Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Dressmaker, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Transformation, Illusion, and Truth
Vengeance and Suffering
Secrets, Hypocrisy, and Conformity
Memories, Progress, and the Past
Healing, Medicine, and Power
Summary
Analysis
Elsbeth refuses to leave her bed in protest over William and Gertrude’s wedding. Alvin postpones Elsbeth’s debt repayment, however, and he lends William money for the wedding. Mona is excited because she has never been a bridesmaid, and she helps Gertrude put together the invitations. William reads Shakespearian sonnets to Gertrude, but Gertrude shows little interest. As the wedding approaches, William suggests to Gertrude that things might be moving too fast. Gertrude begins to sob and complains that her reputation will be ruined. William has no choice but to comfort her.
Although Elsbeth is a snob and pretends to be a rich woman, she’s actually heavily in debt and uses her pretensions to disguise this from the townspeople. Ironically, the only person who knows Elsbeth’s secret (aside from William) is Alvin, who lends her the money and therefore knows how poor she is. This gives Alvin power over Elsbeth, even though Elsbeth views Alvin as common and inferior. Meanwhile, Gertrude knows that the townspeople think she has slept with William; therefore, she knows that they will judge her harshly if she and William do not marry. In this sense, conservative society puts restrictions on people’s behavior because they face serious social consequences if they do not conform.
Themes
At the wedding, William waits nervously at the altar. When Gertrude enters the church and floats down the aisle, all his misgivings melt away—Gertrude looks stunning in her gown. Even Elsbeth stands up and begins to proudly tells her neighbors that Gertrude’s father is a prominent businessman. The wedding is a success, and William makes a speech over dinner.
The beautiful gown that Tilly creates temporarily transforms Gertrude and makes her appear beautiful to everyone, even though she is not a particularly beautiful person inside. The illusion is so powerful that it even convinces William he is happy to marry Gertrude (even though he is not); this demonstrates that physical appearances can wield temporary power even if they do not always reflect the truth.
Themes
Tilly arrives during the speech and stands at the back to watch. Every woman at the wedding is desperate to know who made Gertrude’s gown, but the seamstress’s name is not revealed. After the wedding, Tilly goes home and sits on her porch. She remembers her schooldays in Dungatar and how the boys— Stewart Pettyman especially—used to tease her.
The Dungatar residents are selfish and hypocritical—they are happy to use Tilly’s services when it suits them, but they do not thank her for her work because they are ashamed to be publicly associated with her. Tilly is haunted by her memories of the past and the horrible treatment she received from Dungatar community when she was a child.
Themes
One day, Stewart cornered Tilly outside the library and pushed her up against the wall. He told her to stay still or else he’d come and kill her in the night. Then he lowered his head and ran at her, aiming to headbutt her in the stomach. Tilly prepared for the blow, but at the last moment, she stepped aside. Stewart’s head hit the wall and he fell to the ground.
Stewart was Evan Pettyman’s son, and Evan is a powerful man in Dungatar. Tilly, by contrast, is an outcast who has no one to defend her. Stewart takes advantage of his powerful position against Tilly: he knows that no one will challenge him because they fear his father’s influence. Although Tilly feels guilty about Stewart’s accident, really, she did nothing wrong and only tried to protect herself. Stewart’s death also reflects the idea that when people hurt and abuse others, they often end up inadvertently hurting themselves in the process.
Themes
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Molly wheels herself out onto the porch beside Tilly. She has decorated her wheelchair with bits of cloth that she pulled from the furniture and bits that she tore off garden plants. She calls Tilly “Cinderella” and asks her how the “ball” was. Tilly says that it was a wedding and she thinks bitterly that she should not expect anything from the Dungatar residents. She tells Molly that the dresses were lovely.
Molly is happier since Tilly’s return, and the wheelchair’s transformation reflects her genuine change for the better that’s been brought about through Tilly’s care. In the fairy tale that Molly references, hard-working servant girl Cinderella is temporarily transformed so that she can attend a ball. At midnight, however, Cinderella’s beautiful dress turns back into rags. This parallels the idea that although Gertrude has been temporarily through the beautiful gown that Tilly made her, Tilly is the one who’s really like Cinderella. Unlike Gertrude, she is beautiful inside and leaves the ball with nothing to show for her efforts because the Dungatar townspeople do not credit her for her dressmaking skills at the wedding. Like Cinderella, who is persecuted by her wicked stepsisters, Tilly is persecuted by the hypocritical townspeople, who are happy to use her services but who do not want to reward or credit her for this work because they still view her as an outcast.
Themes
Back in Windswept Crest, Gertrude removes her wedding dress and sees her plain, unattractive figure underneath. She announces proudly to her reflection that she is “Mrs. Gertrude Beaumont of Windswept Crest,” puts on her lingerie, and goes into the bedroom, where William is reading in bed. Gertrude gets into bed with him and puts a towel beneath herself. William rolls on top of her and they have sex.
The transformation which Tilly’s beautiful dress enacts upon Gertrude is only temporary and cannot really change how Gertrude is inside. Gertrude’s comment reveals that she is not beautiful underneath, but vain and ambitious—she has married William for his title, because she feels that this improves her own social status.
Themes
Afterward, William asks her if the sex was painful, and Gertrude replies that it didn’t hurt much. It reminded her of when she was a child and she accidentally put her hand into the broken eggs of a bird’s nest. William was reminded of the Easter eggs he got as a boy. He always meant to eat them slowly, but after one bite he would gobble up the whole thing. The newly-married couple holds hands and falls asleep.
William and Gertrude both use memories from their past to understand this new, unfamiliar experience. This demonstrates that past experiences help people to understand the present and shape how they respond to future events.
Themes
The next morning, Gertrude sniffs the bit of towel she used the night before and hides it away. She and William go down to breakfast with Mona and Elsbeth. Gertrude announces that she needs some new clothes and curtains for her life as Mrs. Beaumont, which causes Elsbeth to glare at William across the table. Gertrude says that they will go to Melbourne and they will pay for it on her father’s account.
Gertrude’s sniffing of the towel is done in private—it’s not something she would want other people to see. Ham includes this detail to suggest that everybody has secret behaviors which they wish to hide from the world and that, therefore, nobody is perfect or can appear perfect all the time under public scrutiny.
Themes
