The Adventures of Roderick Random

Melinda’s Public Humiliation

Melinda’s Public Humiliation

The barber’s ridiculous performance at the ball draws the ridicule of the entire assembly upon Melinda. So ashamed is she that, before the country dances begin, she retreats in confusion under pretence of sudden illness and is unable to show her face in public for many weeks afterwards. When Chatter can offer the curious no more than the general account that the barber is a man of fortune just returned from his travels, female curiosity is left unsatisfied and the affair becomes a public scandal.

Revenge Scheme Fallout

Revenge Scheme Fallout

Next day the barber, in pure simplicity of heart, reveals himself and the foundation of his hopes to Melinda, who is sickened by the affront. Poor Chatter finds it impossible to justify himself to her satisfaction; he falls into utter disgrace with Miss Gripewell for having imposed the narrator upon her as a nobleman; and his character and influence among the ladies in general suffer very much from the debacle.

Financial Decline and Alcohol Abuse

Financial Decline and Alcohol Abuse

The narrator’s finances have diminished by more than half, and his projects remain no further advanced than on his first day in town. He despairs of success and grows melancholy at the prospect of approaching want. To dispel these horrors he has recourse to the bottle, keeps more company than ever, and grows particularly attached to the playhouse and the company of templars. By these means he learns to shove aside gloomy reflections and call in agreeable reveries, though Strap, his faithful squire, is reduced by grief to the resemblance of a mere skeleton.