Question

Examine closely Goldsmiths description of the man in black

Answer 1

Best known for his comic play She Stoops to Conquer and the novel The Vicar of Wakefield, Oliver Goldsmith was also one of the most prominent essayists of the 18th century. "The Character of the Man in Black" (originally published in the Public Ledger) appears in Goldsmith's most popular essay collection, The Citizen of the World.

Though Goldsmith said that the Man in Black was modeled on his father, an Anglican curate, more than one critic has observed that thecharacter "bears a striking resemblance" to the author:

In fact, Goldsmith himself seems to have had difficulty reconciling his philosophic opposition to charity with his own tenderness toward the poor--the conservative with the man of feeling. . . . As foolishly "luxurious" as Goldsmith may have considered [the Man in Black's] behavior, he apparently found it natural and almost unavoidable for a "man of sentiment."



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