Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Lady Susan, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Gender, Power, and Manipulation
Public Appearance vs. Private Reality
Love and Transaction
Summary
Analysis
Letter XI. Catherine writes to her mother, concerned about Reginald’s fast friendship with Lady Susan. She still doesn’t think that Lady Susan plans to marry Reginald, but it’s alarming to watch their flirtation. Catherine wonders whether her mother can trick Reginald into coming home on some pretense—for her part, Catherine has tried to hint that their father, Sir Reginald, is sick, but this doesn’t seem to have worked. Reginald is so infatuated with Lady Susan that he now defends her bad behavior, claiming that the rumors about her affair with Mr. Manwaring and flirtation with Sir James are lies.
Again, it’s worth questioning whether Catherine really believes that Lady Susan won’t marry Reginald—she’s obviously more worried than she lets on, since she wants her mother to force Reginald to come home. However, she apparently can’t just tell Reginald that Lady Susan is bad news. Because society demands that women be polite and agreeable, Catherine and Lady De Courcy are forced to circle around the actual issue. It’s true that Sir Reginald is ill, but that has nothing to do with why Catherine wants Reginald gone—and if their mother wrote to him, she would need to invent a similarly fake reason. If Catherine told Reginald what she really thought of Lady Susan, she might be able to convince him—his current attitude toward Lady Susan is obviously delusional, especially because he believed all the rumors about her only recently. But Catherine can’t say anything directly, so Reginald left vulnerable to more manipulation.
Themes
Letter XII. Catherine and Reginald’s father, Sir Reginald, writes to his son, reminding him of his duty to his family. In marriage, everything is at stake for Reginald: his happiness, his parents’ happiness, and the family’s good name. He hopes that Reginald wouldn’t propose to someone his parents didn’t approve of, but he’s grown concerned after hearing about Reginald’s friendship with Lady Susan.
While Catherine and her mother can’t discuss their fears about Lady Susan openly with Reginald—it’s not their place as women—Sir Reginald can. However, Sir Reginald’s fears seem to have more to do with the De Courcy family than with Reginald himself. Clearly, the De Courcys view marriage and love the same way Lady Susan does—as a transaction that needs to tangibly benefit Reginald and the De Courcy family. Even their familial love seems transactional, since Reginald’s duty is to do right by his family rather than to do right by himself.
Themes
Lady Susan’s age alone would make the match inappropriate (she’s 12 years older than Reginald), but the reasons behind her bad reputation bear repeating. Sir Reginald reminds his son that Lady Susan neglected her late husband, flirted with other men, and spent extravagantly during her marriage. Charles presents her in a better light than she deserves—she did try to break up his engagement to Catherine, after all.
The objection to a match between Lady Susan and Reginald based on Lady Susan’s age demonstrates the gendered double standards of 18th-century society. Frederica, a teenager, is poised to marry the adult Sir James—but because Lady Susan has 12 years on Reginald, she wouldn’t be a suitable wife. Sir Reginald’s other objections seem more valid; readers can finally confirm that Lady Susan was the one who drove her husband to bankruptcy, and that she never cared much about him, since she flirted with other men while they were married.
Themes
Sir Reginald is against the match with Lady Susan—it’s possible she’s even toying with Reginald out of vanity or attempting to change his especially bad opinion of her. But since she’s poor, it’s likelier that she wants to marry Reginald for money. Sir Reginald can’t stop his son from marrying Lady Susan or inheriting Sir Reginald’s wealth, but he would be ashamed of Reginald. He believes all the rumors about Lady Susan, and he knows that not long ago, Reginald did too. He wants Reginald to assure him that he won’t get engaged to Lady Susan, or at least explain why he’s changed his mind about her.
Catherine believes that Lady Susan is just messing with Reginald and has no intention of marrying him, and Sir Reginald entertains that possibility here. Readers know that this is Lady Susan’s claim as well, but Sir Reginald’s information directly contradicts Lady Susan’s letters to Alicia. She told her friend that she didn’t need money right now—but according to Sir Reginald, Lady Susan is broke, and Reginald would be a secure path to a small fortune. To make matters worse, Sir Reginald can’t prevent his son from inheriting, even if he marries a woman whom the entire family objects to. Readers have no way of knowing Lady Susan’s true intentions with Reginald; however, Sir Reginald seems to think that she holds all the cards in this situation, controlling Reginald’s every thought. The problem is that nothing Sir Reginald tells his son is new information—Reginald knows all the rumors about Lady Susan, and he did believe them only recently. If he changed his mind, it’s not because he wasn’t informed—it’s possible that he wants to believe Lady Susan more than he wants to know the truth.
Themes
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Letter XIII. Lady DeCourcy tells Catherine that she was sick when Catherine sent her last letter, so Sir Reginald read it to her and inadvertently learned about Reginald’s relationship with Lady Susan. She was going to write to Reginald herself, because the news would have upset Sir Reginald, but it’s too late—he sent a long letter to Reginald about his disapproval. Reginald replied, and Lady De Courcy now encloses his letter. Reginald’s reassurances that he wouldn’t marry Lady Susan calmed Sir Reginald, but Lady De Courcy remains unconvinced.
Lady De Courcy’s letter to Reginald surely would have been less direct than her husband’s—she and Catherine were, after all, trying to come up with a lie that would get Reginald to come home instead of confronting him directly. Lady De Courcy’s decision to keep the news about Reginald and Lady Susan a secret from her husband suggests that she’s afraid of his reaction; his letter was, after all, clearly written in anger and panic. It’s no wonder, then, that it wasn’t effective—Sir Reginald obviously doesn’t fully understand the situation, since he believed Reginald’s denial so easily.
Themes
Letter XIV. Reginald replies to Sir Reginald, shocked by his long missive. He assumes that Sir Reginald got this information from Catherine, and he scolds her for worrying the family without any reason. It’s an insult to Lady Susan to assume that she’s out for marriage, and he knows that their age gap prevents it; he’s just having fun talking with an intelligent woman. He thinks that Catherine is biased against Lady Susan because Lady Susan tried to prevent her marriage.
Unfortunately, the letter from Sir Reginald seems to have turned Reginald against Catherine. Catherine, presumably, never shared her feelings about Lady Susan with Reginald in person—now, even if she could do so, he probably wouldn’t listen to anything she said, since he knows she went behind his back. Reginald’s claim that it would be an insult to Lady Susan to assume she wanted to marry Reginald is a darkly humorous one—the truth, that Lady Susan supposedly wants to make Reginald’s whole family miserable, seems far worse.
Themes
However, Reginald now understands that Lady Susan acted out of love for Charles: she heard a nasty rumor about Catherine, so she was looking out for his best interests. If someone as blameless as Catherine can be slandered in such a way, anyone can be—including and especially Lady Susan, who is out in society much more often.
In this passage, readers learn the content of Lady Susan’s lies: she told Reginald that she did try to break Charles and Catherine up, but that she was acting based on a rumor she’d heard about Catherine. It’s an ingenious lie, since it connects so well to the current situation—as Reginald explains, Lady Susan hearing that rumor, which they know to be false, suggests that all rumors (including ones about Lady Susan herself) can be false. Meanwhile, the lie also implies that Lady Susan acted out of familial loyalty to Charles, which can only endear her to someone like Reginald, who is clearly close with his sister and parents
Themes
Reginald blames himself for believing the rumors about Lady Susan’s conduct at the Manwarings’. Mrs. Manwaring was jealous and invented the affair, and Mr. Manwaring’s sister, Miss Manwaring, was on the hunt for a husband. She landed on Sir James before he fell for Lady Susan, which is hardly Lady Susan’s fault. In fact, Lady Susan decided to leave the family so as not to disrupt their engagement. She was never an extravagant spender and is a great mother; Reginald only hopes that Frederica is worthy of her. Reginald admires Lady Susan, and he believes that Sir Reginald’s fears about marriage are misplaced.
Lady Susan is obviously lying about her affair with Mr. Manwaring, but she doesn’t deny that Sir James was attracted to her and broke off his engagement as a result. (Though she also doesn’t mention that she flirted with him, or that she did so for Frederica’s sake.) It’s true that, in this situation, Lady Susan isn’t entirely to blame—Miss Manwaring might very well have only wanted Sir James for his money and status, and Lady Susan didn’t cause his fickleness. Once again, the fact that Sir Reginald used this rumor against Lady Susan suggests that others act like she has much more power than she actually does; even if she purposely tried to attract Sir James, he was free to break off his engagement if he wanted to, and his disloyalty reflects poorly on him as well. Meanwhile, Reginald’s final claim that he won’t marry Lady Susan rings humorously false—after all, he’s just listed all the reasons she can do no wrong, and he seems to be entirely charmed by her.
Themes
Letter XV. Catherine tells her mother that she’s glad Reginald’s letter reassured Sir Reginald, but reading it only convinced her that Reginald doesn’t plan to propose to Lady Susan now—not that he won’t in the future. All of his impressions of her character come from Lady Susan herself. But Catherine does hope that she hasn’t judged Lady Susan too harshly—Lady Susan is genuinely upset right now, as Frederica has run away from boarding school. Catherine attributes this to Frederica’s “perverse” nature, which Lady Susan is always talking about. Charles has gone off to London to persuade the boarding school to keep Frederica, but if that doesn’t work, she’ll come to Churchill.
It makes sense that Catherine is unconvinced by Reginald’s letter—it was full of praise for Lady Susan, and it directly parroted her lies. Catherine also has the advantage of observing the two of them firsthand. This is something the De Courcys can’t do, which is likely part of the reason Sir Reginald’s warning was so ineffectual. While Reginald didn’t openly lie in his letter to his father, he’s definitely repeating Lady Susan’s lies, which she convinced him of in person. The divide between her public persona and her private persona is starker than ever. Notably, Catherine is more openly worried about a marriage between Reginald and Lady Susan now than she ever was before. Even though she’s obviously concerned, she also feels bad for Lady Susan, who seems upset about Frederica. Readers don’t know whether this distress is genuine, or whether Frederica is actually to blame—Lady Susan has proven herself to be a domineering mother, but that doesn’t mean Frederica isn’t still “perverse” and obstinate. But it’s strange that Catherine doesn’t question Lady Susan’s feelings, or her claims about Frederica, given how suspicious she always is of her. The truth will soon come to light, however, especially if Frederica comes to Churchill.
Themes
Catherine believes that Lady Susan is actually a little too upset about the situation, but she’s nervous that she’s misjudging her—Charles believes Lady Susan’s distress is genuine. Lady Susan begged Catherine to be harsh on Frederica if she does come to Churchill, as Lady Susan is too often soft with her, and Catherine finds this believable. Reginald, meanwhile, is ridiculously upset at Frederica on Lady Susan’s behalf, which Catherine believes is Lady Susan’s doing.
Charles has already proven himself to be a bad judge of character, given that he forgave Lady Susan for her interference in his engagement. But Catherine questions her own judgment about Lady Susan simply because her husband believes the lies. Of course, Charles can afford to be kind to Lady Susan in a way that Catherine can’t, since he’s a man—if he hadn’t married Catherine, he would have found somebody else. The stakes were higher for Catherine, since marriage was vital for women in the 18th century. Meanwhile, readers know that Lady Susan is lying about being soft on Frederica; she’s planning to force her into an unhappy marriage, and she forced her to go to boarding school. Again, Catherine seems to believe everything Lady Susan says about Frederica, which is strange—she probably assumes that maternal love is Lady Susan’s redeeming quality, but Lady Susan actually views Frederica as a means to an end. Catherine and Reginald are now, bizarrely, in the same position: they both believe that Frederica is in the wrong. This alone should be a tip-off to Catherine that Lady Susan is lying, but she doesn’t trust her own instincts.
Themes
Letter XVI. Lady Susan writes to Alicia, vexed at Frederica—after her daughter heard that Sir James would propose again, she probably went to elope with a family friend. However, Lady Susan still plans to force the marriage with Sir James. She hopes Frederica doesn’t come to Churchill and that they can find another school for her—in the meantime, Lady Susan will spread lies about the situation. Luckily, she’s a great liar, since most of her time is spent in conversation with others. Meanwhile, she’s grown weary with Reginald, since he always wants the absolute truth; Lady Susan prefers Mr. Manwaring, who always believed her without question. In fact, he wants to visit Churchill, which Lady Susan forbade.
Lady Susan’s letter still doesn’t clarify for the reader what Frederica is like—even if she ran away to elope, she might have been doing so out of fear rather than out of obstinacy, and it’s hard to take Lady Susan seriously when she claims that Frederica is in the wrong. After all, Lady Susan is planning to lie about the situation with Sir James if Frederica comes to Churchill, which suggests that Charles and Catherine would be sympathetic to Frederica’s plight if they knew the truth. It also suggests that, if Frederica came to Churchill, others might come to like her—perhaps she isn’t a clone of her mother after all. Lady Susan also confirms that the reason she’s so good at manipulating others is that society gives her infinite time to practice—as a woman, all she ever does is sit around and talk, which gives her ample opportunity for lying. This passage also shows that Lady Susan doesn’t value genuine love: if Reginald wants the truth about her, it means that he wants to love her for who she genuinely is, and he wouldn’t be comfortable parroting her lies. Lady Susan prefers someone like Mr. Manwaring, who doesn’t care about the truth. Their affair apparently continues right under Reginald’s nose—Reginald might be obsessed with finding out the truth, but he isn’t very good at it.
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Literary Devices
Letter XVII. Catherine writes to her mother, saying that Charles has returned with Frederica; her boarding school wouldn’t allow her to stay. While Lady Susan was upset before, she greeted Frederica coldly and then led her out of the room. When Lady Susan came back without her daughter, she seemed upset again—this distressed Reginald, but it convinced Catherine that Lady Susan doesn’t really care about Frederica.
Now that Catherine has observed Lady Susan and Frederica in person, she’s able to realize her earlier mistake: Lady Susan doesn’t care about Frederica. Lady Susan is so angry at her daughter, in fact, that she apparently forgets the act she’s been putting on and behaves coldly toward Frederica instead of continuing to seem distressed. Reginald is probably more confused by this than anything else, which leaves him vulnerable to manipulation. Catherine, on the other hand, sees Lady Susan’s behavior for the act it is.
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Literary Devices
While Catherine previously believed that Frederica was a wayward child, she appears merely shy and afraid of her mother. She’s pretty, but she pales in comparison to Lady Susan, and Catherine believes that Lady Susan has shut down most communication between herself and Frederica. It’s clear that Frederica hasn’t had much of an education, but Reginald still believes that Lady Susan is a great mother. He thinks that Frederica ran away for no reason, and he won’t even admit that she’s pretty. Unfortunately, he seems to be parroting Lady Susan.
While Catherine is certainly biased against Lady Susan (for good reasons), readers can safely assume that her impression of Frederica is an accurate one, given her observant nature. Frederica is not, in fact, a miniature Lady Susan, but rather a submissive pawn of her mother’s. Unfortunately, Catherine’s direct comparison of mother and daughter makes Frederica appear lacking—it seems that Frederica and Lady Susan will always be linked in people’s minds, since Lady Susan is such a dominating presence. This is the reason Reginald doesn’t admit Frederica is pretty, and the reason he still believes that Frederica is monstrous; Lady Susan is able to easily overpower his impressions of Frederica, since her daughter can never compare to her mother. Even the fact that Frederica is uneducated can seem like her own fault—though, of course, Lady Susan would obviously be responsible for this. But Lady Susan is an effective liar in person, while Frederica apparently can’t persuade anyone but Catherine to take her side.
Themes
Letter XVII. Catherine writes again to her mother, glad that she was interested to hear more about Frederica. Catherine thinks that Frederica has become enamored with Reginald, both because he’s handsome and because he has an “open” character. Catherine wants to let Reginald know about this crush, since he might be grateful for it; if so, Frederica might be a means of breaking up him and Lady Susan. Catherine’s mother would probably like Frederica; she’s young and uneducated, but she’s kind and fond of reading. Catherine has gained her trust, and through their conversations, she has come to believe that if Lady Susan treated her daughter kindly, Frederica might make a better impression on others.
It seems significant that Frederica has a crush on Reginald because of his “open” character—after all, his openness contrasts sharply with Lady Susan’s guarded manipulation. It’s possible, therefore, that Frederica likes Reginald because he’s so different from Lady Susan—in other words, her relationship with Lady Susan might predispose her to like Reginald. This would mean that, if she and Reginald did get together, and if Reginald did break up with Lady Susan, Lady Susan would be indirectly responsible for it. In other words, Lady Susan would ironically have a hand in her own defeat. It would certainly be an unromantic marriage either way—Reginald being “grateful” for Frederica’s attention is hardly a solid foundation for a love match, as it seems transactional. Meanwhile, Catherine herself is acting a lot like Lady Susan here—she doesn’t seem concerned with what would make Frederica happy and merely wants to use Frederica against Lady Susan. Her comment that, if Lady Susan was nicer to Frederica, Frederica might come across better, is rather manipulative—after all, Catherine is being nice to Frederica in the hopes that the girl will soon come across better to Reginald. Both Catherine and Lady Susan want to use Frederica, and neither is acting out of genuine love for her.
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Literary Devices
Letter XIX. Lady Susan writes to Alicia that Frederica did, in fact, run away because of the hint that Sir James would propose. She sarcastically commends Frederica’s blatant misbehavior, but she’s upset that her daughter now has to stay at Churchill. Frederica seems to have a crush on Reginald, which also annoys Lady Susan; the girl is disobeying her mother, both by refusing Sir James and by falling for someone new. Luckily, Reginald doesn’t even notice it, because Frederica is totally artless in her interactions with him—while the Vernons think she’s beautiful, Reginald isn’t affected.
Lady Susan doesn’t say whether or not Frederica was also planning to elope after she ran away, which would suggest a lot more cunning on Frederica’s part than Lady Susan gives her credit for. In fact, although Lady Susan is sarcastic about it, she seems almost impressed by Frederica’s daring—it certainly doesn’t align with the shy, meek girl Catherine described to Lady De Courcy. In fact, it implies that Frederica might really be more interesting than she appears when directly compared to her mother, which would explain why Lady Susan is concerned that she’s come to stay at Churchill. This passage also demonstrates that Lady Susan hasn’t been entirely honest with Alicia: Lady Susan claimed that she didn’t want to marry Reginald, and that she wanted a good match for Frederica. If both of these things were true, she should have no issue with Frederica’s crush on Reginald (he’s just as wealthy as Sir James, after all). Either Lady Susan secretly does plan to marry Reginald herself, or she just wants to control the situation and is angry that Frederica is trying to take that away from her. Unfortunately, Reginald doesn’t seem to care that Frederica likes him—genuine love has no effect on Reginald, since it’s “artless.” Reginald apparently responds better to Lady Susan’s manipulation, which always demands something of him. Frederica, meanwhile, is sacrificing her mother’s good will just to pine for Reginald, which proves that her feelings are strong.
Themes
Literary Devices
Catherine is the only one who openly cares about Frederica, which makes sense to Lady Susan: Catherine loves to be strict and witty, and Frederica can never compete with her. Initially, Lady Susan didn’t want them interacting, but she now believes that Frederica won’t reveal anything to Catherine. Despite the change of plans, Lady Susan is more determined than ever to force her daughter to marry Sir James—she’s just waiting to figure out how, since she won’t bring him to Churchill, and she can’t go to London at the moment.
This description of Catherine doesn’t align with what readers know about her—Catherine never describes herself as particularly witty, nor has she ever compared herself to Frederica. However, Lady Susan isn’t wrong that Catherine has ulterior motives for befriending Frederica: Catherine wants to break up Reginald and Lady Susan. Lady Susan’s judgment of Catherine’s character isn’t totally off-base; it’s even possible that Catherine does enjoy controlling Frederica and looking good in comparison to her. Even though Lady Susan senses Catherine’s potential dominance over Frederica, she believes that she still has enough control over her daughter to ensure that Frederica won’t say anything about the forced engagement. This passage reveals, however, that Lady Susan doesn’t have much control over her present circumstances; she can’t get Frederica and Sir James together without involving Catherine and Charles. Essentially, she’s stuck waiting for the situation to change, unable to change it herself.
Themes
Letter XX. Catherine writes to her mother, saying that Sir James has come to Churchill. When he arrived, Frederica at first ran to Catherine in a panic. Then Reginald summoned her, seeming surprised by her distress. Catherine now realizes that Lady Susan’s flirtation with Sir James must have been on Frederica’s behalf, though Frederica clearly dislikes him. Lady Susan was polite, but it was obvious that she didn’t want Sir James at Churchill, either; he kept mentioning that he’d seen Mrs. Johnson, and he addressed Lady Susan more often than her daughter.
The fact that Frederica ran to Catherine for help initially suggests that Catherine is truly gaining ground over Lady Susan; Frederica now trusts her, which helps her in her plan to match up Frederica and Reginald. However, Catherine also realizes that the situation is more complicated than she previously believed, since Frederica is basically engaged—the truth about Lady Susan and Sir James is obvious now. It’s also clear why Lady Susan didn’t want Sir James to meet the Vernons: he’s supposed to be engaged to Frederica, but he makes it apparent that he’s really obsessed with Lady Susan, and that Lady Susan has encouraged that obsession. This reflects poorly on Lady Susan, and it complicates her lies about Frederica: she wanted Frederica to seem manipulative and willful, but instead, Lady Susan is the one who seems manipulative.
Themes
Lady Susan then followed Catherine into her dressing room to speak to her privately. She claimed to have been surprised by Sir James’s visit, but she insisted that he came out of desperate love for Frederica. Now that Frederica has set her mind against boarding school, Lady Susan believes that the wedding will likely happen soon—and she expressed her hope that Catherine and Charles would approve of the match. Appealing to Catherine’s maternal side, Lady Susan said that someday it’ll be her own daughter getting engaged. Catherine congratulated Lady Susan, who responded by declaring that she’s come to love Catherine for her kindness to Frederica and apologizing that someone prejudged her against Catherine years ago. Catherine notes how earnest Lady Susan sounded, but she tells her mother that she distrusts everything Lady Susan says.
Lady Susan is clearly trying to spin the situation—Catherine has already observed that Sir James didn’t seem to care about Frederica, so it doesn’t make sense that he would come all the way to Churchill for her. It would certainly help Lady Susan if the wedding did happen soon, though, since the situation is getting out of her control. For instance, Lady Susan’s appeal to Catherine’s maternal side might have been more effective earlier in the novella, when Catherine still believed that Lady Susan was a good mother. Now, however, it just rings false, as does her gratitude for Catherine’s kindness to Frederica—readers already know that this is a lie, since Lady Susan is only annoyed by their newfound friendship. However, Lady Susan is still an incredibly effective manipulator, so effective that Catherine doesn’t immediately discount everything she says. In fact, she repeats Lady Susan’s lies to her mother, even though she assumes that they’re not true. Catherine always tells the truth in letters to Lady De Courcy, but she can’t help but parrot Lady Susan’s manipulation, thereby inadvertently spreading it.
Themes
Reginald, meanwhile, was astonished by Sir James’s visit, as Sir James was so stupid, and Frederica was so upset. Lady Susan privately calmed Reginald down, but Catherine assumes that he’s still baffled by the engagement, which reflects poorly on Lady Susan as a mother. Sir James invited himself to stay at Churchill, since he’ll soon marry into the family—Catherine hopes that something can be done to prevent the wedding, since a girl with good enough taste to love Reginald shouldn’t marry a man like Sir James.
Reginald has spent a large chunk of the novella claiming that Lady Susan is a good mother, so meeting Sir James is a wake-up call: it doesn’t make sense that Frederica would want to marry Sir James, since she was so upset by the visit. It also doesn’t make sense that Lady Susan would approve of the match, since Sir James is foolish. The only logical explanation, therefore, is that Lady Susan doesn’t care about Frederica and is forcing her daughter into an unhappy marriage, probably for money. While Reginald doesn’t quite reach this conclusion, readers can assume from Catherine’s description that he’s beginning to consider it. Readers can also assume that Lady Susan is going to push the engagement through quickly, since Sir James staying at Churchill was never part of her plan. It seems unlikely that Catherine will be able to put a stop to the marriage—she couldn’t even advise her own brother against Lady Susan, and a woman at this time (the 18th century) wouldn’t have the power to singlehandedly call off a wedding. Meanwhile, Catherine still seems to view Frederica through a transactional lens: she wants to help her not because she cares about her, but because of Frederica’s crush on Reginald.
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