Reveries of a Bachelor : Or, A Book of the Heart Symbols, Allegory and Motifs

Reveries of a Bachelor : Or, A Book of the Heart Symbols, Allegory and Motifs

Lottery

The speaker states, “Does a man buy a ticket in a lottery - poor man whose whole earnings go in to secure the ticket - without trembling, hesitating, and doubting?” The figurative lottery relates to the precarious nature of marriage. Purchasing a lottery is analogous to the resolution to embrace matrimony.

Flame

The bachelor states, “Love is a flame, ruminated I; and (glancing round the room) how a flame brightens up a man’s habitation.” The physical flame activates the bachelor’s cheerfulness in the same way that Eros stimulates passion.

Cigarettes

The bachelor describes cigarettes as: “Clean and sweet…and a most pleasant soother of disturbed feelings; and a capital companion; and a comforter.'' The bachelor’s portrayal of the cigarettes surmises that he ratifies smoking to soothe oneself and for companionship. By such logic, the bachelor is a smoker unlike his aunt who regards the cigars as dirty.

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