The Four Feathers · Chapter
XIII: Durrance Begins to See explained
Ethne awaits Durrance's arrival, resolved to dedicate her life to him despite her lack of romantic love.
What happens
Ethne awaits Durrance's arrival, resolved to dedicate her life to him despite her lack of romantic love. She believes Harry Feversham is gone forever. Durrance, now blind, arrives and demonstrates his heightened perception, immediately sensing Ethne's presence. He reveals his belief that their marriage would be wrong unless it is based on more than friendship, and asks Ethne if she brings more than friendship. Ethne, while honest in her wish to marry him, avoids a direct answer. Mrs. Adair proposes that Ethne stay with her during the interval before the wedding, a plan Durrance approves. After he leaves, Ethne realizes that Durrance's blindness has made him more acute and perceptive, and she fears she may not be able to keep her secret.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Sacrifice
Ethne is prepared to sacrifice her own potential happiness and dedicate her life to Durrance out of a sense of duty and pity, believing it is the only way to prevent two lives from being spoiled.
Perception and Reality
Durrance's blindness paradoxically grants him a deeper insight into people and situations. He 'sees' more clearly now that he is blind, while Ethne's outward calm and firm words conceal her inner turmoil and the reality of her feelings.
Duty and Career
Durrance's identity and life purpose were tied to his career as a soldier and explorer. His blindness has stripped him of this, leaving him with only Ethne, which frames their marriage as a duty for her.
Characters to notice
- Ethne Eustace
Resolves to dedicate her life to Durrance, planning her future to avoid being caught off guard. She is determined that two lives shall not be spoilt because of her, but her resolve turns to a prayer as she realizes Durrance's new perceptiveness.
- Durrance
Returns blind but with sharpened senses and a more penetrating mind. He questions Ethne about her feelings, seeking more than friendship in their marriage, and reveals his plan to see a specialist.
- Mrs. Adair
Observes Ethne's watch and mistakenly believes the two lives in question are Durrance's and Ethne's. She tactfully proposes that Ethne stay with her during the engagement interval.
Key passages
“The task would be difficult, no doubt, and it was no wonder that in these minutes while she waited fear grew upon her lest she should fail. But the end was well worth the effort, and she set her eyes upon that.”
Ethne knew her plan to make Durrance happy would be hard, and she was afraid she might not succeed, but she was determined to try because the goal was important to her.
Highlights Ethne's internal struggle and commitment to her self-imposed duty.
“He walked forward into the room as though his eyes saw; his memory seemed to tell him exactly where each piece of furniture stood.”
Durrance moved with such confidence that he seemed to see, relying on his memory of the room's layout to navigate without difficulty.
Illustrates Durrance's adaptation to blindness and his sharpened other senses.
“For one thing she recognised quite surely: Durrance saw ever so much more clearly now that he was blind.”
Ethne realized that Durrance's blindness had made him more perceptive and insightful than before.
The central irony of the chapter, highlighting the theme of perception versus reality.