Looking Backward · Chapter
Chapter XXVII explained
Julian West experiences profound depression on his first Sunday in the twentieth century, feeling utterly isolated and alienated from the society around him.
What happens
Julian West experiences profound depression on his first Sunday in the twentieth century, feeling utterly isolated and alienated from the society around him. He realizes he loves Edith Leete but believes she can only pity him as a relic of a bygone era. After a heartfelt conversation in the subterranean chamber, Edith confesses her love for him, revealing that she feels spiritually connected to her great-grandmother Edith Bartlett. Julian's love is reciprocated, and Dr. Leete gives his blessing, leading to a joyful union that blends past and present.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Human Connection
Julian's love for Edith Leete bridges the centuries, blending past and present in a transcendent union.
Moral and Social Progress
The sermon highlights the vast moral gap between the 19th and 20th centuries, deepening Julian's sense of alienation.
Characters to notice
- Julian West
Falls into deep depression on his first Sunday in the new century, feeling isolated and unworthy of love; confesses his love for Edith Leete.
- Edith Leete
Comforts Julian in his despair, reveals her love for him, and expresses a spiritual connection to her great-grandmother Edith Bartlett.
- Dr. Leete
Consents to Julian and Edith's engagement, acknowledging the extraordinary circumstances.
- Mrs. Leete
Discusses with Julian the fateful connection between Edith and her great-grandmother, and the quickness of love in the twentieth century.
- Mr. Barton
His sermon accentuates Julian's sense of alienation and the moral gap between centuries.
- Edith Bartlett
Mentioned as Julian's former love; her grave and memory are invoked, and Edith Leete feels her spirit lives on.
Key passages
“I never could tell just why, but Sunday afternoon during my old life had been a time when I was peculiarly subject to melancholy, when the color unaccountably faded out of all the aspects of life, and everything appeared pathetically uninteresting.”
Julian recalls that Sundays in his former life always brought on a deep, unexplained sadness that drained the color and interest from everything.
Establishes Julian's susceptibility to Sunday melancholy, setting the emotional tone for the chapter.
“The sermon of Mr. Barton, with its constant implication of the vast moral gap between the century to which I belonged and that in which I found myself, had had an effect strongly to accentuate my sense of loneliness in it.”
Mr. Barton's sermon emphasized the huge moral differences between Julian's original century and the present, making him feel even more isolated.
Highlights how the sermon deepens Julian's alienation and despair.
“I was neither dead nor properly alive.”
Julian feels he exists in a limbo, not truly belonging to either the past or the present.
Captures Julian's existential crisis and sense of displacement.
“What if I were to tell you that I have sometimes thought that her spirit lives in me—that Edith Bartlett, not Edith Leete, is my real name.”
Edith Leete suggests that the spirit of Edith Bartlett may inhabit her, implying a mystical continuity between the two women.
Reveals Edith's belief in a spiritual connection that justifies her love for Julian.
“From the moment the secret of the locket was out, it had to be, I fancy.”
Dr. Leete implies that once the locket's secret was revealed, Julian and Edith's union was inevitable.
Indicates the predestined nature of their relationship, tied to the locket and family history.
