Exit a Man of the World explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Possessiveness and the Sense of Property

  Winifred views Monty as her 'property' even after his departure; the theft of the pearls underscores the link between personal possessions and marital power.

• Family and Duty

  James Forsyte's financial support of the Dartie household reflects family duty; Winifred's concern for her children and her summoning of Val highlight maternal responsibility.

• Gender and Power

  Monty's physical violence (twisting Winifred's arm) and his theft of her pearls illustrate the imbalance of power in their marriage; Winifred's endurance and eventual action show her resilience.

Characters to notice

• Montague Dartie

  Loses his bet on the filly Sleeve-links, steals Winifred's pearls, threatens her with a revolver, twists her arm, and leaves the house.

• Winifred Dartie

  Discovers her pearls missing, confronts Monty, endures his violence, and sends for her son Val after realizing Monty has gone for good.

• James Forsyte

  Mentioned as the father-in-law who pays the rent, rates, taxes, and repairs on the Dartie house.

• George Forsyte

  Co-owner of the filly Sleeve-links; advises Dartie and lays off his own bets.

• Val Dartie

  Winifred's eldest son, summoned home from Littlehampton; arrives and goes out to dine with his trainer.

• Imogen Cardigan

  Winifred's daughter; speaks with her mother about Val's clothes and keeps silent about the father's departure.

Key passages

• “That a man of the world so subject to the vicissitudes of fortunes as Montague Dartie should still be living in a house he had inhabited twenty years at least would have been more noticeable if the rent, rates, taxes, and repairs of that house had not been defrayed by his father-in-law.”

  Montague Dartie's long residence in the same house is only unremarkable because his father-in-law James pays all the housing expenses.

  Establishes Dartie's dependence on the Forsyte family.

• “When a man has something good to live for it is astonishing how sober he becomes; and what Dartie had was really good—a three to one chance for an autumn handicap, publicly assessed at twenty-five to one.”

  Dartie's hope of winning a big bet on a horse race kept him sober and focused for months.

  Explains Dartie's temporary steadiness through his obsession with the filly.

• “Though he was 'the limit' he was yet her property, and for the life of her she could not but feel the poorer.”

  Despite his faults, Winifred still regarded Monty as belonging to her, and his departure made her feel diminished.

  Highlights Winifred's sense of possession and loss.

• “Winifred, who had learned self-containment in a hard school, looked up at him, and said: 'Spanish filly! Do you mean that girl we saw dancing in the Pandemonium Ballet? Well, you are a thief and a blackguard.'”

  Winifred, hardened by years of dealing with Monty, directly accused him of stealing her pearls for a dancer.

  Shows Winifred's courage and the confrontation over the pearls.

• “The man of the world awoke with a sense of being lost to that world, and a dim recollection of having been called a 'limit.' He sat for half an hour in the dawn and the armchair where he had slept—perhaps the unhappiest half-hour he had ever spent, for even to a Dartie there is something tragic about an end.”

  Dartie woke up feeling utterly ruined and remembered being called 'the limit'; he sat in despair, aware that his way of life had reached a tragic conclusion.

  Captures Dartie's moment of bleak realization at the chapter's close.