Poetry · Chapter
II: A Game of Chess explained
The chapter juxtaposes a wealthy, sterile woman's desperate plea for connection with a working-class woman's pragmatic conversation about her husband's return from war, both scenes underscoring the emptiness and fragmentation of modern rela
What happens
The chapter juxtaposes a wealthy, sterile woman's desperate plea for connection with a working-class woman's pragmatic conversation about her husband's return from war, both scenes underscoring the emptiness and fragmentation of modern relationships.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Unsatisfied Desire
Both the wealthy woman's frantic need for communication and Lil's pragmatic marriage reflect unfulfilled emotional and physical desires.
Fragmentation and Modernity
The abrupt shift from the opulent, myth-laden drawing room to the colloquial pub dialogue highlights the disjointed nature of modern life.
Memory and the Past
References to Philomel's myth and the repeated line 'Those are pearls that were his eyes' evoke haunting memories and cultural decay.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
The narrator shifts between observing the wealthy woman's scene and recounting the pub conversation about Lil.
- Lil
Lil is the subject of a pub conversation, criticized for her appearance after taking pills to abort a child, and awaiting her husband Albert's return.
- Goonight Lou
Lou is one of the pub patrons bid goodnight at the end of the chapter.
- Marie
Marie is addressed as 'Goonight May' in the closing farewells of the pub scene.
Key passages
“My nerves are bad tonight. Yes, bad. Stay with me. Speak to me. Why do you never speak. Speak.”
The woman confesses her anxiety and demands that her companion talk to her, expressing frustration at his silence.
This reveals the emotional desperation and lack of genuine communication in the relationship.
“I think we are in rats’ alley Where the dead men lost their bones.”
The narrator responds that they are in a desolate, death-filled place.
This line evokes a sense of spiritual death and decay, contrasting with the luxurious setting.
“When Lil’s husband got demobbed, I said— I didn’t mince my words, I said to her myself, Hurry up please it’s time”
The pub speaker bluntly tells Lil to improve her appearance now that her husband Albert is returning from the army.
This shifts the scene to a working-class context, highlighting societal pressures on women and marriage.
“It’s them pills I took, to bring it off, she said. (She’s had five already, and nearly died of young George.)”
Lil explains that she took abortifacient pills, having already had five children and nearly dying during the birth of her son George.
This reveals the physical toll of repeated pregnancies and the risks of illegal abortion.
“Good night, ladies, good night, sweet ladies, good night, good night.”
The pub closes with a farewell echoing Ophelia's lines from Hamlet, blending tragedy with mundane routine.
This allusion underscores themes of madness, loss, and the hollow rituals of modern life.