Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Kingdom of Matthias, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Patriarchy, Family, and Society
Religion, Perfectionism, and Insanity
Race, Prejudice, and Resilience
Rural Life and Urban Culture
Desire, Relationships, and Sexual Freedom
Summary
Analysis
Elijah Pierson has redesigned his home to make it suitable for prayer. All extravagant furnishings have been removed and replaced with simple items. Nonetheless, Matthews (who now goes by Matthias) can tell that the home is a rich man’s house. Matthias thinks that Pierson’s religious behavior is all wrong: Pierson seems weak and soft-minded, he prays for women, he grieves lost children, and he cries a lot. Matthias tells Pierson that the real religious task is to save the world from sinners, preachy women, and anyone who puts men down.
When Matthews and Elijah meet, Matthews immediately sees Elijah as emotionally weak, religiously sincere, and rich. This provides Matthews with a clear opportunity to attract a follower with ample financial resources. The book hints that Matthews wants to leverage Elijah’s money and platform to regain his own patriarchal power.
Themes
Matthias explains that God spoke to him and turned him to the “Prophet Matthias” on June 20, 1830. Elijah is shocked: he recalls that God spoke to him on the exact same day and made him “Elijah the Tishbite.” Matthias convinces Elijah that they are both prophets on the same mission, and that God has sent Matthias to take charge. They wash each other’s feet, and Elijah hands over control of his mission to Matthias. Elijah never preaches again.
Matthias and Elijah bond over their shared prophetic experiences, but the book suggests that Matthias also manipulates the grieving, vulnerable Elijah. The foot-washing ritual comes from the Gospel of John, when Jesus encouraged his disciples to wash one another’s feet as a sign of humility. However, Matthias clearly sees himself as Elijah’s superior, not his equal.
Themes
Within a couple weeks, Matthias decides that the accommodation on Bowery Hill isn’t good enough for him, and he moves into the more extravagant home of a man named Sylvester Mills. Matthias delivers frequent rage-filled sermons, saying that men who try to educate, empower, or uplift women are doing the devil’s work, because women are evil and must be controlled. Matthias also rages against people who drink wine in bowls, tailors who hire women, clergymen, doctors, lawyers, and everybody who wears glasses. Matthias pronounces himself as the “Spirit of Truth—the male governing spirit, or God,” who’s arrived to set the course of history right from the Christians who got everything wrong.
As before, it’s not entirely clear if Matthias simply wants to exploit people like Elijah and Sylvester Mills in order to live like a wealthy, powerful man (a lifestyle to which he feels entitled), or if he is genuinely suffering from mental delusions triggered by his religious extremism. His increasingly erratic sermons—and his conviction that he alone holds the truth—suggest that he is mentally delusional.
Themes
Matthias preaches that all the Christians who believe that women should be motherly moral guides are actually just trying to steal women from their fathers. Matthias predicts that the world will burn to the ground, and that he will lead all the righteous men (his followers) to rebuild the earth and live in luxury. In this new world, men’s wives will happily focus on cleaning homes and obeying their husbands. There will be no money trade, wages, or economic oppression, and each father will live in abundance, taking care of his own family. Matthias predicts that he’ll reside in a temple on a golden throne, next to Sylvester Mills and Elijah Pierson (who’ll sit on smaller thrones).
Matthias’s sermons explicitly expose how strongly patriarchal his views are—he argues that any attempts to give mothers more power in the home are inherently sinful because they reduce fatherly authority in domestic settings. There is no question here that Matthias is dead set on reclaiming a picture of the world in which men have complete authority in all aspects of domestic and social life, in a distorted caricature of his childhood community.
Themes
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Matthias tells Sylvester and Elijah that he needs to stop wearing rags and that his lifestyle must reflect a prophet’s. He orders extravagant silver tableware, an expensive carriage, elaborate silk and velvet clothes, and giant gold chains to wear around his neck. He walks around town and yells at people about sin. Most of the people who attend his sermons are appalled: they think that Matthias is mad. They worry about Elijah, who looks increasingly unkempt and follows Matthias around like a terrified servant. Despite this, Elijah is convinced that Sarah will now return from the dead, and he feels happy at the thought.
Matthias continues to indulge his desire to seem like a wealthy, powerful man by dressing more extravagantly. His attempts to seem authoritative, however, tend to backfire: most people assume that he’s insane rather than respectable. Elijah’s obsession with bringing Sarah back from the dead shows that his religious delusions make him susceptible to manipulation: he’s effectively handed over control of his money, home, and freedom to Matthias.
Themes
Matthias systematically drives away all the women in Elijah and Sylvester’s circle (except for the faithful Isabella van Wagenen, who supports their cause). Matthias whips any women who try to enter the house. He says they’re sinful for assuming that God talks to women. Even Mrs. Bolton, who ran Elijah’s asylum, flees. Eventually, Sylvester’s brother Levi Andrew Mills has Matthias arrested for fraud. The police forcibly remove Matthias and place him in an insane asylum. Soon after, Elijah successfully contests the charges, and Matthias is released. Elijah continues supporting Matthias for another year, from 1832-1833.
Matthias clearly displays a lot of dysfunctional, hostile rage against women. His resentment and violence towards women underscore how dangerous and marginalizing male rage (at the threat of losing power in American society) can be. Elijah continues to let his delusional desire to resurrect Sarah from the dead dismantle his life—so much so that he retrieves Matthias from prison and reinstates him as the authority figure in his life, while his own physical and mental condition deteriorates.
Themes
During that year, Elijah visits Benjamin and Ann Folger in Hudson County. Elijah looks frightening with his wild beard and long nails, yet he somehow manages to convince the Folgers that they need to abandon their Christian faith and follow his new religion: this means they must stop praying and going to church, and that Ann must obey the men at all times. Elijah moves in, and soon after, Matthias arrives. Matthias claims to be an angel, so the Folgers invite him to stay, as they’re afraid to provoke him and anger God. A few weeks later, Isabella Van Wagenen follows and moves in as well.
Elijah’s unkempt appearance reinforces the idea that his delusions are causing his physical condition to decline. Similarly, his devotion to Matthias (originally to Christianity) has pushed him to the point of rejecting Christianity altogether in favor of Matthias’s new religion, showing how helplessly vulnerable he is. His insistence that Ann must obey men at all times stresses, once more, that Matthias’s vision is centered on reclaiming male authority over women.
Themes
Matthias calls his new home “Mount Zion.” He swiftly proclaims himself the household patriarch and takes control, giving orders to everybody else. Matthias effectively revives the rural lifestyle he grew up with: the men work in the garden, and the women work in the house. He also recruits a tailor to sew him more clothes and uses Benjamin’s money to buy an expensive watch, sword, and more jewelry. While fashions are evolving at the time to favor simpler, more casual clothing, Matthias dresses himself up like an extravagant military ruler from a bygone era, except he keeps his wild, long hair and beard. Indoors, he wears elaborate silk nightcaps. He convinces everyone that his attire has religious significance.
The name Mount Zion evokes the holy city of Jerusalem, showing that Matthias wants to portray his home as heaven on earth. Matthias is clearly consumed with the idea of reviving the traditional, rural lifestyle that he grew up with, so he establishes himself as a father-figure running his own household at Mount Zion. This gives him the kind of power and authority that seemed beyond his reach when he moved to the city. It’s clear, however, that Matthias uses his power for selfish reasons (for example, purchasing luxurious clothing for himself with other people’s money and making others serve him). Matthias’s behavior highlights how easy it is to abuse a position of power for personal gain.
Themes
Matthias also creates many rules about the household’s food. He bans pork, roast meats, pies, and desserts, but he allows plentiful boiled fish and poultry, accompanied with vegetables and fruit. Matthias claims that his rules come from God, but in truth, he favors simple country food over the trendy food favored by emerging middle-class households, which shift in the 1800s to focus on roast meats and baked goods. Matthias always sits at the head of the table and eats from silver bowls that the women serve him. The others eat and drink from simple tableware. All these rituals resemble traditions from his upbringing in Coila.
Matthias continues attempting to recreate the lifestyle he knew in his childhood community (in Coila). His resentment of middle-class urban culture (which destabilizes fatherly authority in the home) shines through when he bans foods that have become fashionable among upwardly mobile people. His behavior (in forcing the women to serve him, and in prohibiting others from using luxurious items like silver bowls) underscores how easy it is for men to abuse their power in the home to benefit themselves when they have total, unchecked authority.
Themes
At dinner time, Matthias delivers angry sermons and punishments aimed at shaming and disciplining the family. Elijah is no longer allowed to pray and practice loving kindness towards women and children. When things go well, Matthias praises his family for obeying him. When they don’t, he threatens to curse, blind, and kill them with his magical powers. One time, he even whips Isabella Van Wagenen because she falls ill. After seeing this, the others hide their illnesses and keep working. Curiously, Ann believes in Matthias’s methods. She swears that all her ailments and problems disappear under Matthias’s watchful eye.
Matthias’s sermons also replicate his childhood community’s practices of publicly shaming people who don’t follow their rules. Elijah’s tendency to want to be as perfect as possible in religious matters makes him obey Matthias, while the others obey out of fear (exposing how abusive fear-based religious compliance can be). Matthias marginalizes and oppresses children, women, and people of color (like his Black servant Isabella Van Wagenen) the most, highlighting who suffers the most in patriarchal communities. Ann’s enthusiasm seems odd and out of place compared to the others’ fear and drudgery. This suggests that she may have other motives for supporting Matthias.
Themes
After several months, things take a sour turn, and Isabella Van Wagenen witnesses the turning point. Isabella’s life story begins around 1797, when she’s born as a slave. She’s separated from her family, sold to an older man, and forced to bear children. She takes solace in religion. Despite her subservient background, Isabella is a formidable woman. When her owner refuses to liberate her, she abandons her family and runs away to New York. That year, in 1827, New York bans slavery. Isabella later petitions to gain custody of her children and liberates them too.
Isabella Van Wagenen’s early life story exposes how strong and resilient she is. Despite suffering the most abuses of any other character (such as enslavement and sexual violence), Isabella refuses to submit to oppression: she emancipates herself, and she even uses the law to help emancipate others. This is an awe-inspiring feat in a society that has very few legal rights for women and people of color.
Themes
When Isabella Van Wagenen moves to New York, she finds work as a servant and joins a Methodist church. She’s drawn to Methodist ideas that celebrate love and equality between all people. She also starts believing that God is all around her, and she notices little signs of his presence in her day-to-day life. In 1831, Isabella meets Elijah Pierson through the African Methodist church, and she joins his household. She meets Matthias soon after, and—judging by his wild beard and strange appearance—she assumes that he’s an incarnation of Jesus. She is, however, surprised that Matthias is more angry than loving. Nonetheless, when Elijah begins following Matthias’s teachings, Isabella follows suit.
Isabella’s religious awakening makes her more open to becoming Matthias’s follower. This suggests that religious devotion might make people vulnerable to exploitation, an idea that the authors will pick up again towards the end of the book. Isabella joins Matthias’s cause because she really believes in it, suggesting that her motivations are religious. However, it’s clear that she is not completely blind in her devotion: she notices Matthias’s hostility, which makes her hesitate at first. The book hints that Isabella will show greater discernment and resilience in the end.
Themes
Isabella Van Wagenen moves into the Folgers’ home upstate, but she starts having doubts about her situation when she notices that Ann Folger and Matthias are developing a romantic bond. Ann starts dressing more seductively, wearing perfume, and giving Matthias gifts. They take long walks and talk for hours on end. On these walks, they talk a lot about marriage. Matthias tells Ann that women shouldn’t choose their partners: only his prophetic vision can decide who should be together, based on how well their spirits match. Soon enough, Matthias convinces Ann that God has decided they should be together, because their spirits match.
It now becomes clear why Ann is so enthusiastic about Matthias’s rules: she is developing an attraction to him. This suggests that her motivations are romantic rather than primarily religious. Matthias also begins adding new rules to his religion when he begins to desire Ann, confirming that he, too, doesn’t have purely religious motives. With her misgivings about the situation, Isabella continues to show that she is more discerning than the rest.
Themes
Over the next few days, Isabella Van Wagenen notices Ann and Matthias sitting by the fire in the evenings and staring deeply into each other’s eyes. The family bathes every week, but usually the men bathe separately from the women. One evening, Isabella is appalled when Ann goes into the bathroom to “bathe” Matthias and winds up staying alone with him for several hours. It seems to Isabella that Ann (who used to be so humble and chaste) is acting impiously by being so seductive. It also seems strange to Isabella that Matthias (who’s supposedly a godly figure) is so easily swayed by Ann’s charms.
It’s implied that rather than actually bathing Matthias, Ann is having a sexual relationship with him. Matthias and Ann’s behavior continues underscoring that their desire—rather than their religious convictions—motivates them. Isabella, in contrast, notices that Matthias is changing his rules, and this makes her doubt his authority. Isabella’s doubts suggest that her motivations are strictly religious: she only wants to obey Matthias if he’s actually embodying godly behavior and encouraging it in others.
Themes
Meanwhile, Ann’s husband, Benjamin Folger, is in New York City trying to salvage the remains of his swiftly declining reputation. Over the last year, Benjamin has made business decisions and trades based on Elijah’s visions, and most of these decisions have been bad ones. That week, Ann and Elijah visit Benjamin in New York. They tell Benjamin that he needs to give Ann up to Matthias so that the pair can have a holy son. Benjamin is horrified, but he eventually agrees. The group return upstate, and a forlorn Benjamin watches Ann marry Matthias. Ann and Matthias retire to bed together, while Benjamin wanders around the house feeling lost and crying out Ann’s name.
Elijah’s delusions continue to wreak havoc around him. They destroyed his own career, and now they are starting to destroy Benjamin’s career. This suggests, as before, that Elijah’s religious obsession drives him to delusions that negatively affect those around him. Ann and Matthias, meanwhile, exploit their power to pursue a sexual relationship. Benjamin’s despair stresses that this arrangement is not strictly consensual for everyone involved: Benjamin is coerced into agreeing to share his wife.
Themes
A few months later, Matthias sends Benjamin to Albany to fetch his children from Margaret. Margaret is surprised that Matthias is still alive, but she thinks that Benjamin is a respectable man. Margaret assumes that Matthias is finally doing right by his family, so she lets her two children (20-year-old Isabella Laisdell and 11-year-old Johnny) leave with Benjamin for a visit. Isabella Laisdell is already married, but she goes anyway. That night, Benjamin slips into Isabella Laisdell’s bed and has sex with her. In the morning, Isabella Laisdell is reluctant to follow Matthias’s rules, but he whips her into submission. Matthias decides that Isabella Laisdell and Benjamin should get married. Matthias conducts the marriage ceremony himself.
It's clear from Benjamin’s financial and romantic struggles that he’s not feeling empowered by the community at Mount Zion. However, when Matthias’s daughter (Isabella Laisdell) arrives on the scene, Benjamin decides to keep participating in the community because he desires her. Benjamin’s motivations, too, seem to be fueled by sexual attraction. When Matthias beats Isabella Laisdell, he again exposes how dysfunctional his power is: he abuses those under him to keep them in line.
Themes
