The Green Hat · Chapter
III explained
The narrator escorts Iris Storm down the stairs after their first meeting, and she unexpectedly enters his room.
What happens
The narrator escorts Iris Storm down the stairs after their first meeting, and she unexpectedly enters his room. They engage in a deep conversation about vulgarity, writing, money, and enchantment. Iris reveals her four laws and tells the story of how her husband Hector Storm gave her an emerald ring as a charm against suspicion, recounting a night in Algeria.
Themes in this chapter
Appearance vs. Reality
The narrator struggles to 'place' Iris, finding her composed of contradictory sides, each belonging to a different woman.
Gender and Sexual Double Standards
Iris's story of the emerald ring reveals Hector's suspicion and the double standard of trust in marriage.
Social Class and Decadence
Discussion of Jews and Americans as purveyors of enchantment and luxury, and critique of middle-class morality.
Characters to notice
- Iris March
Referred to as Mrs. Storm; the narrator reflects on her elusive, multi-faceted nature and her quiet self-invention.
- Gerald March
Mentioned as Iris's brother; the narrator recalls hearing about a sister but not connecting her to Mrs. Storm.
- Hilary Townshend
Mentioned as having told Iris about the narrator and as someone who also felt her unique presence.
- Hector Storm
Iris's husband; appears in her story about giving her the emerald ring in Algeria.
- Lord Portairley
Mentioned as Gerald's uncle, with whom the narrator had imagined Gerald's sister living.
Key passages
“She showed you first one side of her and then another, and each side seemed to have no relation with any other, each side might have belonged to a different woman; indeed, since then I have found that each side did belong to a different woman.”
Iris presented herself in fragments, each facet disconnected from the others, as if each belonged to a separate person.
The narrator's attempt to understand Iris's multifaceted personality.
“Desire is a child with hungry eyes, and for him a dragon lies waiting. This ring is a charm against dragons.”
Desire is like a needy child, and danger lurks for it; the emerald ring protects against that danger.
Iris explains the symbolic meaning of her emerald ring as a protective charm.