Those Barren Leaves · Chapter
III explained
At dinner, Mr.
What happens
At dinner, Mr. Cardan leads a conversation on hypocrisy, love, and the decline of formality, arguing that modern emancipation leads to boredom and that romanticism and etiquette once made love and life more interesting. He critiques the loss of pomp and spectacle in modern life, while Mrs. Aldwinkle and Miss Thriplow challenge his views on women.
Themes in this chapter
Authenticity vs. Performance
Mr. Cardan argues that hypocrisy and romantic artifice make love more interesting, contrasting the 'matter-of-fact' modern approach with the performed drama of the 19th century.
Class and Snobbery
Discussion of etiquette, pomp, and the decline of formal display in modern life reflects class-based distinctions and the snobbery of past grandeur.
Desire and Self-Deception
Mr. Cardan's analysis of hypocrisy as a means to make vice interesting touches on self-deception in love and desire.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Cardan
Dominates the dinner conversation with a lengthy discourse on hypocrisy, love, and the decline of formality; described in detail as a middle-aged, thickly built man with a red, knobbly face and a melodious voice.
- Mrs. Aldwinkle
Hosts the dinner; reacts with enthusiasm to art references, challenges Mr. Cardan's views on women, and rises to lead the company into the garden.
- Mary Thriplow
Engages in the conversation, agreeing with Mrs. Aldwinkle and adding a witty remark about sausages; forgets her convent school persona momentarily.
- Mr. Calamy
Mentioned as the new arrival occupying the place of honour on Mrs. Aldwinkle's right.
Key passages
“Hypocrisy, besides being the tribute vice pays to virtue, is also one of the artifices by which vice renders itself more interesting.”
Hypocrisy not only acknowledges virtue but also makes vice more appealing.
Mr. Cardan's opening argument on the role of hypocrisy in love.
“It is only by inventing rules about it which can be broken, it is only by investing it with an almost supernatural importance, that love can be made interesting.”
Love becomes interesting only when we create rules to break and treat it as something almost divine.
Mr. Cardan's view on how romanticism enhances love.
“People ask for freedom; but what they finally get turns out to be boredom.”
Seeking freedom ultimately leads to boredom.
Mr. Cardan's critique of modern emancipation in love.