XIII: Before and After Breakfast explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Deception and Appearance

  Captain Oakley's compliments are suspected by Lady Knollys to be motivated by Maud's inheritance, highlighting the theme of deception in social interactions.

• Wealth and Inheritance

  Maud's status as an heiress is central to the chapter, influencing Captain Oakley's interest and Lady Knollys's protective warnings.

• Gender and Power

  Lady Knollys exerts authority over Captain Oakley and Maud, while Maud feels the pressure of being an heiress and the object of male attention.

Characters to notice

• Maud Ruthyn

  Maud reflects on her uncle Silas's portrait, feeling admiration and pity. She is aware of her status as an heiress and feels conflicted about Captain Oakley's attentions and Lady Knollys's warnings.

• Lady Knollys

  Lady Knollys warns Maud about Captain Oakley's motives, insists he leave, and advises Maud against his advances. She exerts control over the situation.

• Captain Oakley

  Captain Oakley pays compliments to Maud and expresses regret at having to leave. He is portrayed as charming but financially motivated.

• Austin Ruthyn

  Austin Ruthyn participates in the conversation about Captain Oakley, showing a dry, amused demeanor. He reaffirms his decision never to remarry.

• Uncle Silas

  Maud reflects on her uncle Silas's portrait, imagining him as a prodigal, hero, and martyr. She feels a girlish admiration and hopes to vindicate him.

Key passages

• “I was an admiring reader of the Albums , the Souvenirs , the Keepsakes , and all that flood of Christmas-present lore which yearly irrigated England , with pretty covers and engravings; and floods of elegant twaddle⁠—the milk, not destitute of water, on which the babes of literature were then fed.”

  Maud enjoyed reading sentimental gift books popular in England, filled with pretty pictures and shallow writing that nourished young readers.

  Maud reflects on her literary tastes as a young girl.

• “Is there not in the female heart an ineradicable jealousy, which, if it sways the passions of the young, rules also the advice of the aged ? Do they not grudge to youth the sentiments (though Heaven knows how shadowed with sorrow) which they can no longer inspire , perhaps even experience ; and does not youth, in turn, sigh over the envy which has power to blight ?”

  Maud wonders if women of all ages feel jealousy, with older women resenting the emotions they can no longer inspire, and young women suffering from that envy.

  Maud's own reflection on jealousy, written in her album.

• “There stood the roué ⁠—the duellist⁠—and, with all his faults, the hero too! In that dark large eye lurked the profound and fiery enthusiasm of his ill-starred passion.”

  Maud sees her uncle Silas as a flawed but heroic figure, with a passionate and tragic intensity in his eyes.

  Maud's romanticized view of her uncle Silas after learning more about him.