The Outlaw of Torn · Chapter
Chapter XIV explained
Norman of Torn leaves Joan de Tany, realizing he does not love her but Bertrade de Montfort.
What happens
Norman of Torn leaves Joan de Tany, realizing he does not love her but Bertrade de Montfort. Joan lies to the King's men to protect him, then discovers his gifts and sobs over the barrier of his low birth. Later, Norman leads his men to confront the Earl of Buckingham, but finds his castle deserted. He pursues De Fulm to a royalist castle, where he confronts him. Meanwhile, Joan, tormented by her love and social constraints, takes her own life.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Sacrifice
Joan de Tany sacrifices her own life due to the impossibility of her love for Norman, while Norman sacrifices his own feelings for Joan to pursue his true love for Bertrade.
Social Class and Outlawry
The central conflict: Joan's love for Norman is doomed by his low birth and outlaw status, highlighting the oppressive caste system.
Honor and Chivalry
Norman's chivalrous treatment of Joan and his dignified respect for women contrast with the societal honor that binds Joan to her class.
Characters to notice
- Norman of Torn
Leaves Joan de Tany, realizing he loves Bertrade de Montfort; leads his band to pursue the Earl of Buckingham.
- Joan de Tany
Lies to the King's men to protect Norman, grieves over their impossible love, and ultimately commits suicide.
- Bertrade de Montfort
Norman realizes his heart belongs to her, though she is not present in the chapter.
- De Vac
Mentioned indirectly as part of the revenge plot that has crushed another innocent victim.
- Lady de Tany
Comforts Joan and argues that Norman's low birth makes their love impossible.
- Shandy
Accompanies Norman on the raid to confront the Earl of Buckingham.
- John de Fulm
Earl of Buckingham; Norman pursues him for revenge, but he has fled toward Dover.
Key passages
“I promise, Norman of Torn.”
Joan de Tany gives her word to Norman before he departs.
A solemn promise exchanged between the two.
“The outlaw had scarce passed out of sight upon the road to Derby ere the girl, who still stood in an embrasure of the south tower, gazing with strangely drawn, sad face up the road which had swallowed him, saw a body of soldiers galloping rapidly toward Tany from the south.”
No sooner had Norman left than Joan, watching from the tower, spotted soldiers approaching from the south.
The King's men arrive to search for Norman.
“There be no outlaw here, replied the girl, but, if you wish, you may enter with half a dozen men and search the castle.”
Joan denies Norman's presence and allows a limited search.
She lies to protect Norman.
“She was indeed but a little girl chained by the inexorable bonds of caste to a false ideal.”
Joan is a victim of the rigid social hierarchy that dictates her honor.
The narrator comments on the tragedy of class constraints.
“When the rising sun shone through the narrow window, it found Joan de Tany at peace with all about her; the carved golden hilt of the toy that had hung at her girdle protruded from her breast, and a thin line of crimson ran across the snowy skin to a little pool upon the sheet beneath her.”
At dawn, Joan is found dead, having stabbed herself with a decorative dagger.
Joan's suicide is the tragic climax of the chapter.
