Villette · Chapter
The Playmates explained
Mr.
What happens
Mr. Home visits for two days, remaining indoors and conversing with Mrs. Bretton. Paulina, deeply attached to Graham, struggles with her emotions and her impending departure. Lucy observes and counsels the child, who oscillates between affection and pride in her interactions with Graham. A playful quarrel over a picture ends with Paulina striking Graham, who feigns injury, prompting her remorse.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Self-Sacrifice
Paulina's intense, possessive love for Graham is tempered by Lucy's advice to be selfless and not expect too much, highlighting the theme of sacrificial affection.
Gender and Power
The power struggle between Graham and Paulina—his teasing, her pride and eventual submission—reflects gendered dynamics of control and emotional manipulation.
Passion and Repression
Paulina's passionate feelings for Graham are repressed by social expectations and Lucy's counsel to be 'good' and not troublesome, illustrating the tension between emotion and restraint.
Characters to notice
- Lucy Snowe
Narrator and observer; she comforts Paulina, offers advice about Graham, and reflects on the child's nature.
- Paulina Mary
A six-year-old girl deeply attached to Graham; she is capricious, proud, and struggles with her feelings of love and jealousy.
- John Graham Bretton
Sixteen-year-old Graham teases Paulina and engages in a playful power struggle over a picture, ultimately feigning injury to elicit her concern.
- Mrs. Bretton
Lucy's godmother; she provides sensible, motherly conversation to Mr. Home and observes the interactions between Graham and Paulina.
- Mr. Home
Paulina's father; he stays two days, sits by the fireside in a morbid mood, and allows Paulina to sit on his knee while she works on a keepsake handkerchief.
Key passages
“‘I cannot— cannot sleep; and in this way I cannot— cannot live!’”
Paulina declares she cannot sleep or endure her current state of distress.
Paulina's dramatic expression of emotional turmoil over leaving Graham.
“‘Because he is a boy and you are a girl; he is sixteen and you are only six; his nature is strong and gay, and yours is otherwise.’”
Lucy explains that Graham's age and gender make him less emotionally invested than Paulina.
Lucy articulates a gendered and age-based rationale for unequal affection.
“‘Then, I shall kiss the hand,’ said he; but that moment it became a miniature fist, and dealt him payment in a small coin that was not kisses.”
Graham tries to kiss Paulina's hand, but she punches him instead.
A playful yet defiant act from Paulina, showing her resistance to Graham's advances.