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 XXXI. Lady Susan writes to Alicia, telling her that the plan didn’t work—her letter to Reginald spurred him to come to London rather than keeping him away, and he’ll deliver this letter himself. Admittedly, this does prove how much he loves her. Lady Susan wants Alicia to spend the evening with Reginald—she feigned sick—and flirt with him if necessary. Crucially, Alicia must convince him that his continued stay in London will make Lady Susan miserable for reasons of “propriety, and so forth.” In the meantime, Lady Susan will spend the evening with Mr. Manwaring.
Because Lady Susan’s letter was pretty transparent, it’s not surprising that Reginald came to London. Lady Susan seems to think that he did so because he was lovesick, which she appreciates—she values love if it benefits her. However, it’s equally likely that her excuses made him nervous about the future of their engagement, something that wouldn’t have happened if the two spoke in person. In fact, Lady Susan seems to be losing all her early advantages over Reginald. Telling Alicia to flirt with him is counterproductive, since he fell in love with Lady Susan’s feigned modesty and restraint. If he realizes that her best friend is a shallow flirt, he might rethink the rumors about Lady Susan. It would certainly be difficult to believe that Lady Susan cares about “propriety” if Alicia is delivering the message. It’s entirely possible that Lady Susan is self-sabotaging; it seems like a mistake to spend the night with Mr. Manwaring when Reginald is nearby, and when her engagement with Reginald depends on eventually getting rid of Mr. Manwaring. Lady Susan either believes that she has total control over the situation, or she’s subconsciously trying to find a way out of her engagement—which would end her so-called freedom.
Themes
Letter XXXII. Alicia writes to Lady Susan, distraught. Reginald came to the Johnsons’ at exactly the wrong time: Mrs. Manwaring had come to see Mr. Johnson, and as they spoke, Reginald waited for Alicia. Mrs. Manwaring had come to look for Mr. Manwaring and to ask Mr. Johnson to interfere in the affair between him and Lady Susan—she knew that Mr. Manwaring had seen Lady Susan every day since she’d been in London. Mr. Johnson then spoke with Reginald privately, telling him everything. He’d wanted to talk with Reginald anyway, since he knew that Reginald was attached to Lady Susan. Mrs. Manwaring, uglier than ever, is still at the house, and the three are shut up together.
This situation only happens because Lady Susan never got rid of Mr. Manwaring, which Alicia told her she had to do, and because Lady Susan wrote to Reginald to delay their engagement. If Lady Susan had broken things off with Mr. Manwaring after her engagement to Reginald, Mrs. Manwaring never would have come to the Johnsons’. And if she’d never written to Reginald to delay his visit, he wouldn’t have arrived so soon. Mr. Johnson would still have warned Reginald about Lady Susan’s character at some point, but Reginald never took stock in the rumors before—the only reason he might believe them now is because he saw Mrs. Manwaring in the flesh, and because she revealed the extent of Lady Susan’s affair with her husband. It was Lady Susan’s final bid for control that did her in: stringing two men along at once might have made her feel powerful, but it ended up making her powerless. Of course, Lady Susan had no good options: she would have also been powerless in a marriage to Reginald, though in a different way. Lady Susan and Alicia might make fun of Mrs. Johnson’s “ugly” appearance and blame her for this situation, but in reality, Lady Susan could have avoided it if she’d accepted her own unavoidably powerless situation.
Themes
Letter XXXIII. Lady Susan, replying to Alicia, thinks that the situation is very annoying and unlucky. But Alicia shouldn’t worry—Lady Susan can sort things out with Reginald. Mr. Manwaring just left her lodgings after telling Lady Susan that Mrs. Manwaring was in town. Lady Susan wishes she hadn’t come, but no matter: Reginald will forgive her in the span of a day.
Admittedly, Lady Susan has good reason to think that she can turn this situation around. She’s made Reginald change his mind about her before—when he was going to leave Churchill, she even made him feel that he was in the wrong to do so. Lady Susan is so cocky, in fact, that she’s apparently still taking social calls from Mr. Manwaring, which at this point seems like social suicide. But Lady Susan is an effective manipulator, at least in person, so it won’t be totally surprising if she convinces Reginald that Mrs. Manwaring is lying.
Themes
Letter XXXIV. Reginald writes to Lady Susan to say goodbye—he now knows what kind of person she is. He’s just received information that made him realize how stupid he’d been, and how quickly he needs to leave. She should know what he’s talking about, and he mentions only the name of the Manwarings’ estate, Langford; he got his intel from Mrs. Manwaring directly. He loved Lady Susan but won’t say more about how he’s feeling—she’ll be too smug at his pain, and he knows now that she never loved him.
Reginald’s cryptic letter is bizarre—he doesn’t want to name Lady Susan’s crimes, even though he explicitly named them earlier in the novella, when he wrote to Catherine about the Langford rumors. Reginald has certainly been played for a fool, but he also comes across as a hypocrite: he was initially amused by Lady Susan’s alleged affairs but now finds them too horrible to speak of. Of course, he wasn’t in love with Lady Susan earlier, and he’s clearly hurt by her deception. Still, he plays the victim here, assuming both that Lady Susan never cared about him and that she’d be happy he’s in pain. Reginald came to Churchill solely to laugh at Lady Susan, so he doesn’t have a moral high ground to stand on. But once again, he acts like she’s much more powerful than him, and like his love was totally absent of ulterior motives. If readers believe Lady Susan, Reginald willfully deceived himself about her character in hopes that she could convince him the rumors weren’t true. It’s unclear who is telling the truth, but it is clear that Reginald won’t admit to his own flaws.
Themes
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Letter XXXV. Lady Susan responds to Reginald, shocked—she can’t even imagine what Mrs. Manwaring could have told him to make him change his mind about her. She’s never hidden anything from him and can’t believe that he once again buys Mrs. Manwaring’s tales of jealousy. She asks him to come see her to explain what’s going on, since the name “Langford” revealed nothing to her. If they have to break their engagement, it would be kinder of him to do so in person—she’s humiliated by his reproach, and she awaits his arrival.
Once again, Lady Susan’s lies aren’t very believable—she and Reginald presumably discussed the rumors about her and Mr. Manwaring at some point, since he knew about them and later decided they weren’t true. In this letter, Lady Susan acts like she doesn’t know about them and instead is only vaguely aware that Mrs. Manwaring is jealous. This is a lie that Reginald would almost certainly see through. However, Lady Susan’s real objective is clear: she wants Reginald to visit her in person, likely because she could more effectively manipulate him if he did so. She must realize that none of her letters have served their intended purposes; it was her letter, in fact, that caused Reginald to rush to London in the first place. She frames the situation comically, suggesting that she’d meekly accept a breakup if it happened in person. But readers can guess that if Reginald did visit her, she’d be able to change his mind—after all, she always has before.
Themes
Letter XXXVI. Reginald writes to Lady Susan, shocked that she even responded and that she’s asking for details. But he gives them anyway: he knows everything about her behavior since her late husband died. Most horribly, he knows that she was seeing and continues to see Mr. Manwaring romantically, that she been writing to him and not his wife, and that he now visits her daily. All the while, Lady Susan was pretending to love Reginald and agreed to marry him. He’s just grateful that he got out of it in time. Reginald owes this clarity to Mrs. Manwaring, who sadly can’t get out of her situation as easily as he can. He says goodbye to Lady Susan a final time: he’s disgusted that he fell for her charms, and that he was weak enough to do so.
It’s strange that Reginald is surprised at Lady Susan’s response—he should know by now that she’ll try to spin the situation in her favor. Again, it’s also odd that he mentions her affair with Mr. Manwaring as though it’s a total shock. It’s true that he thought Lady Susan was innocent, but this was a well-known rumor, and he once believed it was true. It’s also surprising that no one questioned why Lady Susan was writing to Mrs. Manwaring—even Catherine believed this lie earlier in the novella. It seems obvious that Reginald was, to some extent, willfully deceiving himself; he wouldn’t be this surprised otherwise. Meanwhile, the end of Reginald’s letter presents a double standard: he’s sad for Mrs. Manwaring, who is powerless to change her situation (divorce was almost unheard of in 18th-century Britain). But he also paints Lady Susan as a villain who overpowered him. He doesn’t seem to realize that, apart from her skill at lying, Lady Susan is no different from Mrs. Manwaring. She, too, had no power in her marriage to her husband, and she was dependent on Charles’s hospitality for as long as Reginald knew her. Reginald is more powerful than both women, but he still paints himself as Lady Susan’s victim. It’s true that she was always trying to manipulate him, but it’s also true that his “weakness” was an illusion. In reality, he held all the cards.
Themes
Letter XXXVII. Lady Susan responds to Reginald; she won’t write again. She understands that their engagement is no longer “compatible with [his] views,” and she’s glad that he’s following his parents’ advice to break it off after all. He’ll be happy obeying their wishes, and Lady Susan will just have to survive her disappointment.
This is Lady Susan’s final manipulation: she wants Reginald to feel as though he’s giving in to his parents by breaking off their engagement. This would make him seem weak, and make her seem strong in comparison, since she has a mind of her own. She also wants Reginald to believe that she’s more hurt than she really is. Readers don’t know how she feels about her broken engagement yet; it’s possible that she actually is upset. But it’s obvious that this letter is one last attempt to distance Reginald from his family, something Lady Susan has been trying to do all along. This was, in fact, the main goal of her initial flirtation.
Themes
Letter XXXVIII. Alicia writes to Lady Susan, sorry for Reginald’s departure but not surprised—he told Mr. Johnson that he was going to leave. Unfortunately, Alicia will have to stop writing to Lady Susan: Mr. Johnson told her that if they stay friends, he’ll force Alicia to move to the countryside with him, and of course Alicia couldn’t suffer through that if there was an alternative. She goes on to tell Lady Susan that Mr. Manwaring and Mrs. Manwaring will soon separate, and that Mrs. Manwaring will come live with the Johnsons again—maybe she’ll die young due to stress.
Alicia again demonstrates that she cares more about herself than her friendship with Lady Susan. She humorously implies that living in the countryside would be a horrific punishment, and that it’s worth losing Lady Susan to avoid it. Clearly, Mr. Johnson knows Alicia well: his threats are effective, suggesting that their marriage is another example of a transactional, give-and-take relationship. This is a real blow for Lady Susan: for the first time, someone else’s selfishness runs counter to her own, and she’s going to lose her friend because of it. Still, their relationship doesn’t seem very meaningful, since Alicia reveals this information casually—maybe Lady Susan won’t care either. It’s significant that Mr. and Mrs. Manwaring are separating; Mrs. Manwaring must have been wildly unhappy to agree to this, because it will make her look bad in society. It’s extra cruel, then, that Alicia casually hopes for her death. Alicia and Lady Susan still seem unable to empathize with other people.
Themes
Miss Manwaring, meanwhile, has returned to London to get Sir James back; Alicia thinks that Lady Susan should marry him instead. She also wants to tell her that she liked Reginald—he was just as handsome as Mr. Manwaring, as well as open and good-natured. Alicia says goodbye, saddened but sure that Lady Susan couldn’t have prevented anything that happened.
Interestingly, Alicia seems to sense how precarious Lady Susan’s position is. Lady Susan has no money, and she’s not staying with the Vernons any longer; it’s critical that she marry a rich man, and soon. By suggesting that Lady Susan marry Sir James—someone Lady Susan has repeatedly ridiculed—Alicia is hinting that desperate times call for desperate measures. It’s strange, therefore, that Alicia also brings up how great Reginald was. This seems like twisting the knife in Lady Susan’s back, since Reginald has just broken up with her; maybe Alicia is tired of Lady Susan’s schemes and wants to hurt her. Over the course of the novella, Lady Susan believed that she was in complete control—now, Alicia saying that she wasn’t will certainly sting.
Themes
Literary Devices
Letter XXXIX. In reply, Lady Susan sadly agrees to part with Alicia—someday, once Alicia is as “independent” as Lady Susan is, they might be able to be friends again. For now, though, Lady Susan is completely content: she hates Mr. Johnson and Reginald, and she won’t have to see either again. Plus, Mr. Manwaring remains loyal—if he were able to, Lady Susan would marry him in a heartbeat. Maybe Alicia can stress Mrs. Manwaring to an early death.
If Lady Susan really believes what she’s saying, her letter is nothing short of delusional. First, she’s far from “independent,” since, As Alicia has just hinted, Lady Susan needs money. Her hostile response implies that she’s angry at Alicia’s insinuation—essentially, she’s suggesting that she’s free while Alicia is trapped. Meanwhile, Lady Susan might hate Mr. Johnson, but it’s hard to believe that she hates Reginald. She’s angry that he broke up with her, but it’s likely that she did care about him to some extent. It’s also difficult to imagine Lady Susan eagerly marrying Mr. Manwaring if his wife died—it’s true that he’d be easy to manipulate, but she’d still be dependent on him, which is what she wanted to avoid in a marriage to Reginald. In fact, Lady Susan might like Mr. Manwaring because he can’t marry her and tie her down.
Themes
Lady Susan now thinks that she couldn’t have gone through with a marriage to Reginald, and she won’t let Frederica marry him, either—her daughter will marry Sir James, no matter who whines about it. Lady Susan is tired of “submitting [her] will” to others; she’s sacrificed enough, and Frederica will pay for it. In closing, Lady Susan hopes that Mr. Johnson’s next gout attack will be “favourable.”
Lady Susan’s sudden desire to force the marriage between Frederica and Sir James—which she previously gave up on—seems to be a last-ditch attempt to control things. It also seems like an attempt to ensure that Frederica can’t marry Reginald, again implying that Lady Susan did care about him. Lady Susan’s statement that she has submitted her will to others is meant to read humorously—after all, Lady Susan has never “submitted” to anyone, and she’s sacrificed very little. But it also rings true, since all the power Lady Susan thought she had is now gone. Her parting statement to Alicia, hoping for the death of Mr. Johnson, is both petty and bleak: if Mr. Johnson died, Alicia would be in the same position as Lady Susan, which is certainly not an “independent” one.
Themes
XL. Lady De Courcy writes to Catherine with great news: Reginald was in London but has now returned, not with tidings of a marriage, but to announce his breakup with Lady Susan. She doesn’t know the specifics yet, but she hopes that Catherine and Charles will come visit, and that they’ll bring Frederica. Once Reginald recovers from his heartbreak (which she thinks will happen soon), they can set him up with Frederica.
Readers can now confirm that Reginald really did leave Lady Susan this time, presumably for good. But Lady De Courcy’s response is strange—Reginald has just broken up with Lady Susan, so the last thing he’d want to do is get together with her daughter. Lady De Courcy seems to think that Reginald didn’t really care about Lady Susan, but readers know that he did. It’s possible that Lady De Courcy wants him to marry Frederica just because Catherine spoke highly of her. It’s also possible she wants to ensure that Reginald can’t ever marry Lady Susan—which is a possibility as long as he’s single.
Themes
Literary Devices
XLI. Catherine, replying to her mother, is shocked to hear the news about Reginald’s breakup, especially because the day he must have returned home, a cheerful Lady Susan visited Churchill, which Catherine took to mean the two were engaged. She said nothing about a breakup, and when Catherine asked if she’d seen Reginald in London, she only mentioned that they’d missed each other.
Lady Susan is obviously maintaining a façade of power in front of the Vernons; even though she’s lost her leverage against them, she doesn’t show it. She may believe that she can still turn things around, or she just doesn’t want to seem weak. Either way, Catherine shouldn’t be shocked—Lady Susan would never admit that Reginald broke up with her. She’ll probably never even admit that they were engaged, even though Catherine suspected that they were.
Themes
Catherine will be glad to visit home, but sadly, they can’t bring Frederica—Lady Susan came to Churchill specifically to bring her to London, and Catherine was unable to stop her. Charles thinks that Frederica will be treated well, but Catherine disagrees, and she’s sorry to say that Frederica appeared miserable. Catherine took her aside specifically to tell her to write; she wishes that she could look forward to a marriage between Frederica and Reginald as her mother does, but it doesn’t seem likely.
Catherine doesn’t say anything about Sir James, but she’s probably aware of Lady Susan’s plan to force Frederica’s hand. If Charles still believes that Frederica will be treated well, Catherine must not have told him about Lady Susan’s manipulations. This makes it all the more obvious that Catherine never had any power over Lady Susan and could never have stopped her from marrying Reginald. Catherine wasn’t even willing to go to Charles for help; maybe she assumed he wouldn’t believe her (and, if he’s as gullible as Lady Susan says, he probably wouldn’t have). Catherine is right that a marriage between Frederica and Reginald seems unlikely—even if Frederica miraculously avoids a marriage to Sir James once she’s in London, Reginald wouldn’t forget about Lady Susan so easily.
Themes
