The Return of the Native · Chapter
XI: The Dishonesty of an Honest Woman explained
Eustacia Vye and Damon Wildeve negotiate a potential elopement, but Eustacia's passion for him wanes as she perceives his mediocrity.
What happens
Eustacia Vye and Damon Wildeve negotiate a potential elopement, but Eustacia's passion for him wanes as she perceives his mediocrity. Meanwhile, Diggory Venn reveals his love for Thomasin to Mrs. Yeobright, who nonetheless presses forward with her plan to secure Wildeve as Thomasin's husband. Captain Vye informs Eustacia that Clym Yeobright is returning from Paris.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Marriage
Eustacia's disillusionment with Wildeve and the pragmatic negotiations over Thomasin's marriage underscore the tension between romantic love and social necessity.
Social Class and Ambition
Eustacia's sense of social superiority over Wildeve and her desire to escape the heath for London or Budmouth reflect her ambition and class consciousness.
Isolation and Loneliness
Eustacia's weariness and the 'peculiar state of misery' she experiences highlight her emotional isolation and the loneliness of her fading passion.
Characters to notice
- Eustacia Vye
Eustacia feels her passion for Wildeve fading, realizing she may have overestimated him, and she languidly considers his proposal to elope.
- Damon Wildeve
Wildeve presses Eustacia to elope with him to America, but grows impatient with her hesitation and taunts.
- Diggory Venn
Venn confesses his love for Thomasin to Mrs. Yeobright and offers himself as a husband, though he had earlier tried to help the marriage with Wildeve.
- Mrs. Yeobright
Mrs. Yeobright, determined to salvage Thomasin's reputation, visits Wildeve to press for marriage, armed with the knowledge of Venn's proposal.
- Captain Vye
Captain Vye tells Eustacia that Clym Yeobright is returning from Paris for Christmas.
Key passages
“If it could be London, or even Budmouth, instead of America”
Eustacia wishes they could go to a more civilized place than America.
Shows her preference for urban life over the wilderness.
“I wish I hated the heath less—or loved you more.”
Eustacia admits her love for Wildeve is not strong enough to overcome her dislike of the heath.
Reveals the waning of her passion.
“To be conscious that the end of the dream is approaching, and yet has not absolutely come, is one of the most wearisome... stages”
Realizing a love affair is ending but not yet over is a painful and tedious experience.
Narrator's reflection on Eustacia's emotional state.