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 52-63Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 52 Summary: “How Senator Dilworthy Advanced Washington’s Interests”
Senator Dilworthy encourages Washington to embrace his causes, including religion, temperance, and advocacy for African Americans. He capitalizes on Washington’s popularity in DC by trumpeting the young man’s involvement. Washington, who embraced schemes and speculations and dreamed of luxury for most of his life, begins to care more about morality and charity, at least in outward appearances.
Chapter 53 Summary: “Senator Dilworthy Goes West to See About His Re—election—He Becomes a Shining Light”
The Knobs University bill has passed in the House again. Senator Dilworthy feels it’s sure to pass in the Senate and no longer needs his attention, leaving him free to visit his home state to campaign for re-election. In the state’s small towns, he’s treated like a celebrity. He visits local churches and makes brilliant speeches, further endearing himself to his constituents. He convinces his most outspoken critic, Mr. Noble, to support him. Mr. Noble assures Dilworthy that he has enough pledged votes to easily win re-election.
Chapter 54 Summary: “The Trial of Laura for Murder”
Laura’s trial begins. Her primary defense attorney, Mr. Braham, believes the real battle of trial is fought over the selection of the jury. He prefers jurors who can’t read, know nothing about the case, and look at Laura with sympathy. The jury selection process takes four days. Leading the prosecution is District Attorney Mr. McFlinn. After making the prosecution’s opening statement, Mr. McFlinn calls Harry as the first witness.
Chapter 55 Summary: “The Trial Continued—Evidence of Harry Brierly”
The prosecution presents their case against Laura in two days, followed by Mr. Braham’s presentation of the defense. He paints the jury a tragic picture of the steamboat explosion that orphaned Laura. In support of their insanity defense, Mr. Braham describes Laura’s biological father as a “lunatic” who kept disappearing every time she came close to finding him. He goes on to claim the illness and delirium Laura experienced after Col. Selby first abandoned her left her mind altered and unstable.
Jurors and spectators seem favorably moved by Mr. Braham’s opening statement. Two days are taken up debating whether the defense should be allowed to have witnesses talk about the traumatic events in Laura’s childhood. Mr. Braham claims these events led to her insanity. The debated testimony is finally allowed.
Chapter 56 Summary: “The Trial Continued—Col Sellers on the Stand and Takes Advantage of the Situation”
Mrs. Hawkins, Washington, and Beriah testify in Laura’s defense, describing the profound effect Laura’s childhood traumas and later betrayal by Col. Selby had on her. Beriah makes up a story about Laura’s father having a crippled leg and a scar on his forehead, and says anytime she saw someone with these traits she became delirious, thinking she’d finally found her father.
Medical experts for the defense claim sufficient cause existed in Laura’s life to have produced insanity. Other experts refute the notion of insanity or say there’s no evidence of it in Laura’s case. Closing statements take four days, after which the jury deliberates for a full day without reaching a verdict.
Chapter 57 Summary: “The Momentous Day—Startling News—Dilworthy Denounced as a Briber and Defeated—The Bill Lost in the Senate”
Beriah assures Washington everything is about to go in their favor. The Knobs University bill will pass and make them millionaires. Laura will either be acquitted or will win on appeal. Senator Dilworthy will be re-elected.
Mr. Noble, the critic Dilworthy thought he’d won to his side, betrays the Senator. He announces Dilworthy tried to buy his vote, producing $7,000 in cash he claims Dilworthy gave him for the bribe. An outraged state legislature elects Dilworthy’s opponent by a unanimous vote. The Senate is so distracted by this scandal that they pay no attention when the Knobs University bill is brought to the floor. Nobody votes and the bill fails. Washington and Beriah receive a telegram saying Laura has been found not guilty.
Chapter 58 Summary: “Verdict, Not Guilty !—Laura Free and Receives Propositions to Lecture—Philip back at the Mines”
Because Laura is found not guilty by reason of insanity, the judge orders her to the State Hospital for Insane Criminals, to be confined until the State Commissioners on Insanity order her discharged. This development takes Laura and her family by surprise. They expected her to go free upon an acquittal. Her initial relief at the verdict turns to horror as she sees the place where she’ll be confined. The narrators interrupt to say that this is what should have happened, but there’s actually no such hospital and no legal protocol for treatment upon an insanity plea. Laura is, in fact, completely free. She refuses to go back to Missouri with Mrs. Hawkins.
A man named Mr. Griller encourages Laura to go on a lecture tour, since she’s famous and beautiful. He offers her $12,000 for 30 nights. He suggests a topic about women’s issues, but says the subject doesn’t really matter. Philip resumes his mining operation with the loan from Mr. Montague. Harry leaves for a mysterious venture on the Pacific coast.
Chapter 59 Summary: “The Investigation of the Dilworthy Bribery Case and Its Results”
In the wake of his bribery scandal, Dilworthy demands a Senate investigation—supposedly to prove his innocence—and creates a committee for the purpose. The committee sees its duty as protecting Dilworthy’s interests. While interviewing Mr. Noble, they ignore anything he says incriminating Dilworthy, saying it falls outside their scope. As the investigation plays out, it’s shown to be corrupt to the point of absurdity. The committee’s verdict is that no bribery has been proven.
Chapter 60 Summary: “Laura Decides on her Course—Attempts to Lecture and Fails—Found Dead in Her Chair”
As she contemplates her future, Laura realizes she has to start over. All her past ambitions have failed miserably. She considers marrying one of her many ardent admirers, but decides love is no longer an option for her and agrees to the lecture tour instead. She envisions herself being adored by the crowds and becoming famous. At the first event, however, only about 40 people show, and they’re only there to jeer and throw things at her. In the midst of a profound depression, Laura dies. Doctors name heart disease as the cause.
Chapter 61 Summary: “Col Sellers and Washington Hawkins Review the Situation and Leave Washington”
Clay Hawkins, who’s been living in Australia, returns to the US during Laura’s trial. When Laura dies shortly after, Clay is a comfort to Mrs. Hawkins and the rest of the family in Hawkeye.
Washington and Beriah are living together in a cheap boarding house in DC. Louise tells Washington her father has finally consented to their marriage. Washington tells Beriah he’s learned his lesson—he’s relied on wealth from the Tennessee land all his life instead of working. He vows to change that. Soon after, he gets a bill for taxes on the Tennessee land, amounting to $180. If he doesn’t pay it, the land will be sold at auction. Washington is tempted to hold on to the land and give it one more chance to pay off. Thinking about Louise, he decides against it, and considers himself free of the life-long curse.
Chapter 62 Summary: “Philip Discouraged—One More Effort—Finds Coal at Last”
Philip’s mining operation still hasn’t found coal when he runs out of money and has to discharge his workers. They all say they wish they could afford to stay and help him keep working, because he treated them well and was a supportive employer. Philip continues the work alone. Just when he’s ready to give up, he strikes the main coal vein, one so large it’s sure to make him wealthy. Then he gets a telegram saying Ruth is very ill.
Chapter 63 Summary: “Philip Leaves Ilium to see Ruth—Ruth Convalescent—Alice”
Philip hurries to Ruth’s side in Philadelphia. She nearly dies, but doesn’t. Her love for Philip gives her strength and the will to live. Philip sells the Ilium land back to Eli, making Eli financially successful again. Mr. Bigler and Mr. Small try to swindle Eli out of his newfound wealth, but Eli turns them away. Alice gives her full blessing to Ruth and Philip’s relationship, keeping her heartache over Philip to herself. The two lovers are grateful and foresee a happy future together.
Chapters 52-63 Analysis
Laura’s trial proceedings in this part of the narrative allow for an exploration of accountability and the subjective nature of sanity. Experts offer conflicting testimony about whether past trauma can create an altered mental state, and whether that altered mental state releases an individual from responsibility for their actions, mirroring philosophical debates still ongoing today. As a setting, the courtroom is yet another environment in which emotional manipulation takes precedence over facts and logic.
Narrative tension is high in this section, as three important events are imminent. The main characters wait with bated breath for the Knobs University bill vote, Senator Dilworthy’s re-election, and a verdict in Laura’s trial. Their various optimistic predictions for these events create irony, especially as Beriah, whom the reader by now knows not to trust, insists everything will go their way.
This section of the narrative employs an innovative technique in which the authors criticize the outcome of the trial by first reporting a false scene, then interrupting to say the preceding scene was what should have happened, not what really happened. The reader is led to believe the verdict of not-guilty by reason of insanity results in Laura’s being committed to a mental hospital for the public’s safety. The inclusion of this false scene emphasizes the lack of logic in deciding someone not mentally sound enough to avoid killing someone should be released with no protective measures.
Delivering speeches in his home state, using Washington as the new face of his benevolent causes, Dilworthy reveals his impressive rhetorical skills and demonstrates that, in an easily manipulated society, personality is more valuable than competence.
Washington’s character transformation begins with a change in values at the surface level, encouraged by Dilworthy, and culminates in a true epiphany. He finally recognizes the folly of spending his entire life dreaming of wealth rather than working for it, chasing it “as children chase butterflies” (336). With this realization comes the understanding that he would probably have riches by now if he’d tried to earn them by his own toil. He vows to devote his life going forward to hard work.
Philip’s also undergoes a transformation, which becomes apparent in his approach to his coal mining operation. His initial state was defined by entitlement and an unwillingness to commit to a job. Building Castles in the Sky, he dreamed of future wealth without doing what was necessary to succeed. By the novel’s final chapters, he’s so dedicated to his endeavor he continues the grueling work alone after having to release his crew. Disappointments and failed speculations throughout the novel create an expectation that this dream, too, will fail. Ironically, Philip does find the coal vein and strikes it rich. The reason for this unexpected outcome, perhaps, is that for once he paired a dream with the necessary investment of his own time and labor. His decision after this to re-convey the Ilium land to Eli shows him to have become a rare exception to the affliction of always wanting more, the curse of greed.
The satiric style at times resembles absurdism, though the rise of absurdism as a literary genre won’t occur until the 1950s and 1960s. The most notable example is Senator Dilworthy’s appointment of a committee to investigate the accusations against him. Upon hearing Mr. Noble’s evidence that Senator Dilworthy engaged in bribery, a committee member declares it “all outside the case” and “a plain reflection upon a brother Senator,” to which the Chairman says letting Mr. Noble have his say is the quickest way to get through the process and “the evidence need have no weight” (324). This laughable investigation into Political Corruption in the Gilded Age aligns with absurdism’s depictions of meaningless actions and the abasement of reason.
Epiphanies by Washington and Philip help establish the book’s thematic messages about greed and chasing wealth by investing in speculations. They compare their fruitless efforts to chasing butterflies and note they live in an era when “everybody seeks sudden fortune and will not lay one up by slow toil” (341). The authors portray this dream of sudden riches as a fever, a contagion that has taken over the temperament of the nation and overshadowed the influence of common sense.
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