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
Tilly sits with Sergeant Farrat in his house, and Sergeant Farrat takes her statement. Tilly cries as Farrat presses her to keep her talking. She tells him that she and Teddy went to the silo to watch the sun come up and that Teddy used to jump into the grain trucks when he was little. Tilly cries that no one in Dungatar will forgive her for what happened to Stewart Pettyman. She tearfully tells Farrat that there was “another,” and Farrat puts her to bed.
Teddy clearly meets with an accident when he jumps into the grain truck. Teddy wanted to jump because he had romantic memories of this childhood game and wanted to prove to Tilly that their future together would be as happy as his past in Dungatar. His tragic fate suggests that people should not try to recreate the past, as they will often find that things are not what they remember and that the past cannot be brought back. Again, Tilly emphasizes that the townspeople blame her for Stewart’s death even though this was not her fault and she was only a child. This shows that the townspeople are cruel and unforgiving and will not let Tilly forget her past or accept her in the town.
Themes
Edward McSwiney witnessed the incident between Tilly and Stewart Pettyman when they were children; he was up on the silo mending the gutter and he could see the school yard from there. Edward saw Stewart attack Tilly and he went to the yard to stop him. By the time Edward got there, Stewart was dead, and Tilly said that Stewart had run at her with his head down like a bull. Edward could see that Stewart’s neck was broken.
Like Tilly, Edward is something of an outcast in Dungatar because his family are poor and live at the dump. Edward, therefore, feels sorry for Tilly and tries to defend her from bullies, who are the children of the Dungatar locals and pick on Tilly because their parents ostracize her and Molly. Although the townspeople blame Tilly for Stewart’s death, Stewart really dies because he picks on Tilly and has an accident while he does so. This supports the idea that people who hurt others often end up suffering themselves.
Themes
Edward went to Sergeant Farrat’s office afterward with Tilly, Molly, and Evan Pettyman. Edward tried to explain what happened, but Evan yelled that Tilly murdered Stewart. Molly then screamed that Tilly is Evan’s daughter and that Evan followed them to Dungatar to ruin their lives. Molly attacked Evan, and Tilly was taken away. Sergeant Farrat put her on a bus out of Dungatar.
Although Edward tries to defend Tilly, he, too, is an outcast and has little power to influence the townspeople. Evan, by contrast, is a powerful politician in Dungatar and uses this power to cover up his secret—that Tilly is his daughter—and to silence Molly when she complains about the way he treats them.
Themes
Presently, Sergeant Farrat goes with Edward while he tells his own family that Teddy has died. The McSwineys crumble at the news, and Edward can barely make sense of his own grief. He suddenly understands why Molly and Marigold have gone insane through grief, and he feels haunted by memories of the past which crowd all around him in Dungatar.
Edward feels that Dungatar is now haunted for him because although Teddy is dead, Edward’s memories of his son are still present in Dungatar. This supports the idea that although the past is gone, strong emotional connections and traumas, such as loss, stay with people and impact their lives.
Themes
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In Sergeant Farrat’s report on Teddy’s death, Farrat does not write many of the things Tilly has said—that she is cursed or that men who come near her always die. Instead, Sergeant Farrat writes that Teddy slipped and fell into the truck, which was filled with sorghum instead of wheat. Sorghum is slippery and fine, like sand, and Teddy suffocated on it. He writes that Tilly was a witness and that she warned Teddy not to get too close to the edge.
Tilly is haunted by her past misfortunes and therefore believes that she is unlucky. Teddy’s romanticized memories of his own boyhood in Dungatar are what prompted him to jump into the truck, which caused his death. Although Teddy naïvely believes that things remain the same and that his memory of the past can be trusted, he discovers—with tragic consequences—that the past cannot be successfully recreated.
Themes
Sergeant Farrat goes to tell Molly about Teddy’s death. In response, Molly goes to bed and puts the sheets over her head. Tilly decides that it must be her punishment to stay in Dungatar. Sergeant Farrat persuades Tilly to come to the funeral with him so that she will not be alone. The funeral is awful and tragic. Sergeant Farrat gives a speech about how “love was stronger than hate” and how much the townspeople loved Teddy even though he was an outcast.
Although Tilly is not responsible for Teddy’s death, the townspeople’s belief that she killed Stewart Pettyman leads Tilly to have a skewed perception of past events and to blame herself for Stewart and Teddy’s deaths, which she believes came about because she is cursed. Therefore, Tilly feels that she deserves to be punished so that these deaths can be avenged. Sergeant Farrat knows that the townspeople will blame Tilly for Teddy’s death because they already believe that she killed Stewart Pettyman. The townspeople are prejudiced against Tilly because she is an outcast and is therefore an easy target with no one to defend her—therefore, it is convenient for the Dungatar residents to blame these tragedies on her. However, Sergeant Farrat tries to appeal to the residents so that they might take pity on Tilly.
Themes
Sergeant Farrat says that Teddy was loving and forgiving and that he did not judge people for not fitting in. He loved Tilly even though she wasn’t accepted in the town, and he disliked the townspeople for rejecting her. Sergeant Farrat suggests that if the townspeople had been kinder to Tilly and allowed her to come to the ball that night, Teddy might still be alive.
Sergeant Farrat knows that the townspeople will blame Tilly for Teddy’s death because she is an outsider and because they are prejudiced against her and already blame her for Stewart Pettyman’s death in an accident which occurred when Tilly was a child. Sergeant Farrat tries to subtly hold the townspeople accountable for their own cruel behavior, as it was their rejection of Tilly which pushed Teddy away (since they would not accept his lover) and meant that he was not at the ball—where he would have been safe—on the night that he had his fatal accident.
Themes
The whole town turns out for the funeral and wake, and Sergeant Farrat drives Tilly home afterward. The next morning, Barney brings the animals up the Hill and leaves them with Tilly. Edward McSwiney says that she can keep them. Tilly wishes that Barney would look at her, but he is distraught and he stumbles away. That afternoon, the McSwineys gather up their things, set fire to their caravans, and leave Dungatar.
The McSwineys feel that they must leave Dungatar because the town is haunted for them now and will always remind them of their past, when Teddy was alive. Teddy’s death also reminds the McSwineys that, although Teddy was popular in the town, they are still considered outcasts by the townspeople.
Themes
Tilly walks around her house, which is still strewn with scraps of fabric and mannequins that she used to drape the ballgowns. She thinks bitterly about the townspeople and she remembers Stewart Pettyman’s death—the way he fell very suddenly to the ground. When she looked down at him, she saw that his head was twisted to one side and his mouth was full of blood. Tilly gazes out at the silo and thinks that it looks like a giant coffin.
Tilly is traumatized by her past and her memory of Stewart Pettyman’s death. She feels haunted by his death, although it happened decades ago, because it causes the townspeople to reject her, which also indirectly led to Teddy’s death. Tilly and Teddy were not allowed into the ball by the townspeople and, therefore, Teddy went with Tilly to the silo where he had his accident. Meanwhile, Tilly’s observation that the silo looks like a coffin represents the way in which Stewart’s death follows Tilly through her life and affects its course.
Themes
