Melmoth the Wanderer · Chapter
XXXVI explained
Isidora, imprisoned by the Inquisition after the death of her brother and her marriage to Melmoth, is visited by Fra Jose.
What happens
Isidora, imprisoned by the Inquisition after the death of her brother and her marriage to Melmoth, is visited by Fra Jose. She confesses her marriage, which was performed by a hermit who had died the night before. Fra Jose offers what comfort he can before her examination. Isidora clings to her infant daughter, pleading for her innocence.
Themes in this chapter
Damnation and Salvation
Isidora's fear of eternal damnation and Fra Jose's uncertainty about her spiritual state highlight the theme of salvation versus damnation.
Suffering and Oppression
Isidora's imprisonment, the death of her brother, and the Inquisition's harsh treatment exemplify suffering and oppression.
Family and Dependence
Isidora's bond with her infant daughter and the collapse of her family relationships underscore themes of family and dependence.
Characters to notice
- Doña Isidora
Imprisoned by the Inquisition, she confesses her marriage to Melmoth and clings to her infant daughter.
- Father Jose
Visits Isidora in her cell, hears her confession, and struggles to offer comfort before her examination.
- Juan di Monçada
Not directly present in this chapter, but referenced as part of the narrative frame.
- John Melmoth
Referenced as the Wanderer and Isidora's husband, the subject of the Inquisition's pursuit.
- Doña Clara
Isidora's mother, who struggles between compassion and horror at her daughter's situation.
- Francisco di Aliaga
Isidora's father, who curses his daughter and orders her and her child to be handed over to the Inquisition.
Key passages
“We hold him by the cords of a man... if he burst these cords he is more than man. He has a wife and child, and if there be human elements in him, if there be anything mortal clinging to his heart, we shall wind round the roots of it, and extract it.”
The chief inquisitor declares that Melmoth's human attachments to his wife and child will be used against him.
The Inquisition's strategy to exploit Melmoth's familial bonds.
“It is my own... and only mine! It has no father—he is at the ends of the earth—he has left me alone—but I am not alone while you are left to me!”
Isidora clings to her child as her sole comfort in prison, feeling abandoned by Melmoth.
Isidora's maternal devotion and isolation.
“Now that we have got the Delilah in our hands, we shall soon have the Samson.”
The Inquisitors believe that by capturing Isidora, they will be able to capture Melmoth.
Biblical allusion to the story of Samson and Delilah, used to justify the Inquisition's tactics.
“Father, do you think—that I am—lost forever?”
Isidora asks Fra Jose if she is damned to hell.
Isidora's fear of eternal damnation.
“Father, tell me, can this be the child of a demon?—can it be, this creature that smiles on me—that smiles on you, while you are mustering curses against it?”
Isidora pleads with Fra Jose to see her infant as innocent, not demonic.
Isidora's defense of her child's purity against accusations of demonic origin.
