Where Angels Fear to Tread · Chapter
Chapter VII explained
Caroline Abbott attempts to negotiate with Gino about the baby's future, but her moral resolve crumbles as she witnesses his profound paternal love.
What happens
Caroline Abbott attempts to negotiate with Gino about the baby's future, but her moral resolve crumbles as she witnesses his profound paternal love. She ends up helping him bathe the child, and when Philip arrives, she flees in tears, leaving both men bewildered.
Themes in this chapter
Cultural Clash
Caroline's English moral sensibilities clash with Gino's Italian, naturalistic approach to fatherhood and family.
The Quest for Authenticity
Caroline is confronted by the raw, authentic love of a father for his child, which transcends her preconceived notions of right and wrong.
Innocence and Experience
The baby represents innocence, while Caroline and Gino's interaction reveals the complexities of adult moral experience.
Characters to notice
- Caroline Abbott
Struggles with her mission to rescue the baby, overwhelmed by Gino's genuine love for his son; ends up helping bathe the child and then flees in tears.
- Gino Carella
Shows deep paternal devotion, washing his baby and speaking of his desire for a wife to help; unintentionally disarms Caroline's moral arguments.
- Philip Herriton
Arrives to find Caroline and Gino in a tender scene; is left confused by Caroline's emotional breakdown.
- Perfetta
Mentioned as too rough to care for the baby; returns complaining about Monteriano's streets.
Key passages
“The horrible truth, that wicked people are capable of love, stood naked before her, and her moral being was abashed.”
Caroline is shocked to realize that even someone she considers wicked can genuinely love.
Highlights Caroline's moral crisis and the theme of hypocrisy.
“It is the strongest desire that can come to a man—if it comes to him at all—stronger even than love or the desire for personal immortality.”
The wish to have a son who continues one's legacy is the most powerful human drive.
Reflects Gino's deep paternal instinct and the theme of authenticity.
“She was in the presence of something greater than right or wrong.”
Caroline feels that the situation transcends her usual moral categories.
Captures her inner conflict and the theme of moral self-deception.