The Rake's Progress

A rakish nobleman’s extravagance and romantic impulsiveness imperil his family and reputation, drawing observant friends and relations into schemes, reproaches, and scandal. Courtship, bargains, and secret letters give way to public exposure, duels, legal and social pressures, and entanglements that test loyalties between a devoted observer, a woman whose confession clarifies tangled affairs, and a brother whose homecoming escalates conflict. Interventions by relatives and acquaintances alternate with manipulations and appeals, leading to moral reckonings, confrontations, and attempts at restitution. The story is arranged in three parts that move from gaiety and flirtation through crisis and entrapment to confession and resolution.