The Professor’s House · Chapter
II explained
The chapter opens with the St.
What happens
The chapter opens with the St. Peter family preparing for a dinner party with Sir Edgar Spilling, an English scholar. The conversation reveals tensions between the Professor and his wife, Lillian, over his intolerance toward their sons-in-law. Louie Marsellus announces that he and Rosamond have named their new country house 'Outland,' which causes discomfort, especially for Scott McGregor. The evening highlights the family dynamics, with Rosamond's beauty and Kathleen's charm noted, and ends with McGregor's cynical remarks.
Themes in this chapter
Family and Marriage
The dinner party exposes tensions within the St. Peter family, particularly between the Professor and his wife over their sons-in-law, and the dynamics between the daughters and their husbands.
Materialism and Commercialism
Louie's enthusiasm for his new house and its naming, along with the discussion of building and furnishings, highlights the materialistic values of the new generation.
Idealized Friendship and Hero Worship
The naming of the house 'Outland' after Tom Outland suggests a continued idealization of his memory, even as the family moves on.
Characters to notice
- Professor St. Peter
Dressing for dinner, he engages in a tense conversation with Lillian about his intolerance toward his sons-in-law. He feels his forbearance is overstrained.
- Lillian St. Peter
She urges Godfrey to be more sympathetic and agreeable, and is pleased with Louie's announcement about naming the house 'Outland.'
- Rosamond
Dining with her husband Louie, she is described as brilliantly beautiful but with a heavy figure. She is sensitive about her husband's tactless remarks.
- Kathleen
The younger daughter, described as slender and pale with hazel eyes. She is married to Scott McGregor and tries to manage his behavior.
- Louie Marsellus
Enthusiastic and tactless, he announces the naming of his new house 'Outland' and invites Sir Edgar to visit it.
- Scott McGregor
Sulky and restless during the dinner, he mutters 'Outland, outlandish!' and later makes cynical remarks about Louie's announcement.
Key passages
“She stooped a trifle, and was wide in the hips and shoulders. She had, he sometimes remarked to her mother, exactly the wide femur and flat shoulder-blade of his old slab-sided Kanuck grandfather.”
Rosamond had a slight stoop and broad hips and shoulders, which her father compared to his rugged Canadian grandfather's build.
St. Peter's critical view of his daughter's appearance.
“The Professor had expressed his emotion only by lifting his heavy, sharply uptwisted eyebrows.”
The Professor showed his reaction to Louie's announcement merely by raising his eyebrows.
St. Peter's restrained response to the naming of the house.
“Now what the hell is a virtual widow? Does he mean a virtuous widow, or the reverseous? Bang, bang!”
McGregor sarcastically questions Louie's phrase 'virtual widow,' punning on 'virtuous' and 'reverseous.'
Scott's cynical and mocking attitude toward Louie's language.