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
Beula Harridene hurries through town and notices that many of the Dungatar women wear striking new outfits made by Tilly. The whole street turns to stare as William Beaumont’s car passes by. Elsbeth, Gertrude, Mona, and another man are in the car, and the roof is piled high with suitcases from their shopping trip to Melbourne. There is a sense of excitement in the air as the Dungatar women get ready to show off their new, fashionable clothes to the Beaumonts.
The townspeople are hypocrites—although they will not befriend Tilly or treat her kindly on a day to day basis, they will use her services to transform and improve their own status in the town. Although the townspeople value conformity, they also compete ruthlessly with one another and like to feel superior to their neighbors. This supports the idea that genuine, altruistic connection is impossible in a place like Dungatar because everyone is out for themselves and worried about superficial appearances rather than their treatment of others.
Themes
The next day, Elsbeth and Gertrude go into Pratt’s to see Muriel. They wear their new designer outfits and they’re slightly put out that Muriel, too, has a new, stylish dress. Muriel notices that Gertrude (who now wants to be called “Trudy”) has developed an exaggerated accent to match Elsbeth’s. The women want to speak to Alvin—they explain that they have big plans for a Dungatar women’s social and cultural club and they plan to raise funds for this. They want to advertise in the shop.
Although Dungatar is a close-knit community, the residents are competitive and strive to outdo one another. This suggests that genuine connections are impossible in narrow-minded communities because people are afraid of being judged negatively. Therefore, people will go out of their way to bring others down in order to distract people from their own shortcomings. Gertrude feels that her marriage to William has transformed her into an important and cultured woman because William is from a prestigious family. However, this transformation is not real. Gertrude has only begun to act as though she is more refined and cultured, but she’s really the same person she was before. This suggests that although changes in status or reputation may impress some people, they are not evidence of genuine transformation.
Themes
Alvin agrees to this and asks where Mona is. Elsbeth and Gertrude explain that Mona is being taught dressage by her new tutor, Lesley Muncan, who is a very refined man. Alvin notices Elsbeth and Gertrude’s fine clothes and says that they should bring the bill in to him and that he will add it to their debts. Gertrude is horrified, and Elsbeth glares furiously at her daughter-in-law.
Gertrude feels that her marriage to William has transformed her into a refined and cultured person because William is from a prestigious family. Gertrude’s pretensions inspire her to hire new servants, like Lesley (who claims to be highly refined) because she wants to appear better than the other Dungatar residents. Gertrude’s transformation is not genuine, however, and she has not really gained anything through her marriage. William’s wealthy and prestigious family ties are illusory and Gertrude is just as uncultured as she was before. Although Alvin appears to have Gertrude’s best interests in mind, really, he has helped himself by marrying her to William as now he can lend her money and charge her interest on these debts too.
Themes
In the pub, Septimus Crescent and Hamish O’Brien sit at the bar. Purl sits behind the bar and paints her fingernails while Fred, Scotty, and Bobby get ready to play cards. They are waiting for Teddy but they decide to start without him. The phone rings and Purl answers. It is Mona, who invites Purl to the Dungatar Social Club’s first meeting. Purl says she is busy and hangs up—she thinks the club sounds incredibly boring.
Gertrude and Elsbeth attempt to bring culture to Dungatar through their establishment of the Social Club. Their endeavors are laughable, however, because neither Elsbeth nor Gertrude are cultured or know anything about fashionable society. Instead, they maintain the illusion of knowledge because of Elsbeth’s prestigious, though secretly bankrupt, family.
Themes
Get the entire The Dressmaker LitChart as a printable PDF.
Hamish and Septimus discuss machinery at the bar. Hamish says that everything went wrong for humans when they started farming, but Septimus disagrees—things went wrong when they invented the wheel. Hamish says that the only harmless machinery is a beautiful steam train. Septimus says that diesel is better, but Hamish says that the world is not flat and he pours his pint on Septimus’s head. As Septimus and Hamish begin to brawl, Fred orders them to leave. Septimus complains that people can get away with anything in Dungatar, except with telling the truth.
Septimus and Hamish romanticize the past and hold extremely old-fashioned views. Their beliefs are satirized and taken to comic extremes, however, to demonstrate that it is pointless to try and keep things the same because change is inevitable, and society is constantly adapting. Septimus suggests that people in Dungatar are dishonest and hypocritical because they all gossip behind one another’s backs but will never say what they really think.
Themes
The other Dungatar ladies also receive invites to the Social Club meeting. They immediately phone Tilly and she receives them all in a group in her living room. They all want dresses for the meeting and they all want to look more stylish than Elsbeth Beaumont, who has also asked Tilly for a dress.
The Dungatar women are hypocritical: although none of them will openly befriend Tilly since she is an outcast, they will all use her services when it benefits them. Although Dungatar is a close-knit society, the residents all compete with one another. This suggests that genuine acceptance is impossible in Dungatar because it’s based upon judgement and conformity rather than genuine connection.
Themes
Lesley Muncan sits in the kitchen at Windswept Crest and watches Mona wash the dishes. Lesley met William in the lobby of the hotel in Melbourne, where Lesley was working in the hotel kitchens. Lesley struck up a conversation with William and told him that he worked with horses. Lesley asked if William knew anyone looking for a stable-hand, and right at that moment, Gertrude, Elsbeth, and Mona came back from a shopping trip. William introduced them to Lesley.
Given the dishonest and social-climbing nature of characters in the novel, it may well be that Lesley isn’t who he says he is—given his relatively low-status job as a kitchenhand, it’s safe to assume that he isn’t the refined gentleman he’s pretending to be.
Themes
Mona is afraid of horses, but Lesley insists that riding is very easy. Mona is lonely and wants to impress Lesley so that he will be her friend. Lesley sleeps in the barn loft but comes to see Mona every day when he notices her at the kitchen window. He says that Mona must learn how to ride because this is what Elsbeth wants.
Although Mona is accepted by the Dungatar community, she is ostracized and treated like an outcast in her own family. Mona craves connection, however, and hopes to form a friendship with Lesley. Conformity is considered highly important in Dungatar, and Mona is expected to learn to ride because she is from an upper-class family, even though she has no real interest in the sport.
Themes
Meanwhile, in the library, William, Gertrude, and Elsbeth listen to records and relax. Suddenly, Gertrude rushes out of the room, and William and Elsbeth hear Mona shriek from the kitchen. William and Elsbeth hurry downstairs and find that Gertrude has thrown up in the sink. Elsbeth gasps, and Lesley exclaims dramatically that Gertrude is pregnant. Mona looks sullen and says that they’ll turn her room into the nursery. Elsbeth steps forward and slaps Mona’s face.
Although Mona is accepted within the Dungatar community, she is treated like an outcast in her own family and is quickly replaced by Gertrude when Gertrude marries William. This suggests that real acceptance in Dungatar is impossible, even for insiders, because acceptance there is based on conformity and status rather than on genuine connection.
Themes
