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Chapter 15
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in March, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Racial Injustice and the Horrors of Slavery
Moral Complexity and the Limits of Idealism
The Cost of War
Silence, Secrets, and Omissions
Redemption
Summary
Analysis
When Margaret and March are alone, she questions him about Grace. March murmurs “My love” before slipping back into unconsciousness, his face vacant and unreachable. Alone with her thoughts, Margaret turns to the silken pouch containing their daughters’ curls, only to discover a sixth lock of hair—tightly curled and unmistakably from a Black woman. Though she tries to rationalize what she sees, her jealousy, confusion, and sense of betrayal erupt. She searches the hospital in vain for Grace and ends up following a lead from Cephas to the laundry room. The women working there tell her that Grace is living nearby at the house of the head surgeon, Dr. Hale, and imply that the two are sleeping together. Wondering who her husband has gotten himself involved with, Margaret makes her way to the Hale household.
Margaret does not question Grace out of prejudice but out of hurt and confusion. She respects Grace and understands the injustice Grace has endured. But when she finds the sixth curl, it feels like a huge betrayal. The idea that March has shared something deeply emotional—and possibly intimate—with Grace unsettles her. She searches for Grace because she wants answers that March cannot give. Fearing the worst, Margaret hears gossip that only makes her more worried that March isn’t the upstanding man she believed he was.
Active
Themes
At the Hale residence, Margaret finds herself rebuked by Mrs. Hale, who defends Grace and expresses dismay at Margaret’s intrusion. Just as the confrontation sharpens, Grace enters the room and asks to speak with Margaret alone. When they are alone, Grace calmly and fully recounts her long history with March—beginning with their early acquaintance on the Clement plantation when he was just 18. Her honesty leaves Margaret reeling. The revelation that her husband had not merely chosen to teach out of noble intent—but because of scandal and expulsion—undoes much of the admiration she had long clung to. When Margaret tries to claim that March still loves Grace, Grace firmly denies it, explaining that what he loves is not her, but what she represents to him.
Margaret enters the Hale house hoping to confront Grace, but she instead finds herself on unstable ground. Mrs. Hale’s quick defense of Grace unsettles her, especially because it comes without knowing Margaret’s story. Grace then removes all ambiguity by calmly telling the full truth. Her story forces Margaret to see March not as a man of pure ideals, but as someone whose early mistakes shaped his path. Grace speaks without anger, and her clarity strips away Margaret’s illusions. Margaret realizes that March’s connection to Grace runs deeper than romance—it’s tied to guilt.
Active
Themes
When Grace finishes her story, Margaret accuses her of being March’s lover, pointing to the black lock of hair in the pouch. Grace calmly removes her headscarf to reveal her own hair—which is black, but loose and wavy, not the tight curl in the pouch. Grace guesses that the lock likely belonged to a child, perhaps one March tried and failed to save. The quiet dignity with which she responds disarms Margaret completely. The two women sit for tea, and though Margaret feels diminished, she also gains perspective. Grace’s kindness, self-possession, and pain make it impossible to hate her. As they part ways, Grace even offers to check on her at the hospital. Walking back through the wet streets of Georgetown, Margaret thinks that she could forgive a moment of weakness. However, she remains upset that March lied to her about what was going on in the war.
