← All chapters

Poetry · Chapter

Ova Has Governesses explained

Ova's childhood is depicted as a bleak, oppressive experience under the care of governesses and nurses who lack vitality and humor.

What happens

Ova's childhood is depicted as a bleak, oppressive experience under the care of governesses and nurses who lack vitality and humor. She is trapped in a gray, sooty London environment, longing for a more colorful and musical world.

Themes in this chapter

  • Childhood and Innocence

    Ova's childhood is portrayed as joyless and deprived of the playful vitality typical of happy nurseries.

  • Alienation and Belonging

    Ova is alienated from her environment and caretakers, longing for a more vibrant and meaningful world.

Characters to notice

  • Ova

    Ova suffers from the anaemia of monotonous hours and the oppressive care of her governesses.

  • Ada

    Ada is mentioned as Ova's mother, whose vagaries affect Ova's life.

  • Nurse

    The nurses are described as pinch-faced conservatives who let life alone.

Key passages

  • “For her the irredeemable anaemia of hour upon hour devoid of invitation to vitality drifts through her arteries”

    Ova experiences a profound lack of energy and excitement in her daily life.

    Highlights the oppressive monotony of Ova's existence.

  • “The ghoulish clouds hide God who should have made the world a musical⁠—box of coloured glass growing like gilly⁠—flowers and Phlox”

    Ova imagines a divine creator who should have made the world beautiful and musical, but instead it is hidden and dreary.

    Reflects Ova's yearning for a more enchanting reality.

Read this chapter freeBook page