The Getting of Wisdom · Chapter
XIII explained
Laura is promoted two forms at Christmas, now a thin thirteen-year-old with a long dark plait.
What happens
Laura is promoted two forms at Christmas, now a thin thirteen-year-old with a long dark plait. She and Tilly are the only intimates to skip a class, throwing them together more exclusively. The older girls in their new form initially stand on their dignity, but Laura and Tilly soon discover their secret bond: using the Bible to obtain forbidden knowledge about sex. Laura proves nimble-witted and becomes one of the most audacious Bible-readers, joining the older girls in their clandestine discussions. The chapter explores the girls' distorted understanding of sexuality, warped by the school's prudishness and their own wild speculations. Laura, however, remains detached from the intense interest in the opposite sex that drives her companions, still finding boys 'silly' until an experience at the beginning of autumn begins to awaken her.
Themes in this chapter
Female Adolescence and Sexuality
The chapter centers on the girls' clandestine pursuit of sexual knowledge through Bible study, their distorted views of men and women, and Laura's awakening curiosity.
Education and the Nature of Wisdom
Contrasts the official curriculum (expurgated classics, physiology of bones and arteries) with the illicit, warped 'education' the girls create for themselves.
Truth, Lies, and Self-Deception
The girls' knowledge is a 'strange jumble' of fact and fantasy; their theories about sex are fantastic and distorted, showing how secrecy breeds deception.
Characters to notice
- Laura Rambotham
Now thirteen, promoted two forms, curious and nimble-witted, becomes a leader in Bible-based sexual speculation but remains naive about boys.
- Tilly Macnamara
Laura's intimate friend who also skipped a class; more knowing at first but soon matched by Laura.
- Kate Horner
Older girl in the new form who initiates the Bible reference game (Genesis 51:32).
- Maria Morell
Older girl who initially cautions Kate but later accepts Laura into the group.
- Mrs. Gurley
Passes by on the verandah, her withering eye keeping the girls industrious momentarily.
Key passages
“On her honourable promotion the following Christmas—she mounted two forms this time—Laura was a thin, middle-sized girl of thirteen, who still did not look her age.”
At Christmas, Laura was honorably promoted two forms, becoming a thin, average-height thirteen-year-old who appeared younger than she was.
Describes Laura's physical appearance and academic advancement at the start of the chapter.
“Thus was Laura encouraged, put on her mettle; and soon there was no more audacious Bible-reader in the class than she.”
Encouraged by the older girls' approval, Laura quickly became the boldest in the class at using the Bible for forbidden knowledge.
Shows Laura's rapid integration into the group's secret activity.
“Their minds were warped by it, their vision was distorted: viewed through its lens, the most natural human relations appeared unnatural.”
The girls' secret knowledge twisted their thinking, making normal human relationships seem abnormal.
Highlights the damaging effect of the clandestine sexual education on the girls' worldview.