize the significance of romantic treachery and gossip as influences on Laura’s psyche. Aspects of Realism can be seen in descriptions of Laura’s turbulent feelings toward Col. Selby. Narrative analysis of Harry’s feelings for Laura, which acknowledges his blind spots and character flaws, also aligns with conventions of Realism. Similar analysis is applied to the psychology of society as a whole through discussions of how journalistic persecution will evoke sympathy for the Knobs University bill, and of how delays in Laura’s trial benefit her due to the effects of fading public rage.
A turning point in Harry’s character arc occurs when he realizes he’s truly in love with Laura. His experience has always been based on temporary attraction and an ability to have any woman he wants. His deep and unrequited feelings for Laura have a surprisingly positive impact on his character, as they undermine his excessive self-confidence and lead him to change his capricious ways.
Philip’s actions in these chapters portray him as one of the only characters with common sense. Remembering the outcome of the Columbus River appropriation, he asks Senator Dilworthy if the Hawkins family is likely to see much money from the Knobs University bill. Everyone else seems to have forgotten their experience with appropriations bills, which left Beriah and Harry in enormous debt rather than enriching them. Philip’s choice to come to DC to support Harry during a time of heartache shows that he is a loyal friend.
Washington’s penchant for Building Castles in the Sky finally begins to bow beneath the weight of disappointment. He sees how corruption is tolerated in Congress and gains a more practical understanding of schemes and speculations, realizing their promises are false. Washington starts to feel powerless over his own destiny, the long-term effect of the childhood mindset cultivated by his father and Beriah.
As the fascinating woman every man falls hopelessly in love with, Laura’s character at times seems like a trope. Other aspects of her character, however, show her to be more complex. For example, Laura’s intricate and successful strategy for defeating Mr. Trollop demonstrates her ingenuity and powers of political influence. Her actions toward Harry and Col. Selby create some ambiguity regarding her character. She uses deceit and violence against them, yet they are men who have habitually treated women with disrespect. Whether Laura is a villainous temptress or a champion of wronged women becomes a matter of public debate within the narrative.
Procedural depictions of congressional activities lend authenticity to the authors’ understanding of government and imbue the narrative voice with sufficient expertise to tell this story. The narrative voice also maintains a feminist tone throughout these chapters. For example, regarding an argument over whether women dress more for the eyes of men or other women, they conclude, “We are inclined to take a medium ground, and aver that woman dresses to please herself, and in obedience to a law of her own nature” (203). Their conclusion undermines gender stereotypes by acknowledging women’s individuality and self-determination.
Plot points throughout these chapters consistently demonstrate the prevalence of Political Corruption in the Gilded Age. Laura reveals that she has gotten most of the bill’s votes through bribery. The congressional process of investigating corruption is an absurd charade. Regarding one such investigation into a Congressman, Beriah says, “If he had been proven guilty of theft, arson, licentiousness, infanticide, and defiling graves, I believe they would have suspended him for two days” (283). His assessment humorously epitomizes the charade.
Several women in the story are forced into financial ruin because of the greed or stupidity—or both—of their husbands. Few legal or social protections afforded women financial security at the time. Ruth’s career ambitions embody this issue. She watched her father fall victim to one scheme after another and saw the effects on her mother and the family. Ruth is therefore determined to have her own source of income before considering marriage. She says to Philip, “[Y]ou men do not want women educated to do anything, to be able to earn an honest living by their own exertions. They are educated as if they were always to be petted and supported, and there was never to be any such thing as misfortune” (264). Ruth recognizes the financial risks her male counterparts seem blind to and advocates for women’s right to protect themselves against the destructive effects of greed.
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