The Return of the Native · Chapter
The People at Blooms-End Make Ready explained
Thomasin and Mrs.
What happens
Thomasin and Mrs. Yeobright prepare for Clym's return by gathering apples and holly. Thomasin defends her decision to marry Wildeve despite her aunt's concerns, and they agree to keep the failed wedding a secret from Clym for now.
Themes in this chapter
Pride and Reputation
Thomasin insists on marrying Wildeve for her pride's sake, and Mrs. Yeobright refuses to appear beaten before Egdon.
Love and Marriage
Thomasin's conflicted feelings about Wildeve and the secret of the failed wedding highlight the tension between love, duty, and social expectation.
Characters to notice
- Thomasin Yeobright
Climbs into the loft to select apples for Clym, gathers holly, and defends her intention to marry Wildeve despite her aunt's doubts.
- Mrs. Yeobright
Directs the preparations, questions Thomasin about her feelings for Wildeve, and agrees to keep the secret of the failed wedding from Clym.
- Clym Yeobright
Expected home; the preparations at Blooms-End are made in anticipation of his arrival.
- Damon Wildeve
Referenced as the man Thomasin insists she must marry for pride's sake; Mrs. Yeobright has spoken to him about standing in the way of another suitor.
Key passages
“Thomasin had been persuaded by her aunt, and by an instinctive impulse of loyalty towards her cousin Clym, to bestir herself on his account with an alacrity unusual in her during these most sorrowful days of her life.”
Thomasin, urged by her aunt and her own loyalty to Clym, busied herself with preparations more eagerly than she had in her recent unhappy days.
Shows Thomasin's effort to set aside her sorrow for Clym's sake.
“I am a warning to others, just as thieves and drunkards and gamblers are. What a class to belong to! Do I really belong to them? 'Tis absurd! Yet why, aunt, does everybody keep on making me think that I do, by the way they behave towards me?”
Thomasin resents being treated like a cautionary example, comparing herself unfairly to criminals and outcasts.
Highlights Thomasin's frustration with her damaged reputation.
“I belong to one man; nothing can alter that. And that man I must marry, for my pride's sake.”
Thomasin feels bound to Wildeve and insists she will marry him to preserve her dignity.
Emphasizes the theme of pride and social obligation.