Mary, Mary · Chapter
XXI explained
Mary, left alone with her thoughts, actively suppresses memories of the policeman and her recent work, finding refuge in Mrs.
What happens
Mary, left alone with her thoughts, actively suppresses memories of the policeman and her recent work, finding refuge in Mrs. Cafferty's garrulous company. The chapter then explores the nature of women's conversation and social dynamics, contrasting it with men's, and delves into Mrs. Cafferty's morning grievance about her husband.
Themes in this chapter
Fantasy vs. Reality
Mary actively tries to bury the reality of the policeman and her past in a 'oubliette,' preferring the distraction of Mrs. Cafferty's chatter over confronting uncomfortable truths.
Freedom and Independence
The chapter contrasts the constrained social freedom between women (bound by politeness and ceremony) with the greater freedom between men and women, highlighting the lack of true independence for women in their own sex.
Social Class and Aspiration
The discussion of women's conversation ranging from 'attic to scullery' implies a class-bound domestic sphere, yet suggests these extremes encompass universal human concerns.
Characters to notice
- Mary Makebelieve
Mary actively avoids confronting thoughts of the policeman and her past work, using Mrs. Cafferty's chatter as a distraction.
- Mrs. Cafferty
Mrs. Cafferty seeks Mary's company to discuss her husband's morning rudeness, and engages in a wide-ranging conversation about women's lives.
- Mrs. Makebelieve
Mentioned as having left, causing Mrs. Cafferty's initial disappointment.
- Mr. Cafferty
Referenced indirectly through Mrs. Cafferty's complaint about his morning behavior.
- Patrick Joseph Brady
The policeman haunts Mary's thoughts as a suppressed memory, symbolizing a past she wishes to bury.
Key passages
“She steadily rejected all impressions that touched upon these. The policeman floated vaguely on her consciousness not as a desirable person, not even as a person, but as a distance, as an hour of her childhood, as a half-forgotten quaintness, a memory which it would be better should never be revived.”
Mary deliberately avoided any thoughts about the policeman, reducing him in her mind to a distant, childhood memory that she wished to forget entirely.
Mary's psychological avoidance of the policeman and her past.
“Between the sexes there is a really extraordinary freedom of intercourse. They meet each other something more than halfway. A man and a woman may become quite intimate in a quarter of an hour.”
Men and women can quickly become close, unlike the guarded relationships between members of the same sex.
The narrator's observation on gender dynamics and social intimacy.