The Return · Chapter
XXIII explained
Lawford sits alone in the dark, reflecting on his isolation and the nature of existence, haunted by thoughts of Sabathier and the mystery of life.
What happens
Lawford sits alone in the dark, reflecting on his isolation and the nature of existence, haunted by thoughts of Sabathier and the mystery of life. Miss Sinnet visits and recounts a strange encounter on Bewley Heath with a man who claimed to be Mary Lawford's son, leading to a discussion about identity, memory, and the past.
Themes in this chapter
Isolation and Alienation
Lawford's profound sense of loneliness and detachment from reality is central, as he sits in the dark and feels like a spectator in his own life.
Mortality and the Past
The chapter dwells on the past through Miss Sinnet's memories of Mary Lawford and the mysterious stranger, and Lawford's contemplation of death and the grave.
Identity and Transformation
The stranger's claim to be Mary Lawford's son and the confusion over names (Sinnet vs. Bennett) highlight themes of mistaken identity and the fluidity of self.
Characters to notice
- Arthur Lawford
Sits alone in darkness, brooding on solitude and the meaning of life, then converses with Miss Sinnet about her strange encounter.
- Miss Sinnet
Visits Lawford and recounts meeting a mysterious man on Bewley Heath who claimed to be Mary Lawford's son.
- Mary Lawford
Mentioned as Lawford's mother, a former schoolfellow of Miss Sinnet, with Dutch heritage.
- Alicia
Mentioned as Lawford's daughter Alice, nearly sixteen, who enjoys walks on Bewley Heath.
- Nicholas Sabathier
Referenced as the source of Lawford's newfound understanding of mystery and beauty.
Key passages
“It was all so very far away. And they too—these talkers—so very far away; as remote and yet as clear as the characters in a play when they have made their final bow, and have left the curtained stage, and one is standing uncompanioned and nearly the last of the spectators, and the lights that have summoned back reality again are being extinguished.”
Everything felt distant, like watching actors leave a stage after a performance, leaving him alone as the lights go out.
Lawford's sense of detachment and isolation is vividly expressed through the theater metaphor.
“And yet mystery and loveliness alike were only really appreciable with one’s legs, as it were, dangling down over into the grave. Just with one’s lantern lit, on the edge of the whispering unknown, and a reiterated going back out of the solitude into the light and warmth, to the voices and glancing of eyes, to say goodbye:—that after all was this life on earth for those who watched as well as acted.”
True appreciation of beauty and mystery comes only when one is close to death, like sitting on the edge of the grave with a lantern, returning briefly to the living world to say farewell.
Lawford reflects on the paradoxical nature of life, where awareness of mortality enhances experience.
“What if one’s earthly home were empty?—still the restless fretted traveller must tarry; “for the horrible worst of it is, my friend,” he said, as if to some silent companion listening behind him, “the worst of it is, your way was just simply, solely suicide.””
Even if one's life feels hollow, the traveler must stay, because the alternative is merely suicide.
Lawford confronts the temptation of escape through death, rejecting it as a cowardly cul-de-sac.
“He turned with an infinite revulsion of feeling to look”
He turned away, overwhelmed by a deep sense of disgust and disappointment.
Lawford's emotional reaction to the fading hope of the approaching hoofbeats.
