A Man Could Stand Up— · Chapter
Chapter II explained
Valentine Wannop, after a tense telephone conversation with Edith Ethel (Lady Macmaster), is thrown into emotional turmoil.
What happens
Valentine Wannop, after a tense telephone conversation with Edith Ethel (Lady Macmaster), is thrown into emotional turmoil. She recalls Edith Ethel's past accusation that she had a child by Christopher Tietjens, and now suspects Edith Ethel is trying to bring them together again to save her husband Vincent from a debt. Valentine struggles with doubt, anger, and longing, smashing the telephone in frustration, and reflects on Tietjens's character, their past intimacy, and his silence for two years.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Commitment
Valentine's intense emotional reaction and her reflections on her past with Tietjens highlight the complexities of love, loyalty, and the pain of separation.
Memory and the Past
Valentine's mind drifts through memories of Tietjens, their arguments, and the accusation of having a child, showing how the past haunts the present.
Madness and Sanity
Tietjens is rumored to be 'dotty' or mad, and Valentine's own mental turmoil and 'mind went mad' reflect the theme of sanity under strain.
Characters to notice
- Valentine Wannop
Valentine is agitated after a phone call from Edith Ethel, smashes the telephone, and wrestles with memories of Tietjens and doubts about his intentions.
- Edith Ethel Duchemin
Edith Ethel, now Lady Macmaster, telephones Valentine and suggests bringing her together with Tietjens, likely to save her husband from a debt.
- Christopher Tietjens
Tietjens is the absent figure at the center of Valentine's thoughts—rumored to be mad, broke, and alone, with his furniture removed.
- Sir Vincent Macmaster
Vincent Macmaster is mentioned as owing Tietjens three thousand two hundred pounds, which motivates Edith Ethel's actions.
- Sylvia Tietjens
Sylvia is briefly referenced as Tietjens's wife, who may have removed his furniture and refuses to divorce him.
Key passages
“She sprang off the bench; she clenched her nails into her palms; she stamped her thin-soled shoes into the coke-brise floor that was singularly unresilient.”
Valentine jumped up, digging her nails into her hands and stomping her feet on the hard floor.
Valentine's physical agitation reflects her inner turmoil after the phone call.
“She had smashed the telephone because it had been like smashing a connection with Edith Ethel; or because she hated tinny nightjars; or because she had smashed it.”
She broke the phone as a way of severing ties with Edith Ethel, or simply out of frustration.
Valentine's act of destruction symbolizes her desire to cut off the painful connection.
“He was in new troubles: broken down, broken up, broke to the wide. Anything in the world but broken in.”
Tietjens was in financial ruin and emotionally shattered, but still unbowed in spirit.
Valentine's perception of Tietjens's state combines pity and admiration.