Cousin Henry Dreams a Dream explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Guilt and Conscience

  Cousin Henry is consumed by guilt over the hidden will, tormented by dreams and the fear of being discovered, and struggles with the moral weight of his inaction.

• Isolation and Paranoia

  Henry's seclusion breeds suspicion among the household and tenants; he feels watched and misunderstood, and his paranoia intensifies as he imagines every glance and word as an accusation.

• Inheritance and Primogeniture

  The legal and emotional turmoil surrounding the contested inheritance of Llanfeare, with Cousin Henry as the reluctant heir and Isabel as the rightful claimant.

Characters to notice

• Cousin Henry

  Struggles with paranoia and guilt over the hidden will; signs the deed for Isabel's inheritance; writes her a letter offering to let her live at Llanfeare; dreams of being caught disposing of the book; attempts to socialize with tenants.

• Mr. Apjohn

  Summons Cousin Henry to Carmarthen to sign the legal declaration regarding the will and the deed for Isabel's £4,000 charge on the property.

• Isabel Brodrick

  The recipient of Cousin Henry's letter detailing the financial settlement and his offer for her to live at Llanfeare.

• Mrs. Griffith

  Housekeeper who rebukes Cousin Henry for his seclusion, prompting him to go out and be seen.

• Joseph Cantor

  Young Cantor appears in Cousin Henry's dream as the swimming man who sees him with the book; later startles Henry awake on the cliffs.

• John Griffith

  Tenant farmer at Coed who advises Cousin Henry about the paddocks and hears Henry's hint that he may not stay at Llanfeare.

Key passages

• “What if a fit should come upon him, or he should fall and hurt himself and the paper be found in his possession? Then there would at once be the intervention of the police, and the cell, and the angry voices of the crowd, and the scowling of the judge, and the quick sentence, and that dwelling among thieves and felons for the entire period of his accursed life!”

  Cousin Henry fears that if he were to have a seizure or accident while carrying the will, it would be discovered on him, leading to arrest, trial, and a life in prison among criminals.

  Illustrates Henry's intense paranoia and the moral terror of being branded a felon.

• “He dreamt that he was out there in a little boat all alone, with the book hidden under the seats, and that he rowed himself out to sea till he was so far distant from the shore that no eye could see him. Then he lifted the book, and was about to rid himself forever of his burden—when there came by a strong man swimming. The man looked up at him so as to see exactly what he was doing, and the book was not thrown over, and the face of the swimming man was the face of that young Cantor who had been so determined in his assertion that another will had been made.”

  In his dream, Henry rows out to sea to throw the book containing the will overboard, but a swimmer—young Cantor—sees him and prevents the act, symbolizing his fear of being caught.

  The dream reveals Henry's subconscious desire to destroy the evidence and his terror of exposure.

• “I don't think I shall live here, Mr. Griffith. ... It isn't my doing, but among you all, I fear, you don't like me.”

  Cousin Henry tells tenant John Griffith that he probably won't stay at Llanfeare, acknowledging that the local people dislike him through no fault of his own.

  Shows Henry's awareness of his social failure and his tentative plan to abandon the estate.