Shirley · Chapter
Briarmains explained
After dismissing the deputation, Robert Moore remains taciturn and serious.
What happens
After dismissing the deputation, Robert Moore remains taciturn and serious. Mr. Helstone and Mr. Sykes leave, having helped to arrest Barraclough. Moore later visits the Yorke family at Briarmains, where he engages in conversation with Mrs. Yorke and the children, particularly Jessy and Rose.
Themes in this chapter
Social Class and Inequality
The conversation between Moore and Yorke highlights the tension between romantic ideals and the harsh realities of poverty and class struggle.
Gender Roles and Independence
Mrs. Yorke's outspokenness and her critique of marriage challenge traditional gender roles.
Characters to notice
- Robert Moore
Remains taciturn after the deputation; visits Briarmains and interacts with the Yorke family.
- Mr. Helstone
Assists in arresting Barraclough and leaves with Sykes.
- Mr. Yorke
Hosts Robert Moore at Briarmains and engages in banter with him and his family.
- Mrs. Yorke
Receives Moore at Briarmains, speaks plainly about marriage and domestic life.
- Jessy
Jumps into Moore's arms and claims he promised to marry her.
- Rose Yorke
Quietly observes and comments on Moore's character.
Key passages
“I could not love—I could not fancy—I could not endure her. My taste must have satisfaction, or disgust would break out in despotism, or worse—freeze to utter iciness.”
Moore insists that he cannot love a woman he finds unattractive, and that his dissatisfaction would lead to tyranny or coldness.
Moore expresses his romantic ideals to Yorke, rejecting the idea of marrying for wealth alone.
“If you are romantic, Robert, and especially if you are already in love, it is of no use talking.”
Yorke suggests that if Moore is romantic or in love, further discussion is pointless.
Yorke teases Moore about his possible romantic inclinations.
“I am not romantic. I am stripped of romance as bare as the white tenters in that field are of cloth.”
Moore denies being romantic, comparing himself to empty cloth-stretching frames.
Moore insists he is practical and devoid of romantic illusions.