Wired Love · Chapter
VIII: The Feast explained
Nattie, discontented with her routine, discusses ambition with Cyn, who suggests enjoying life's small pleasures.
What happens
Nattie, discontented with her routine, discusses ambition with Cyn, who suggests enjoying life's small pleasures. They plan a private feast in Cyn's room, using improvised utensils and hiding it from Mrs. Simonson. Meanwhile, Nattie has a tense encounter with a handsome stranger at the telegraph office. Quimby asks Cyn if he can bring a friend to call. The chapter culminates in the two women preparing a bohemian meal together, with the cat Duchess as an observer.
Themes in this chapter
Ambition and Discontent
Nattie confesses her ambition to be a writer and her discontent with daily routine; Cyn shares her own philosophy of seizing opportunities.
Female Independence and Self-Support
The two women create their own private feast, improvising with limited resources, demonstrating self-reliance and camaraderie.
Gossip and Social Surveillance
Nattie and Cyn worry about Miss Kling discovering their secret cooking; they take precautions to avoid being caught.
Characters to notice
- Nathalie Rogers
Feels ambitious and discontented; plans and helps cook the feast with Cyn; has a sharp encounter with a young man at the telegraph office.
- Cyn
Hosts the feast in her room; offers philosophical advice about enjoying life; skillfully avoids Miss Kling while fetching dishes; agrees to Quimby's request to bring a friend.
- Quimby
Stops Cyn in the hall to ask about bringing a friend to call; appears preoccupied and unobservant.
- Betsey Kling
Mentioned as a potential snoop; is napping during the dish retrieval, so does not discover the feast preparations.
- Celeste Fishblate
Mentioned as one who pushes herself into intimacy with Cyn's circle.
- Jo Norton
Mentioned as being strangely attracted to Cyn's company, though he claims to have no sentiment.
Key passages
“I am ambitious for fame! I want to be a writer; but when I think of the obstacles in my way to an opening, even, in that direction, I am daunted.”
Nattie longs to become a famous writer but feels discouraged by the many barriers she faces.
Reveals Nattie's deep-seated ambition and her sense of helplessness.
“We will call our contrivance a coffee-urn; it sounds aristocratic”
Nattie suggests they pretend their makeshift coffee pot is an elegant urn to make the meal feel fancier.
Shows the playful, improvisational spirit of the feast.
“I have a little gas stove—low be it said, lest Mrs. Simonson hear and bring in a terrific bill for extra gas!”
Cyn admits she has a hidden gas stove and warns Nattie not to let the landlady find out, or she'll be charged more.
Highlights the secrecy and financial constraints of boarding house life.