Short Fiction · Chapter
The Meeting of Edward Derby and Asenath Waite explained
Edward Derby, at thirty-eight, meets Asenath Waite, a young woman of about twenty-three with a dark reputation from Innsmouth.
What happens
Edward Derby, at thirty-eight, meets Asenath Waite, a young woman of about twenty-three with a dark reputation from Innsmouth. She is the daughter of the late Ephraim Waite, a reputed magician, and herself possesses unsettling hypnotic abilities and a desire for male cosmic power. Despite warnings, Edward becomes infatuated and marries her, moving into the old Crowninshield place. The narrator observes changes in Edward and notes the strange servants and esoteric experiments that follow.
Themes in this chapter
Forbidden Knowledge and Occultism
Asenath Waite's study of medieval metaphysics, her father's magical practices, and her own experiments in hypnotism and esoteric lore highlight the pursuit of forbidden knowledge.
Hereditary Curse and Fate
The dark legends surrounding the Innsmouth Waites and Ephraim Waite's legacy suggest a hereditary curse that influences Asenath and her marriage to Edward.
Alienation and Otherness
Asenath's odd reputation, her alienating expression, and the strange nature of her family and servants mark her as an outsider in Arkham society.
Characters to notice
- Edward Derby Upton
A 38-year-old man who becomes infatuated with Asenath Waite, marries her, and begins to change under her influence.
- Asenath Waite
A young woman from Innsmouth, daughter of Ephraim Waite, with hypnotic powers and a desire for male cosmic power.
- Ephraim Waite
Asenath's deceased father, a reputed magical student who died insane under queer circumstances.
- Unknown Narrator
The narrator, a friend of Edward Derby, who observes and recounts the events of the chapter.
Key passages
“Edward was thirty-eight when he met Asenath Waite. She was, I judge, about twenty-three at the time; and was taking a special course in medieval metaphysics at Miskatonic.”
Edward Derby was 38 when he first encountered Asenath Waite, who was around 23 and studying medieval metaphysics at Miskatonic University.
Introduces the meeting of the two main characters and their age difference.
“She was one of the Innsmouth Waites, and dark legends have clustered for generations about crumbling, half-deserted Innsmouth and its people.”
Asenath belonged to the Innsmouth Waites, a family surrounded by generations of dark tales about the decaying, nearly abandoned port town.
Establishes the ominous background of Asenath's family and hometown.
“Asenath often made wild claims about the nature of consciousness and about its independence of the physical frame—or at least from the life-processes of the physical frame.”
Asenath frequently asserted radical ideas about consciousness being separate from the physical body, or at least from its biological functions.
Highlights Asenath's unconventional beliefs about the mind and body.
“The perennial child had transferred his dependence from the parental image to a new and stronger image, and nothing could be done about it.”
Edward, who had always been childlike and dependent on his father, had now shifted that dependence to a more powerful figure in Asenath.
Explains Edward's psychological shift from parental to spousal dependence.