# Beltane and New Year’s Eve explained — In the Days of the Comet

> Chapter companion for In the Days of the Comet by H. G. Wells.

## What happens

After his mother's sudden death on Beltane Eve, Willie Leadford experiences profound loneliness and grief, wandering the moors and avoiding the Beltane festivities. He reflects on his lost love for Nettie Stuart and his subsequent marriage to Anna Reeves. In the transformed world after the Great Change, he describes how love has become unstinted and non-possessive, allowing him to love both Anna and Nettie without jealousy. On New Year's Day in Year Four, Nettie visits him at Lowchester, and he recalls the enduring beauty of his love for her.

## Themes in this chapter

### Transformation and Renewal

The Beltane fires symbolize the cremation of the old world and the beginning of a new era; Willie's emotional journey from grief to love reflects personal renewal.

### Love and Jealousy

Willie's love for both Anna and Nettie is explored in the context of a transformed society where love is no longer possessive or jealous.

### Memory and Retrospection

Willie reflects on past events, his mother's death, his lost love for Nettie, and the changes brought by the Great Change, all from a distance of fifty years.

## Character check-ins

### Willie Leadford

Narrator; grieves his mother's death, wanders alone on Beltane night, later marries Anna and rekindles love for Nettie.

### Mrs. Leadford

Dies suddenly on Beltane Eve; Willie views her peaceful face among white flowers.

### Anna Reeves

Nurse who informs Willie of his mother's death; later becomes his wife and mother of his son, offering comfort and love.

### Nettie Stuart

Willie's former love; he longs for her on Beltane night and later corresponds with her; she visits him on New Year's Day in Year Four.

### Edward Verrall

Mentioned as the man Nettie also loved; Willie had once planned to shoot him.

## Key lines

> I remember that first Beltane festival as the most terribly lonely night in my life.

Willie recalls the Beltane festival as the loneliest night he ever experienced.

_Highlights his isolation and grief after his mother's death._

> The world was singularly empty, I thought, without either Nettie or my mother.

He felt the world was empty because both Nettie and his mother were absent.

_Expresses his sense of loss and longing._

> In the old days love was a cruel proprietary thing. But now Anna could let Nettie live in the world of my mind, as freely as a rose will suffer the presence of white lilies.

In the past, love was possessive and jealous, but after the Change, Anna accepts Willie's love for Nettie without resentment.

_Illustrates the transformed nature of love in the new world._

> I loved Nettie, I loved all who were like her, in the measure that they were like her, in voice, or eyes, or form, or smile.

Willie's love for Nettie extends to anyone who reminds him of her qualities.

_Shows the expansive, non-exclusive nature of his love after the Change._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/in_the_days_of_the_comet_se/chapters/iii-beltane-and-new-year-s-eve
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/in_the_days_of_the_comet_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/in_the_days_of_the_comet_se/chapters