# XXXVII explained — A Pair of Blue Eyes

> Chapter companion for A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy.

## What happens

Fifteen months after parting with Elfride, Stephen Smith and Henry Knight meet by chance in Hyde Park. Both are changed and bitter, each nursing wounds from their failed relationships with Elfride. They exchange strained pleasantries and veiled accusations, but neither fully reveals his heart. Knight has wandered Europe aimlessly, while Stephen has advanced professionally in India. Their conversation is a painful dance around the subject of Elfride, ending with a tentative, unresolved invitation to meet again.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Marriage

Both men are haunted by their failed engagements to Elfride, and their conversation is dominated by unspoken grief and resentment over lost love.

### Jealousy and Possessiveness

Stephen's lingering jealousy over Knight's relationship with Elfride is evident in his probing questions, while Knight's defensive bitterness suggests possessiveness over the past.

### Fate and Coincidence

The accidental meeting of the two men in Hyde Park, both staying at the same hotel, underscores the role of chance in their intertwined lives.

## Character check-ins

### Stephen Smith

Returns from India, meets Knight in Hyde Park. He is still deeply affected by the loss of Elfride and struggles to contain his emotions when speaking of her.

### Henry Knight

Has spent fifteen months wandering Europe in a state of bitter melancholy. He is changed, morose, and refuses to discuss his broken engagement with Elfride.

## Key lines

> I have travelled just in the same way—round and round like a giddy ram.

Knight describes his aimless European travels as a pointless, repetitive cycle, like a sheep with a brain disease.

_Reveals Knight's deep despair and sense of futility after losing Elfride._

> You out-Hamlet Hamlet in morbidness of mood.

Stephen tells Knight that his melancholy surpasses even Shakespeare's famously brooding character Hamlet.

_Highlights the extent of Knight's emotional deterioration._

> I lost the woman I was going to marry: you have not married as you intended. We might have compared notes.

Stephen suggests that both he and Knight have suffered romantic failures and could share their experiences.

_Shows Stephen's desire to understand what happened between Knight and Elfride._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_pair_of_blue_eyes_se/chapters/xxxvii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_pair_of_blue_eyes_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_pair_of_blue_eyes_se/chapters