# Alvina Becomes Allaye explained — The Lost Girl

> Chapter companion for The Lost Girl by D. H. Lawrence.

## What happens

After the Natcha-Kee-Tawara troupe departs, Alvina feels a deep sense of loss and longs to be with them. Her father James Houghton, nervous and irritable, decides to convert the Endeavour theatre into a film venue, causing tension with Mr. May, who refuses to stay on as a mere film operator. Miss Pinnegar warns that the venture is against James's nature and will lead to disaster. Meanwhile, Alvina's relationship with Ciccio deepens, but Madame Rochard warns her about the difficulties of marrying an Italian laborer, including poverty, social degradation, and potential abuse. Alvina struggles with her feelings and the practical realities of her situation, while also facing the sordidness of her lodgings and the landlady's coarse insinuations.

## Themes in this chapter

### Social Class and Identity

Alvina faces the prospect of marrying a laboring Italian man and becoming a laborer's wife, with Madame Rochard warning of social degradation and loss of class status.

### Female Independence and Marriage

Alvina contemplates marriage to Ciccio despite warnings about poverty and abuse, struggling with her own desires and the societal expectations of a woman of her class.

### Modernity and Industrial Decline

James Houghton's decision to convert the Endeavour into a film show reflects the decline of live performance and the rise of cinema as a modern, industrial form of entertainment.

## Character check-ins

### Alvina Houghton

Weeps after the Natchas leave, feels drawn to them and to Ciccio; bored and tired of the Endeavour; confronts Mr. May and Miss Pinnegar about the theatre's future; contemplates marriage to Ciccio despite warnings.

### James Houghton

Nervous and irritable after the previous week; decides to convert the Endeavour into a picture show, causing conflict with Mr. May.

### Mr. May

Dismayed and chagrined by James's plan to turn the theatre into a film venue; refuses to stay on as a film operator, feeling it beneath him.

### Miss Pinnegar

Judicious and aloof, she warns that the Endeavour venture is wrong from the start and that James has gone against his own nature.

### Ciccio

Alvina's lover; avoids looking at or speaking to her at breakfast, instead communicating intimately with Gigi in French, causing Alvina offense.

### Gigi

Ciccio's companion; exchanges unspeakable communications with Ciccio in French at breakfast, ignoring Alvina.

## Key lines

> Alvina wept when the Natchas had gone. She loved them so much, she wanted to be with them.

Alvina cried after the Natcha-Kee-Tawara troupe left, feeling a strong attachment and desire to remain with them.

_Shows Alvina's emotional bond with the troupe and her sense of loss._

> He had developed a nervous horror of all artistes. He did not feel safe for one single moment whilst he depended on a single one of them.

James had become terrified of relying on performers, feeling constantly unsafe as long as he depended on them.

_Highlights James's anxiety and his decision to shift to film._

> He'll go on till he's killed himself, and then he'll know.

Miss Pinnegar predicts that James will continue until he destroys himself, and only then will he understand the error of his ways.

_Foreshadows potential disaster for James and the Endeavour._

> He will want to rise, by you, and you will go down, with him. That is how it is.

Madame Rochard warns that Ciccio will use Alvina to improve his social position, while she will sink to his level.

_Illustrates the theme of social class and the risks of cross-class marriage._

> I should hate being a labourer's wife in a nasty little house in a street.

Alvina expresses her aversion to the prospect of living as a laborer's wife in a poor, cramped home.

_Reveals Alvina's class consciousness and fear of downward mobility._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_girl_se/chapters/ix-alvina-becomes-allaye
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_girl_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_girl_se/chapters