The Painted Veil · Chapter
LXI explained
Kitty waits alone for Walter, who does not return for dinner.
What happens
Kitty waits alone for Walter, who does not return for dinner. She reflects on her conversations with the nuns, feeling moved by their lives but untouched by their faith. She contemplates her affair with Townsend with disgust, considers her future and possible death in childbirth, and thinks about Walter's admirable but unlovable nature, hoping eventually to make amends and find peace.
Themes in this chapter
Self-Deception and Truth
Kitty confronts the truth about her affair with Townsend, seeing it as stupid and ugly rather than a grievous sin, and acknowledges her own lack of repentance.
Suffering and Growth
Kitty's reflections on her unhappiness and her desire to make amends to Walter suggest a process of moral growth through suffering.
Characters to notice
- Kitty Fane
Kitty reflects on her past affair, her feelings about the nuns, and her uncertain future, including the possibility of dying in childbirth.
- Walter Fane
Walter does not return for dinner; Kitty thinks about his admirable qualities and hopes to reconcile with him.
- Charles Townsend
Kitty recalls her affair with Townsend with disgust, finding him physically repulsive.
- Mother Superior
Kitty considers confessing to the Mother Superior but fears her judgment.
- Doris
Kitty thinks of Doris's near-death experience in childbirth and her mother's satisfaction at the birth of an heir.
Key passages
“She could not envisage the possibility that she might at any time be captured by the ardour of belief.”
Kitty cannot imagine herself ever being overcome by religious faith.
Kitty feels moved by the nuns' lives but remains untouched by their faith.
“The odd thing was that she herself could not regard it as wicked so much as stupid and ugly.”
Kitty sees her affair not as a sin but as a foolish and ugly mistake.
Kitty's moral perspective on her affair differs from traditional religious views.
“It was a pity that with his great qualities, his unselfishness and honour, his intelligence and sensibility, he should be so unlovable.”
Kitty regrets that Walter, despite his many virtues, is difficult to love.
Kitty acknowledges Walter's admirable traits but finds him emotionally distant.