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
There is a media frenzy after the trial: popular opinion holds that Matthias got off too easy, especially given that he prevented Elijah Pierson from getting medical help when Elijah was deathly ill. Many newspaper articles sensationalize the risk of people being corrupted by new cults. Mordecai Manuel Noah publishes a damning article calling for Americans to reflect on a society that allows such radical religious cults to exist at all. William Leete Stone’s book also warns about the dangers of religious extremism. Margaret, however, releases a pamphlet arguing that Matthias’s religious childhood was not to blame for his turn to extremism.
The press attention to the trial reveals that emerging social values are shifting to become more critical of religion’s influence on American society. Journalists worry that people who are raised in strict religious communities (as well as people who obsess over religious perfectionism) become consumed by the effort, which makes them vulnerable to dangerous phenomena like cults.
Themes
Meanwhile, Isabella Van Wagenen is angry that Stone’s book depicts her as an evil villainess who single-handedly helped Matthias corrupt Ann and Benjamin Folger and murder Elijah. So, she seeks out an editor named Gilbert Vale to publish the truth. Vale is an anti-racist radical British immigrant, labor rights activist, and prominent public figure who opposes the strong influence of religion in American culture. So, it’s odd that he would side with Isabella Van Wagenen, considering her support of Matthias’s cult. Vale, however, dislikes the overall narrative of the trial: depicted as one in which “good” Christian people like the Folgers were corrupted by the “blasphemous” Matthias and his Black servant, Isabella Van Wagenen.
Ann and Benjamin attempt to discredit Isabella Van Wagenen because they know she’s an easy target as a marginalized Black woman. This exposes the racism in American society. Isabella continues showing her resilience, shrewd ability to gather allies, and commitment to justice, despite the oppression she faces. Isabella’s actions—in fighting back, smartly—show that Black women are far more resourceful and intelligent than their society tends to give them credit for.
Themes
Vale knows that Isabella Van Wagenen, as a Black woman, will have a hard time convincing the public of her version of events against Ann and Benjamin Folger, who are white. So, Vale pores over the historical details, looking for “white evidence” to support Isabella Van Wagenen’s story. He successfully unearths many details about Matthias’s cult that were suppressed in the Folgers’ version of the story—especially the sexual relationships between the cult members, which the Folgers successfully covered up during the trial. However, by the time Vale releases his book, public interest has moved on to several new murder scandals.
Vale’s worry about the public accepting Isabella’s story further exposes the racism in American society: the public, it seems, is far more willing to accept the testimony of a white person than that of a Black person. The fact that Vale has to find evidence from white people to corroborate Isabella’s story further underscores society’s tendency to unfairly discredit, blame, and villainize people of color. Vale also reveals that many cult members concealed their sexual antics when the scandal over the cult broke out. This shows that even people who consented to it (like Ann) worry about being judged—and persecuted—for their non-traditional sexual behavior. This suggests that sexual freedom is not yet broadly acceptable in American society.
Themes
Although public interest in the scandal wanes, future writers like Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Herman Melville draw inspiration from it, along with other urban crime stories involving immorality, delusional people, and imposters. They largely focus on the evils of American society, beneath the cultural veneer of “ingenuity and innocence.” Herman Melville’s book Moby Dick even contains a chapter about a prophet named “Elijah.” Melville also publishes another book, The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade, which features a mysterious stranger posing as Christ (and sometimes the Devil) who dresses in elaborate, colorful clothes. This might be an implicit reference to Matthias.
Writers who reference the scandal leverage it to undermine American society’s depiction of itself as progressive and wholesome. Like the authors, such writers address dysfunctional religious behavior (and how it relates to mental suffering), male rage, and tensions between emerging urban society and more traditional rural farming communities. They see Matthias’s cult as a situation that exposes limiting and problematic undercurrents in American society.
Themes
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Matthias’s cult also influences American society. Although Matthias’s anti-Finneyite agenda collapses (with only Isabella Van Wagenen remaining true to its cause until the end), other anti-Finneyite religions—like the Mormon faith—thrive. Since the 1830s, many men resembling Matthias have formed small cults, many ushering in different norms about sexual behavior. Some Americans view these as dangerous. Others think that such cults question pre-existing social norms, and this might be a good thing. One thing that’s certain is that Matthias’s cult is not an isolated case: many people like Matthias have continuously been part of the United States’ history. Such people—who still exist in American society today—feel rage at the disintegration of “holy patriarchy.”
Though Matthias’s cult might seem like just a quirky historical anomaly, cults are actually relatively common in American society. The authors suggest that marginal movements thrive when individualistic urban cultures—which tend to be more progressive—collide with (and appear to threaten) traditional ways of life. Matthias’s cult thus symbolizes a trend: namely, it captures the anger and resentment among those, often men, who feel left behind by an evolving society, and their dysfunctional attempts to regain privilege and authority. Some people suggest that cults like Matthias’s have some societal benefit, because they expose hidden problems (like the anger of the disenfranchised, or problematic sexual behaviors). In any case, the book argues that such cultural clashes continue today.
Themes
As for the people involved in Matthias’s cult, Sylvester Mills winds up in an insane asylum, and then resumes his life as a merchant, avoiding religion from that point on. Catherine Galloway and several others in the cult disappear from historical record. Nobody knows what happens to them. Isabella Laisdell resumes her married life with Charles Laisdell. Margaret Matthews stays in New York and regularly visits Matthias in prison. She writes a book about Matthias and plans to get a divorce, but it’s not clear if she succeeds. Ann and Benjamin Folger reintegrate with their Christian community relatively easily. Benjamin starts making successful business deals again.
Even though many cult members suffer as a result of their involvement in the cult, at least some of them manage to resume functional lives. Such people, namely the Folgers, Isabella Laisdell, and Sylvester Mills are all able to adjust their behavior and values so that they can reintegrate into society. This suggests that being able to adapt, accept, and comply with evolving social values serves a person far better than stubbornly refusing to change.
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Nobody knows what happens to the daughter whom Ann conceives during her time in the cult. A minister named Reverend William Creighton buys Benjamin’s estate, which becomes a celebrity gathering spot. Isadora Duncan and Sandra Bernhard perform there for future president Henry Ford. Orville and Wilbur Wright use the lawn to fly their airplane.
The estate where the cult lived ends up becoming a playground for wealthy urban socialites. The future of the estate shows that many rural communities eventually become absorbed by the urban way of life (which celebrates entertainment and pleasure and technical innovation more than religious and other traditional, communal values).
Themes
Matthias serves four months in prison. When he’s released, he and Isabella Van Wagenen show up on Margaret’s doorstep. Margaret kicks them out, saying that she’s run out of patience. Matthias never sees Margaret again. Three months later, Matthias shows up at the Mormon settlement in Kirtland and meets Joseph Smith. After Joseph Smith expels Matthias from Kirtland, Matthias is spotted occasionally over the next few years, preaching to various communities. Historical records suggest that Matthias dies in 1841.
While some cult members (especially Benjamin and Ann Folger) are able to adjust their values and reintegrate into society, Matthias stubbornly refuses to change. It seems that he never gives up trying to create an environment where he is in charge as a traditional patriarch. It seems, however, that he is never successful. The juxtaposition of Matthias fading from society against other cult members who successfully reintegrate suggests that Matthias’s stubborn refusal to modernize his outlook ends up failing him. On the other hand, the simultaneous rise of the Mormon Church would seem to complicate this argument, as Mormonism becomes an enduring presence despite resisting aspects of modernizing American society.
Themes
Isabella Van Wagenen resumes working as a servant for her former employer. She successfully sues Benjamin Folger for slander. Isabella truly believed in Matthias’s religion, but his sexual relationship with Ann Folger shook her faith. Isabella takes the money she earns from her lawsuit against Benjamin Folger and leaves New York, in search of truth. Eventually, she joins the anti-slavery movement. She changes her name and becomes the famous activist Sojourner Truth.
Of all the cult members, Isabella Van Wagenen ends up emerging the most triumphant. Despite the odds being stacked against her as a Black woman in American society, she remains undaunted. She successfully uses the legal system to clear her name and earn a fortune (something that no other woman in the story could do), and she begins a new life as one of American history’s most famous activists: Sojourner Truth. The fact that Isabella Van Wagenen ends up being the most successful character in the story suggests that American society unfairly undervalues Black women, and that these women’s stories deserve to be preserved and championed today.
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