# I explained — Jenny > Chapter companion for Jenny by Sigrid Undset. ## What happens Jenny reflects on her relationship with Gert Gram, feeling trapped and guilty. She realizes she has been deceiving him by feigning passion and love she does not truly feel. She plans to escape to Cesca's place at Tegneby to break off the affair, feeling she has nothing to give him. The chapter also includes her thoughts on motherhood and the distance between mothers and children, as well as observations of two married women on a tram, which contrast with her own situation. ## Themes in this chapter ### Love and Self-Deception Jenny deceives Gert by feigning passion and love, while also lying to herself about her feelings. She reflects on the dishonesty in their relationship. ### Sacrifice and Consequences Jenny considers the consequences of her affair and the need to sacrifice the relationship for Gert's sake, feeling she has nothing to give him. ### Motherhood and Unwanted Pregnancy Jenny reflects on the nature of motherhood, the instinctive love of a mother, and the wall between mothers and children. She also observes a pregnant woman on the tram. ## Character check-ins ### Jenny Winge Reflects on her affair with Gert, feeling guilt and shame for deceiving him. She plans to leave for Tegneby to end the relationship. ### Gert Gram Jenny's lover, who is deeply in love with her and unaware of her true feelings. He has left his wife and lives alone in the office building. ### Rebecca Gram Gert's wife, who he left at Christmas. Jenny believes she will eventually see that he is not coming back. ### Cesca Jahrman Jenny has accepted an invitation to stay with her at Tegneby to prepare for the break with Gert. ## Key lines > She had always lied to her mother⁠—could she ever have been truthful to her without making her suffer, and to what purpose? Jenny had never been honest with her mother, believing that the truth would only cause her pain and serve no useful purpose. _Reflects on the inherent distance between mother and child._ > The joy of motherhood is bought with too much suffering; it is too actual, when held living in one's arms, for one ever to doubt its existence. The happiness of being a mother comes at a great cost of pain, but the tangible presence of a child makes that joy undeniable. _Jenny's thoughts on the nature of maternal love._ > She had deceived him⁠—all the time she had deceived him. Jenny admits to herself that she has been dishonest with Gert throughout their entire relationship. _Central to her guilt and desire to end the affair._ > It was the passion of a youth of twenty, a childish faith, a reverent worship, and the kindness and tenderness of a grown man⁠—all the love that filled a man's life⁠—that flared up on the border of old age. Gert's love for her was a powerful, youthful passion combined with mature tenderness, which had ignited late in his life. _Jenny's understanding of the depth and nature of Gert's feelings._ > She had kept it as a white bridal dress, unused, unstained, and in her longing and anxiety lest she should never come to wear it, in despair over her cold solitude and her inability to love, she had clung to it, crumpled it, and soiled it with her thoughts. Jenny had preserved her purity like an untouched wedding dress, but her desperate longing and despair had tainted it with impure thoughts. _Jenny's metaphor for her lost innocence and the impact of her affair._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/jenny_se/chapters/part-iii-i - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/jenny_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/jenny_se/chapters