Barry Lyndon (1975) · 20 quotes
Most-quoted character in Barry Lyndon (1975): in 15 of its 20 quotes
A line from NarratorIt is well to dream of glorious war in a snug armchair at home, but it is a very different thing to see it first hand. And after the death of his friend, Barry's thoughts turned from those of military glory to those of finding a way to escape the service to which he was now tied for another six years. Gentlemen may talk of the age of chivalry, but remember the ploughmen, poachers and pickpockets whom they lead. It is with these sad instruments that your great warriors and kings have been doing their murderous work in the world.
Narrator No lad who has liberty for the first time, and twenty guineas in his pocket, is very sad, and Barry rode towards Dublin thinking not so much of the kind mother left alone, and of the home behind him, but of tomorrow, and all the wonders it would bring.
Narrator Barry's first taste of battle was only a skirmish against a small rearguard of Frenchmen who occupied an orchard beside a road down which, a few hours later, the English main force would wish to pass. Though this encounter is not recorded in any history books, it was memorable enough for those who took part.
Narrator A lady who sets her heart upon a lad in uniform must prepare to change lovers pretty quickly, or her life will be but a sad one. This heart of Lieschen's was like many a neighbouring town and had been stormed and occupied several times before Barry came to invest it.
Narrator The Prussian service was considerably worse than the English. The life that the private soldier led was a frightful one. Punishment was incessant, and every officer had the right to inflict it. The gauntlet was the most common penalty for minor offences. The more serious ones were punishable by mutilation or death. At the close of the Seven Years' War, the army, so renowned for it's disciplined valour, was officered by native Prussians. But it was composed, for the most part, of men from the lowest levels of humanity, hired or stolen from almost every nation in Europe. Thus Barry fell into the very worst of courses and company and was soon very far advanced in the science of every kind of misconduct.
Narrator Five years in the army, and some considerable experience of the world, had by now dispelled any of those romantic notions regarding love with which Barry commenced life. And he began to have it in mind, as so many gentlemen had done before him, to marry a woman of fortune and condition. And, as such things so often happen, these thoughts closely coincided with his setting first sight upon a lady who will henceforth play a considerable part in the drama of his life: the Countess of Lyndon, Viscountess Bullingdon of England, Baroness of Castle Lyndon of the Kingdom of Ireland, a woman of vast wealth and great beauty. She was the wife of The Right Honourable Sir Charles Reginald Lyndon, Knight of the Bath, and Minister to George III at several of the smaller Courts of Europe, a cripple, wheeled about in a chair, worn out by gout and a myriad of diseases. Her Ladyship's Chaplain, Mr. Runt, acted in the capacity of tutor to her son, the little Viscount Bullingdon, a melancholy little boy, much attached to his mother.
Narrator Barry was born clever enough at gaining a fortune, but incapable of keeping one. For the qualities and energies which lead a man to triumph in the former case are often the very cause of his undoing in the latter.
Narrator If he had murdered Lord Bullingdon, Barry could hardly be received with greater contempt and coldness than what now followed him in town and country...Now all the bills came down on him at once, with hasty abandon. Their amount was frightful, and Her Ladyship's income was hampered all but irretrievably to satisfy these claims.
Narrator Barry had his faults, but none could say of him that he was not a good and tender father. He loved his son with a blind impartiality, denying him nothing. It is impossible to convey what high hopes he had for the boy, and how he indulged in fond anticipation of young Bryan's future success. But Fate had determined that he should leave none of his race behind him...and that he should finish his life poor, lonely, and childless.
Narrator Utterly baffled and beaten, what was the lonely and broken-hearted man to do? He took the annuity and returned to Ireland with his mother to complete his recovery. Sometime later he travelled to the Continent. His life there, we have not the means of following accurately. But he appears to have resumed his former profession of a gambler without his former success. He never saw Lady Lyndon again.
Narrator If he had murdered Lord Bullingdon, Barry could hardly be received with greater contempt and coldness than what now followed him in town and country. His friends fell away from him. And a legend arose of his cruelty to his stepson.
Narrator Now all the bills came down on him together. All the bills he had been contracting for the years of his marriage and which the creditors sent in with a hasty unanimity. Their amount was frightful. Barry was now bound up in an inextricable toil of bills and debts, of mortgages and insurances, and in all the evils attendant upon them. And Lady Lyndon's income was hampered almost irretrievably to satisfy these claims.
Narrator It was in the reign of George III that the aforesaid personages lived and quarreled; Good or bad, handsome or ugly, rich or poor, they are all equal now.
Gentlemen, **** your pistols! Gentlemen...
Narrator Barry's father...
...aim your pistols!
Narrator ...had been bred, like many other young sons of a genteel family, to the profession of the law.
One!
Narrator And there is no doubt he would've...
Two!
Narrator ...made an eminent figure in his profession...
Three!
Narrator ...had he not been killed in a duel, which arose over the purchase of some horses.
Sir, I... I have a confession to make to you. I'm an Irishman. And my name is Redmond Barry. I was abducted into the Prussian army two years ago, and now have been put into your service by my Captain Potzdorf, and his uncle, the Minister of Police... to serve as a watch upon your... actions... and to give information to the same quarter.
Narrator The Chevalier was as much affected as Barry at thus finding one of his countrymen. For he too was an exile from home, and a friendly voice, a look, brought the old country back to his memory again.
