The Tunnel · Chapter
XXXIII explained
Miriam enters Mrs.
What happens
Miriam enters Mrs. Bailey's dining-room for the first time, observing its faded grandeur and feeling uneasy. Mrs. Bailey reveals her plan to turn the house into a boardinghouse, having written to all current lodgers to vacate by the 14th prox. She intends to take in Norwegian gentlemen and hopes to improve her children's chances. Miriam admires her pluck but doubts she can manage the change, fearing the quiet house will be transformed by strangers.
Themes in this chapter
Social Class and Belonging
Mrs. Bailey's decision to start a boardinghouse is driven by a desire to improve her children's social standing, while Miriam doubts her ability to fit into the more genteel boardinghouse milieu.
Urban Experience and Modernity
The transformation of the house reflects the changing urban landscape and the pressures of modern life, as Mrs. Bailey declares 'We've got to march with the times.'
Characters to notice
- Miriam
Enters the dining-room reluctantly, observes its details, and listens to Mrs. Bailey's plans with a mix of admiration and doubt.
- Mrs. Bailey
Reveals her decision to convert the house into a boardinghouse, having written to all lodgers and arranged for Norwegian gentlemen to arrive next week.
Key passages
“Nothing venture, nothing have . It’s no good to be backward in coming forward nowadays. We’ve got to march with the times.”
Mrs. Bailey asserts that taking risks is necessary to succeed in the modern world.
Reflects her pragmatic and forward-looking attitude toward the boardinghouse venture.
“The quiet house would be utterly changed. There would be people going about, in possession, all over the front steps and at the dining-room windows and along the drawing-room balcony.”
Miriam imagines the house transformed by the presence of boarders, losing its familiar quietude.
Highlights Miriam's anxiety about change and loss of domestic privacy.