A Pair of Blue Eyes · Chapter
XXXVIII explained
Stephen and Knight reunite in London, each grappling with revived feelings for Elfride.
What happens
Stephen and Knight reunite in London, each grappling with revived feelings for Elfride. Knight discovers sketches of Elfride in Stephen's notebook, leading to a tense confession that Stephen was the man to whom Elfride was previously engaged. Stephen recounts their aborted elopement, and both men dissemble about their lingering love for her.
Themes in this chapter
Jealousy and Possessiveness
Both Knight and Stephen exhibit jealousy over Elfride's affections, each concealing his true feelings while probing the other's.
Fate and Coincidence
The chance reunion of Knight and Stephen in London, and the discovery of Elfride's sketches, force a confrontation about their shared past.
Innocence and Experience
Stephen's transformation from 'ingenuous boy' to 'contriving man' is contrasted with Knight's lingering idealism; Elfride's 'childish escapade' is debated as indiscretion versus sin.
Characters to notice
- Stephen Smith
Reunites with Knight in London; reveals his past engagement to Elfride and the details of their aborted elopement.
- Henry Knight
Visits Stephen after their chance meeting; discovers sketches of Elfride in Stephen's notebook and confronts him about their shared past.
- Elfride Swancourt
Central figure in the conversation; her letters and likeness haunt both men, though she is not physically present.
- Mrs. Jethway
Mentioned as the village woman who recognized Stephen and Elfride during their aborted elopement.
Key passages
“Stephen pondered not a little on this meeting with his old friend and once-beloved exemplar. He was grieved, for amid all the distractions of his latter years a still small voice of fidelity to Knight had lingered on in him.”
Stephen reflected deeply on his reunion with Knight, feeling sorrow because, despite the changes in his life, he still harbored a quiet loyalty to his former mentor.
Highlights Stephen's conflicted emotions and lingering respect for Knight.
“The possibility of any given gratification begets a cumulative sense of its necessity.”
The mere chance of achieving a desire makes that desire feel increasingly essential.
Narrator's aphorism on how hope amplifies longing, applied to Stephen's renewed hope for Elfride.
“The hand, like the tongue, easily acquires the trick of repetition by rote, without calling in the mind to assist at all; and this had been the case here.”
Just as speech can fall into habitual patterns, Stephen's hand had unconsciously drawn Elfride's face repeatedly, without his active awareness.
Explains how Stephen's sketches revealed his enduring fixation on Elfride.
“Men may love strongest for a while, but women love longest.”
Men's passion may be intense but brief, while women's love endures over time.
Knight's reflection on gender differences in love, used to mask his own lingering feelings.