Chapter 20 Summary

Mr. Arabin is introduced and his career as a religious scholar is explained. He is forty years old, unmarried, with a reputation as a fierce debater on religious issues. His own religious experience has been problematic because his mentor in college converted to Catholicism. Mr. Arabin considered a similar conversion but decided to remain in the Church of England after a long inner struggle. On his return to Oxford he became a leading figure of the High Church and takes part in all debates about reform. He is strictly against reform of any kind and always sides with the established church leadership.

Mr. Arabin enters the Archdeacon's home and makes a negligible impression on the other members of the household. Personally, he is very interested in the Archdeacon's family life because he does not have any of his own. He reconsiders his own...