The American Senator · Chapter
Wonderful Bird! explained
During a train journey to Cheltenham, Reginald Morton and Mary Masters have a candid conversation about her potential engagement to Lawrence Twentyman, interrupted by a talkative parrot and its owner.
What happens
During a train journey to Cheltenham, Reginald Morton and Mary Masters have a candid conversation about her potential engagement to Lawrence Twentyman, interrupted by a talkative parrot and its owner. Reginald expresses relief that Mary is not engaged to Twentyman, whom he considers beneath her. Meanwhile, Mrs. Masters disapproves of Mary's visit to Lady Ushant, fearing it will give her unsuitable 'gimcrack notions' for her future life at Chowton Farm.
Themes in this chapter
Social Class and Aristocracy
Mrs. Masters worries about Mary being 'cocked up with gimcrack notions about ladies' and the tension between the working life at Chowton Farm and the leisured life at Cheltenham.
Love vs. Practicality
Reginald Morton's relief that Mary is not engaged to Twentyman contrasts with Mrs. Masters' practical view that Mary should marry a farmer.
Characters to notice
- Mary Masters
Travels to Cheltenham with Reginald Morton; denies engagement to Lawrence Twentyman; feels anxious about Reginald's opinion of her.
- Reginald Morton
Accompanies Mary to Cheltenham; admits he was a 'bear' after the bridge incident; expresses relief that Mary is not engaged to Twentyman.
- Lawrence Twentyman
Discussed as a potential suitor for Mary; Reginald considers him inferior to Mary.
- Lady Ushant
Mary's host in Cheltenham; her lodgings are seen by Mrs. Masters as a place of 'maundering idleness.'
- Mr. Masters
Grateful to Reginald for accompanying Mary; hands her into the fly at the station.
- Mrs. Masters
Disapproves of Mary's visit to Cheltenham; grumbles about the £20 and fears Mary will get unsuitable ideas.
Key passages
“I have never spoken to my aunt about it, but I do not think that she would have been contented to hear that you were to become the wife of Mr. Twentyman.”
Reginald implies that Lady Ushant would disapprove of Mary marrying Lawrence Twentyman.
Reginald expresses his own and his aunt's low opinion of Twentyman as a match for Mary.
“It was all that question of gentlemen and ladies, and of non-gentlemen and non-ladies! They ought, Mrs. Masters thought, to be kept distinct.”
Mrs. Masters believes that social classes should remain separate and not mix.
Reflects Mrs. Masters' rigid views on class distinctions.
“I shall be a bear to that brute of a bird before long.”
Reginald jokingly threatens to lose his temper with the noisy parrot.
The parrot's interruptions provide comic relief during a serious conversation.