The Vicar of Wakefield is a delightful tragicomedy of character and manners set in 18th-century England. The sufferings and fortitude of Doctor Primrose and his family at the hands of evil fortune make this a Book of Job transferred to the domestic stage. This is a classic novel that has baffled the critics, because no one is certain if it was intended as a sincere moral tale, or a sly satire on the chaotic, Hogarthian world in which Goldsmith, despite his brilliance, struggled in vain to survive.