Gismond is Browning's hero. He is the resolute man who does not
hesitate, who makes himself instantly master of the situation, who
appears like Lohengrin in the moment of Elsa's sharp distress, a
messenger from Heaven.
Or, if virtue feeble were,
Heaven itself would stoop to her.
When the lady was publicly accused by the scoundrel Gauthier, I
suppose many men said, "What a pity that so fair a woman should be
so foul!" Others said gravely, "This matter ought to be judicially
examined." Gismond was the only man who realised that a defenseless
orphan was insulted, and the words were hardly out of Gauthier's
mouth when he received "the fist's reply to the filth." The lovers
walked away from the "shouting multitude," the fickle, cowardly,
contemptible public, who did not dare to defend the lady in her need,
but had lungs enough for the victor, whoever he might be. It is
pleasant to notice the prayer of the lady for the dead Gauthier.
"I hope his soul is in heaven." This is no mere Christian forgiveness.
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