III explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Unreliable Narration and Perception

  Dowell admits the difficulty of keeping the timeline straight, and Nancy's naive perceptions of marriage and love are contrasted with the harsh realities revealed by the divorce case.

• Love and Marriage

  Nancy's idealized view of marriage is shattered by the Brand divorce case, and Leonora's questioning of Nancy about marriage highlights the complexities and expectations surrounding the institution.

• Deception and Betrayal

  Nancy becomes aware of Edward's possible love for another and the hidden tensions between Edward and Leonora, while the divorce case reveals adultery and cruelty beneath a seemingly happy marriage.

Characters to notice

• Nancy Rufford

  Experiences profound unhappiness and confusion, abstains from alcohol after a moment of weakness, and contemplates self-sacrifice for Leonora. Begins to understand adult relationships and betrayal after reading a divorce case.

• Edward Ashburnham

  Described as having hopeless eyes, drinking too much, sighing deeply, and appearing as a man burning with inward flame. Nancy believes he must love someone other than Leonora.

• Leonora Ashburnham

  Confronts Nancy about marriage, writhes in agony when Nancy says she would want a husband like Edward. Nancy believes Leonora hates Edward.

• John Dowell

  The narrator, who reflects on the difficulty of keeping the timeline straight and provides commentary on the events.

Key passages

• “She remembered that Edward’s eyes were hopeless; she was certain that he was drinking too much; at times he sighed deeply. He appeared as a man who was burning with inward flame; drying up in the soul with thirst; withering up in the vitals.”

  Nancy recalled that Edward looked despairing, drank excessively, and often sighed heavily, seeming like a man consumed by an inner fire, parched and wasting away inside.

  Nancy's observation of Edward's deteriorating state.

• “She imagined that her anguish at the thought of Edward’s love for another person was solely sympathy for Leonora; she determined that the rest of her life must be spent in acting as Leonora’s handmaiden—sweeping, tending, embroidering, like some Deborah, some medieval saint.”

  She convinced herself that her distress over Edward loving someone else was only out of pity for Leonora, and resolved to devote her life to serving Leonora like a saintly handmaiden.

  Nancy's self-deception and desire for self-sacrifice.

• “She did not know what these words meant. She thought of her mother as sleeping beneath the arches whilst the snow fell. That was the impression conveyed to her mind by the words “on the streets.””

  Nancy did not understand her mother's letter, imagining her mother sleeping under arches in the snow, which was her naive interpretation of being 'on the streets.'

  Nancy's innocent misunderstanding of her mother's situation.