Essay Questions

Why does Sir Williams undermine Liberty?

Sir William claims, “our lads’ head are crammed with the philosophy and rhetoric and history of those-liberty loving Greeks and Romans. This is the pernicious lore that has poisoned our academic fountains. Liberty, what is it! Daughter of disloyalty and mother of all misrule- who, from the hour that she tempted our first parents to forfeit paradise, hath ever worked mischief to our race.” Here, Sir William equates Liberty to evil. According to his observation Liberty contributed to sinning in the Bible. Therefore, he insists that liberty should not be encouraged for it encourages mischievous acts.

Explain the Moral lesson from William Fletcher’s personality.

Sedgwick explains, “There was no accommodating flexibility in his principles, his fidelity to what he deemed his duty could not have been subdued by the fires of martyrdom, and he did not hesitate to sacrifice what was dearer than life to it. He took the resolution at once to fly from the temptation, that, present, he dared not trust himself to resist.” Although William Fletcher is smitten by Alice, he realizes that he is in a “spiritual warfare” when Sir Williams insists that he should give up his involvement in courses associated with “liberty and religion.” William Fletcher resolves to give up his love for Alice and the possibility of being his uncle’s heir by sticking to his ideologies which is a categorical indicator of his integrity. If William Fletcher were a hypocrite, he would give in into his uncle’s demands to enjoy the immense benefits which would be ascribed from marrying Alice. William Fletcher chooses the high road of upholding his integrity.