Elizabeth and Her German Garden · Chapter
July 11th explained
The narrator reflects on the challenges of visitors, the madness of the gardener, the drought affecting her garden, and a Sunday spent with her children discussing angels and biblical stories.
What happens
The narrator reflects on the challenges of visitors, the madness of the gardener, the drought affecting her garden, and a Sunday spent with her children discussing angels and biblical stories. She finds solace in the garden despite its disappointments.
Themes in this chapter
Nature and Gardening as a Source of Joy
The garden provides peace and solace despite drought, neglect, and the gardener's madness; the narrator finds comfort in its beauty.
Motherhood and Childhood
The narrator interacts with her children, especially the April baby, answering their questions about angels and biblical stories, revealing the challenges and joys of parenting.
Solitude vs. Society
The narrator laments the intrusion of visitors who disrupt her enjoyment of the garden, contrasting the peace of solitude with the annoyance of social obligations.
Characters to notice
- Elizabeth
The narrator, who manages the garden and household, deals with visitors, the gardener's madness, and her children's theological questions.
- Irais
The only remaining visitor, a thin, frail, intelligent woman who sings beautifully and eats cabbage salad.
- April
The April baby, who brings kittens for admiration and asks persistent questions about God and angels, showing a mischievous and imaginative nature.
- The Man of Wrath
Mentioned indirectly as the husband; the narrator notes that visitors have left except one, implying his absence or presence.
- Parsons
The local parson, who conducts services in a cold church and retreats to a box during chorales.
Key passages
“If it were not for the garden, a German Sunday would be a terrible day; but in the garden on that day there is a sigh of relief and more profound peace, nobody raking or sweeping or fidgeting; only the little flowers themselves and the whispering trees.”
Without the garden, German Sundays would be unbearable; in the garden, there is a deep, peaceful relief, with no one working, just the flowers and trees.
Highlights the garden as a sanctuary from the tedium of Sunday.
“The dejected gardener went mad soon after Whitsuntide, and had to be sent to an asylum. He took to going about with a spade in one hand and a revolver in the other, explaining that he felt safer that way.”
Shortly after Whitsuntide, the gardener became mentally unstable and was committed to an asylum; he carried a spade and revolver for safety.
Describes the gardener's descent into madness and the narrator's response.
“I have been much afflicted again lately by visitors—not stray callers to be got rid of after a due administration of tea and things you are sorry afterwards that you said, but people staying in the house and not to be got rid of at all.”
I have been greatly troubled by houseguests who linger, unlike casual visitors who can be politely dismissed after tea.
Expresses the narrator's frustration with prolonged visits.
“What a funny Mummy! she said, evidently much amused.”
She called me a funny Mummy, clearly finding the situation humorous.
The April baby's playful reaction to her mother's explanation about angels.