Amaryllis at the Fair · Chapter
VI explained
Amaryllis watches the crowd heading to Lady-day Fair from a hidden vantage point in the orchard, observing the varied types of men and women—from coarse laborers to a rakish gentleman—and reflecting on the degradation of tramps and the unco
What happens
Amaryllis watches the crowd heading to Lady-day Fair from a hidden vantage point in the orchard, observing the varied types of men and women—from coarse laborers to a rakish gentleman—and reflecting on the degradation of tramps and the unconscious influence of sex that draws her to watch.
Themes in this chapter
Gender Roles and Female Experience
Amaryllis's secret observation of men reflects the constrained curiosity of a young woman in a patriarchal society, and her scorn for the 'mashers' contrasts with her instinctive fear of the rakish gentleman.
Social Class and Money
The chapter contrasts the well-fed farmers and gentlemen with the 'hungry, lean kine' of tramps, highlighting the vast economic divide and the dehumanization of the poor.
Individual vs. Society
Amaryllis stands apart from the crowd, a solitary observer critiquing the conformity and pettiness of the fair-goers, while the tramps are marginalized outsiders.
Characters to notice
- Amaryllis Iden
Watches the fair-goers from behind the wall, scornful of the men, yet drawn by curiosity; drops pennies to tramps.
- Mr. Iden
Mentioned as having taught Amaryllis that people seldom look up.
Key passages
“Amaryllis did not care anything about the fair or the people either, knowing very well what sort they would be; but I suspect, if it had been possible to have got at the cause which brought her there, it would have been traced to the unconscious influence of sex, a perfectly innocent prompting, quite unrecognised by the person who feels it, and who would indignantly deny it if rallied on the subject, but which leads girls of her age to seize opportunities of observing the men, even if of an uninteresting order.”
Amaryllis claimed indifference to the fair and its people, but the narrator suggests her true motive was an innocent, unacknowledged curiosity about men—a natural impulse in a girl her age.
Reveals the narrator's psychological insight into Amaryllis's hidden motivations.
“If sheep were treated as unfortunate human beings are, they would take a bitter revenge; though they are the mildest of creatures, they would soon turn round in a venomous manner. If they did not receive sufficient to eat and drink, and were not well sheltered, they would take a bitter revenge: they would die . Loss of £sd! But human beings have not even got the courage or energy to do that; they put up with anything, and drag on—miserables that they are.”
Sheep, if neglected, would die and cause financial loss, forcing better treatment; but tramps lack even that power, enduring misery without revolt.
A bitter social commentary on the dehumanization and passivity of the poor.