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Chapter 14: Lizzy’s Story
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Bondwoman’s Narrative, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Cruelties of Slavery
The Virtuous Woman’s Life
Religion and Hypocrisy
Race as a Social Construct
Enslavement as Gothic Horror
Summary
Analysis
Lizzy continues her story, telling Hannah that Mrs. Cosgrove remained suspicious even after the sale of the enslaved women and children. She began prowling the house with Lilly in tow, until one day she discovered a locked door she could not open. Driven to desperate lengths by her jealousy and anger, she ordered the servants to fetch a ladder and climbed into the locked apartment from outside, where she discovered an enslaved woman (later identified as Evelyn) cuddling twin boys.
Mrs. Cosgrove’s frenzied search for hidden rivals and family secrets parallels the adventures of many a gothic heroine. But her role in the novel is ambivalent. She’s at once a victim of a system that allows (and encourages) her husband to cheat on her with the women he enslaves and a villain in her own right in the way she relentlessly pursues Mr. Cosgrove’s victims and vents her rage on them instead of her husband.
Themes
Mrs. Cosgrove was furious, Lizzy tells Hannah. Upon obtaining Evelyn’s confession that she was Mr. Cosgrove’s favorite and that the children were his, Mrs. Cosgrove turned her and the children out of the house without delay, releasing the woman from enslavement and suggesting that she go north to Canada where her children could be free. After a weeping Evelyn left, Lizzy says, Mrs. Cosgrove actually congratulated herself on her generosity, even though it was obvious to almost everyone that this so-called freedom was really a death sentence for Evelyn and her children.
In an earlier chapter, Hannah complained that Mrs. Henry treated her poorly by refusing to buy her. Here, Mrs. Cosgrove gives Evelyn and her children their freedom, but in a way that makes it clear this act is punitive rather than generous. Without anywhere to go or anyone to support them, Evelyn and her children are in extreme danger. Superficially, these moments might seem to complicate the book’s anti-slavery message. But in both cases, a large part of the cruelty arises from the lack of control enslaved people have over their fate. Neither Evelyn nor Hannah get a say about where they want to live, and both are cast from relative safety into danger and discomfort.
Themes
That’s how it appeared to Mr. Cosgrove, Lizzy maintains, who went wild with grief and alarm when he came home and found his secret family missing. Mounting a fast horse, he set out to comb the countryside for them. When he returned a few days later, he looked so content that everyone—including Mrs. Cosgrove—assumed that he had found them and hidden them elsewhere. Then he started spending days away from Lindenhurst. Eventually, Mrs. Cosgrove overheard the overseer mention a place called “Rock Glen,” and she ordered Lilly to find out its location if she could. An old beggar woman knew the way and told the child, who relayed the information to Mrs. Cosgrove.
Mr. Cosgrove seems to genuinely care for Evelyn and their children, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that their relationship isn’t exploitative. The book doesn’t give readers enough information to decide one way or another. Instead, it keeps its focus on the way systemic forces—slavery, racism, and oppression—pervert all the relationships at Lindenhurst. Until or unless all people are free, this suggests, all connections are potentially tainted, including among the victimized—it is, after all, Lilly who ultimately helps Mrs. Cosgrove find Evelyn’s hiding place.
Themes
Lizzy relates how Mrs. Cosgrove mounted her horse and, taking Lilly with her, set out for Rock Glen. But they encountered Mr. Cosgrove on the road. He and Mrs. Cosgrove argued, and—according to Lilly—he shoved Mrs. Cosgrove, whose horse took off in fright, dragging her behind with her foot caught in the stirrup. She was grievously wounded.
The dramatic confrontation between Mr. and Mrs. Cosgrove yet again echoes other gothic romances. The entire overwrought episode contributes to the book’s dramatic atmosphere and furthers its argument about the horrors of inequality and enslavement, systemic forces that are ultimately harmful to both perpetrators and victims.
Themes
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For some time, Mrs. Cosgrove lingered on, regretful about the course her life had taken. As she drew closer to death, Lizzy explains, she had a change of heart. Coming to regret her actions, she begged for Mr. Cosgrove’s forgiveness, and he in turn became tender toward her in her dying hours. At length, with Lilly and Lizzy in attendance, Mrs. Cosgrove died. Ever since, Lizzy says, Mr. Cosgrove has been wild with grief and remorse. Before they part, she tells Hannah some of the other things that have changed at Lindenhurst: Mrs. Bry has retired; the creaking linden has been cut down; and the family portraits—including Sir Clifford’s—have all been sold, for a bargain, at auction.
Mrs. Cosgrove doesn’t start as a virtuous woman—the book quietly condemns her for abandoning her husband during her lengthy travels and certainly doesn’t celebrate her home as one of domestic bliss. But she changes over the course of her ordeal. Lizzy suggests that divine providence sees fit to discipline Mrs. Cosgrove in an acutely painful but ultimately edifying way. Readers should note, however, that the reconciliation happens between Mr. and Mrs. Cosgrove alone. None of the other victims are included. Still, the disgraced removal of Sir Clifford’s portrait at the end of this story indicates the book’s hope that things can—and will—change for the better.
Themes
