# Chapter V explained — The Nebuly Coat

> Chapter companion for The Nebuly Coat by John Meade Falkner.

## What happens

Westray and Miss Joliffe discuss the flower painting; she refuses to move it, revealing it was painted by her mother and that a London dealer has offered fifty pounds for it. Westray is baffled by the offer given the picture's apparent worthlessness. Later, Westray and Sharnall talk about the picture and Miss Joliffe's dilemma, and Sharnall shares his cynical views on family loyalty and memory.

## Themes in this chapter

### Art and Authenticity

The chapter centers on the disputed value of the flower painting: Westray sees it as worthless amateur work, while Miss Joliffe insists it is a valuable heirloom. The dealer's offer of fifty pounds creates a mystery about its true worth.

### The Past and Memory

Miss Joliffe's attachment to the painting is rooted in family memory—her father's pride, her mother's talent, and the link to a more comfortable past. Sharnall critiques how family loyalty distorts memory and judgment.

### Secrecy and Identity

The painting conceals a hidden portrait (as later revealed), and the dealer's unexpected interest hints at a secret about its origin or subject. Westray's puzzlement underscores the theme of hidden identities.

## Character check-ins

### Mr. Westray

Examines the flower painting, finds it worthless, but is puzzled by the dealer's offer. He agrees to stay as Miss Joliffe's lodger and discusses the picture with Sharnall.

### Miss Euphemia Joliffe

Refuses to move the flower painting, citing sentimental and artistic value. She shows Westray the dealer's letter offering fifty pounds and explains the picture's history as her mother's work.

### Mr. Sharnall

Visits Westray's room, discusses Miss Joliffe's conflict over selling the picture, and offers cynical commentary on family loyalty and memory.

### Martin Joliffe

Mentioned as Miss Joliffe's late brother who treasured the painting and refused to sell it.

### Sophy Joliffe

Mentioned as the mother of Miss Euphemia and Martin, who painted the flower picture and left her family.

### Old Mrs. Janaway

Mentioned as reporting that Sophia Joliffe said the painting would fetch a hundred pounds.

## Key lines

> It had all the crude colouring and hard outlines of the worst amateur work, and gave the impression of being painted with no other object than to cover a given space.

Westray thought the painting was poorly executed, with harsh colors and clumsy lines, as if it were made only to fill the frame.

_Westray's initial assessment of the flower painting._

> Love bids her penal code halt; she makes a way of escape for her own, and speaks of dear Dick and dear Tom for all the world as if they had been double Baxter-saints.

Sharnall says that love makes people overlook the faults of their relatives, speaking of them as if they were saints, while condemning others harshly.

_Sharnall's cynical view on family loyalty and selective memory._

> It was a sacred trust, and the last link (except the silver spoons marked 'J.') that bound the squalid present to the comfortable past.

For Miss Joliffe, the painting was a cherished heirloom connecting her difficult present to a more prosperous family history.

_Narrator's description of the painting's sentimental value to Miss Joliffe._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_nebuly_coat_se/chapters/v
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_nebuly_coat_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_nebuly_coat_se/chapters