XXXIX explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Marriage and Illusion

  Dorothea's marriage to Casaubon is shown as constraining and isolating, with her inability to influence his decisions and the prohibition against Will visiting Lowick highlighting the illusion of partnership.

• Ambition and Frustration

  Will Ladislaw's ambition to make his position useful and honorable is frustrated by Casaubon's prejudice, while Dorothea's desire to improve the estate is thwarted by Mr. Brooke's indecisiveness.

• Social Class and Provincial Life

  The chapter contrasts the concerns of the landed gentry (estate management, game preservation) with the struggles of the rural poor, as seen in Dagley's dilapidated homestead and the poaching incident.

Characters to notice

• Dorothea Brooke

  Visits the Grange, discusses estate improvements with her uncle and Will Ladislaw, and shares her personal beliefs about goodness and religion.

• Will Ladislaw

  Is present at the Grange when Dorothea arrives, reveals Mr. Casaubon's prohibition against visiting Lowick, and engages in an intimate conversation with Dorothea about their respective beliefs.

• Mr. Brooke

  Hosts Dorothea and Will at the Grange, discusses estate management and poaching, and accompanies Dorothea partway to the Hall.

• Sir James Chettam

  Devises the plan to bring Dorothea to the Grange to influence Mr. Brooke about estate improvements, though he does not appear directly in the chapter.

• Celia Brooke

  Mentioned as expecting Dorothea at the Hall, and her indisposition is used as a pretext for the visit.

• Edward Casaubon

  Referenced as having forbidden Will from visiting Lowick, and as the subject of Dorothea's hopelessness about influencing his actions.

Key passages

• “Sir James Chettam’s mind was not fruitful in devices, but his growing anxiety to 'act on Brooke,' once brought close to his constant belief in Dorothea’s capacity for influence, became formative, and issued in a little plan; namely, to plead Celia’s indisposition as a reason for fetching Dorothea by herself to the Hall, and to leave her at the Grange with the carriage on the way, after making her fully aware of the situation concerning the management of the estate.”

  Sir James Chettam, though not naturally inventive, was so eager to influence Mr. Brooke that he devised a simple scheme: he would use Celia's supposed illness as an excuse to bring Dorothea alone to the Hall, stopping at the Grange on the way so she could learn about the estate's mismanagement and use her influence.

  This passage sets up the chapter's central plot device, showing Sir James's reliance on Dorothea's moral authority to effect change.

• “When Mrs. Casaubon was announced he started up as from an electric shock, and felt a tingling at his finger-ends. Anyone observing him would have seen a change in his complexion, in the adjustment of his facial muscles, in the vividness of his glance, which might have made them imagine that every molecule in his body had passed the message of a magic touch.”

  Will Ladislaw reacted to Dorothea's arrival with an intense physical and emotional jolt, his whole demeanor transforming as if electrified by her presence.

  This passage vividly conveys Will's deep, involuntary attraction to Dorothea, contrasting with her own more composed and preoccupied demeanor.

• “That by desiring what is perfectly good, even when we don’t quite know what it is and cannot do what we would, we are part of the divine power against evil—widening the skirts of light and making the struggle with darkness narrower.”

  Dorothea explains her belief that striving for goodness, even imperfectly, aligns us with a divine force that combats evil and expands goodness in the world.

  This is a key statement of Dorothea's personal theology, revealing her idealistic and mystical nature, and her sense of moral purpose despite her constrained life.