The Old Wives’ Tale · Chapter
The Square explained
Constance and Sophia Baines observe their servant Maggie Hollins on her Thursday afternoon outing, mocking her new clothes and romantic rendezvous.
What happens
Constance and Sophia Baines observe their servant Maggie Hollins on her Thursday afternoon outing, mocking her new clothes and romantic rendezvous. Later, in the showroom, Sophia playfully tries on their mother's new gown, only to be interrupted by Mr. Povey, who enters in apparent pain. The chapter also reflects on the outdated fashions and provincial life of the era.
Themes in this chapter
Provincial Life vs. Worldly Experience
The girls' mockery of Maggie and their fascination with Paris fashions highlight the contrast between their insular Bursley life and the wider world.
Female Identity and Independence
Sophia's defiant play-acting in her mother's gown and her haughty attitude reflect her budding sense of self and desire for autonomy.
Social Class and Respectability
The Baines sisters' disdain for Maggie's new clothes and romantic life underscores class distinctions and the importance of respectability.
Characters to notice
- Sophia Baines
Observes Maggie with derision, tries on her mother's gown, and is caught by Mr. Povey.
- Constance Baines
Watches Maggie with mixed pity and amusement, helps Sophia after her fall, and shows concern for their mother's dress.
- Maggie Hollins
The Baines' servant, seen in new clothes meeting a man in the Square; has been engaged eleven times.
- Samuel Povey
Enters the showroom groaning in pain, then pretends to be a casual passerby; the reliable shop assistant.
- Mrs. Baines
Mentioned as the mother, whose new gown Sophia tries on; her authority and presence are felt even in her empty garments.
Key passages
“There she goes! exclaimed Sophia. Up the Square, from the corner of King Street, passed a woman in a new bonnet with pink strings, and a new blue dress that sloped at the shoulders and grew to a vast circumference at the hem.”
Sophia points out Maggie walking across the Square in a new bonnet and dress.
Introduces Maggie's outing and the sisters' observation.
“She was as tall as her mother, and as imperious, as crested, and proud; and in spite of the pigtail, the girlish semicircular comb, and the loose foal-like limbs, she could support as well as her mother the majesty of the gimp-embroidered dress.”
Sophia, wearing her mother's gown, looks just as commanding and proud as Mrs. Baines.
Highlights Sophia's youthful arrogance and resemblance to her mother.
“The crinoline had not quite reached its full circumference, and the dress-improver had not even been thought of. In all the Five Towns there was not a public bath, nor a free library, nor a municipal park, nor a telephone, nor yet a board-school.”
The era was backward: crinolines were still evolving, and the Five Towns lacked basic amenities like baths, libraries, parks, telephones, and schools.
Provides historical context about the primitive conditions of the time.