Mr. Casaubon Timeline and Summary

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Mr. Casaubon Timeline and Summary

  • Mr. Casaubon spends his youth and middle age working on the research for a book called "The Key to All Mythologies."
  • Because his aunt was cut out of the family will after her marriage to a poor Polish artist, Casaubon feels guilty and helps to support her grandson, Will Ladislaw.
  • He decides he should get married at some point, and meets Dorothea.
  • Dorothea is smart enough to double as a secretary! Awesome!
  • Mr. Casaubon marries Dorothea and takes her to Rome for their honeymoon.
  • The trip to Rome can double as a research trip!
  • While in Rome, they run into his cousin, Will Ladislaw.
  • Casaubon watches jealously as his young wife strikes up a friendship with his cousin.
  • Back in England, Casaubon drums up an excuse to keep Will from visiting them at Lowick.
  • Mr. Casaubon has a minor heart attack and fears that another will come along and keep him from finishing the "Key to All Mythologies."
  • Casaubon continues to feel jealous of Dorothea and Will, and is suspicious that Will wants to make Dorothea dislike him.
  • He adds a codicil to his will that says that if Dorothea remarries to Will Ladislaw, she will forfeit all her inheritance.
  • Mr. Casaubon wants to make Dorothea promise to live out her widowhood in a way that he would approve, but Dorothea hesitates.
  • The next day he dies.