Chapter XII explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Love and Separation

  Emily and Valancourt's love is permitted but constrained by Madame Cheron's conditions, highlighting the tension between their affection and the barriers of social expectation and family authority.

• Female Agency and Vulnerability

  Emily's lack of agency is evident as her aunt dictates the terms of her relationship, and she must endure the coarse speech and social pressures without the power to assert her own wishes.

• Avarice and Corruption

  Madame Cheron's vanity and selfish desire for social elevation drive her to approve the match, revealing how avarice corrupts genuine care for Emily's happiness.

Characters to notice

• Emily St. Aubert

  Emily experiences happiness in Valancourt's company but also distress at her aunt's coarse speech and the constraints placed on their relationship. She seeks solace in the pavilion, playing melancholy songs and thinking of Valancourt and Gascony.

• Valancourt

  Valancourt visits frequently, reads to Emily, and expresses his love. He is modest about his expectations from Madame Clairval and is embarrassed during the conversation with Madame Cheron about the terms of the relationship.

• Madame Cheron

  Madame Cheron permits Valancourt's visits after learning he is nephew to Madame Clairval, driven by vanity and desire for social distinction. She sets strict conditions on the relationship and asserts her authority as guardian.

• Montoni

  Montoni becomes a daily guest and a favored suitor to Madame Cheron. Emily feels admiration mixed with fear toward him, noting his conscious superiority and the triumph of art over nature in his countenance.

• Cavigni

  Cavigni is gay and insinuating, paying attention to Madame Cheron but also conversing with Emily, who shrinks from his air of tenderness.

• Madame Clairval

  Madame Clairval is mentioned as the wealthy aunt of Valancourt, whose connection motivates Madame Cheron's change of heart. She has a daughter, a fact Valancourt has not forgotten.

Key passages

• “Thus had she consented to involve her niece in an engagement, to which she saw only a distant and uncertain conclusion, with as little consideration of her happiness, as when she had so precipitately forbade it”

  Madame Cheron agreed to the engagement without regard for Emily's happiness, just as she had when she abruptly forbade it earlier.

  Highlights Madame Cheron's selfish and inconsistent treatment of Emily's romantic prospects.

• “They loved and were beloved, and saw not, that the very attachment, which formed the delight of their present days, might possibly occasion the sufferings of years.”

  Emily and Valancourt were so absorbed in their love that they did not realize their current happiness could lead to future pain.

  Foreshadows potential future sorrow arising from their attachment.

• “Emily felt admiration, but not the admiration that leads to esteem; for it was mixed with a degree of fear she knew not exactly wherefore.”

  Emily admired Montoni but did not respect him, feeling an unexplained fear alongside her admiration.

  Introduces Emily's instinctive wariness of Montoni, hinting at his dangerous nature.

• “the immoderate and feverish animation, usually exhibited in large parties, results partly from an insensibility to the cares, which benevolence must sometimes derive from the sufferings of others, and partly from a desire to display the appearance of that prosperity”

  The excessive cheerfulness seen in social gatherings comes from a lack of concern for others' suffering and a wish to show off one's own success.

  Emily's critical observation of society's superficiality and self-interest.