Of all base passions, fear is most accurs’d

“Of all base passions, fear is most accurs’d” is the Shakespeare epigraph to a chapter that opens with Michael anticipating the Altman family’s possible departure. Set above his practical concern that John will soon leave for Oregon, the line gives the chapter a thematic frame of fear without specifying whose fear it names or explaining the quotation further.

Wording and Attribution

The epigraph identifies fear as the most accursed of base passions and attributes the line to Shakespeare. The supplied text gives no fuller citation or dramatic context, so its significance rests on the stark judgment in the quoted line and its placement before the chapter’s opening scene.

Placement and Narrative Context

The epigraph precedes Michael’s worry about Amanda’s increasing attachment to the Altmans. John continues to speak of Oregon as though it were heaven, and with spring approaching, Michael expects him to move on once the weather remains clear. Michael doubts that John’s women will persuade him to stay and believes only good land could change his mind. Against this calculation, the epigraph introduces fear as a possible interpretive lens, but the passage does not explicitly say that Michael is afraid or connect his concern to the quotation’s wording.