New Grub Street · Chapter
XVII: The Parting explained
Reardon and Amy prepare to separate due to financial strain.
What happens
Reardon and Amy prepare to separate due to financial strain. Reardon contemplates selling his belongings and taking a clerkship, but Amy vehemently opposes this as a disgrace. Their argument culminates in a final break, with Reardon leaving to find lodgings and Amy returning to her mother's home.
Themes in this chapter
Poverty and Class
Reardon's inability to retain his wife's love due to poverty and the shame of taking a clerkship illustrate the crushing effects of financial failure on personal relationships and social standing.
Marriage and Money
The breakdown of Reardon and Amy's marriage is directly tied to money; Amy's practical nature and Reardon's pride clash over the clerkship, leading to their separation.
Ambition and Failure
Reardon's failed literary ambitions and his envy of Jasper Milvain's success underscore the theme of ambition thwarted by circumstance and personal weakness.
Characters to notice
- Edwin Reardon
Struggles with shame and despair over poverty, considers selling furniture and books, and ultimately decides to take a clerkship despite Amy's objections.
- Amy Reardon
Pragmatic and determined to maintain appearances, she opposes the clerkship as a disgrace and insists on a separation, returning to her mother.
- Mr. Carter
Visits Reardon to offer a clerkship, representing the practical but humiliating solution to Reardon's financial woes.
- Jasper Milvain
Mentioned as a contrast to Reardon; Amy is attracted to his energy and success, which exacerbates Reardon's insecurity.
- Harold Biffen
Enviously referenced by Reardon as someone who can live on very little and is free from family obligations.
- Willie
Amy and Reardon's child, who will be kept by Mrs. Yule during the separation.
Key passages
“He had won the world’s greatest prize—a woman’s love—but could not retain it because his pockets were empty.”
Reardon believes that his poverty, not any personal failing, is the reason Amy's love has faded.
Highlights the central conflict between love and material security.
“I am determined to be your friend, and to save you from yourself. Go at once! Leave all the rest to me.”
Amy commands Reardon to reject the clerkship, offering to take financial responsibility herself.
Shows Amy's attempt to control the situation and preserve their social standing.
“Then go your way, and I will go mine!”
Amy declares the end of their partnership after Reardon refuses to follow her orders.
Marks the final moment of their separation.