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
Lois arrives at Marigold’s house, where she’s greeted by Marigold, who is midway through cleaning and is dressed in protective clothing. Marigold asks if Lois has an appointment, and Lois replies that she has a fitting. Marigold snaps that it had better not be for a velvet dress—velvet frays all over the carpet—and she lets Lois in. Inside Una’s room, Lois puts on the ill-fitting outfit Una has made. It looks terrible. Una charges 10 shillings for her work.
Marigold’s obsession with cleaning is ironic because, while on the surface her family life appears respectable and “clean,” underneath her marriage is very sordid and corrupt—her husband, Evan, abuses and controls her to conceal his womanizing.
Themes
Evan Pettyman hides in the garden and peers out at his house. He watches as Lois leaves and stops to gossip with Marigold, who is out washing the sidewalk. Evan sneaks inside to Una’s room, where the pair begin to kiss and fondle each other. Suddenly, the jet from Marigold’s hose hits the window and startles them. Una accidentally squashes Evan’s testicles between her knees, and he collapses, writhing, on the floor.
Una and Evan are hypocrites—they pretend to be respectable when, really, they are corrupt. Una’s accident provides a type of poetic justice because it causes Evan pain, just as his affairs and abusive treatment would hurt Marigold if she knew.
Themes
A year after Teddy’s death, Lois arrives at Tilly’s house with money and cake ingredients from Irma. Lois asks if Tilly will make some more buns for Irma’s arthritis. Lois says she will collect them the next day. As Lois goes out the door, she adds that if Edward McSwiney was still in town, he could take them on his cart.
Tilly uses herbal remedies to help Irma and to temporarily ease her suffering. In this sense, Tilly is a threat to powerful people in Dungatar like Mr. Almanac, who is the town pharmacist and who refuses to prescribe his wife, Irma, medicine to ease her pain. Tilly provides an alternative source of medicine for the townspeople, thereby challenging Mr. Almanac’s power because people no longer rely solely on him for treatment. Lois clumsily tries to guilt Tilly by suggesting that Tilly is responsible for Teddy McSwiney’s death and the McSwiney family’s subsequent departure from Dungatar. This demonstrates the way that the Dungatar residents use people’s pasts against them to try and get their own way. Lois believes that making Tilly feel guilty will force her to deliver the cakes, which Lois is too lazy to do herself.
Themes
The next day, Tilly takes the cakes to Irma herself. Irma is pleased to see her, and the pair chat pleasantly. Suddenly, Lois bursts in and asks Tilly if she will mend her dress—Lois needs it by the next day. Tilly says that she will, for a price. Lois undresses on the spot and gives the outfit to Tilly. Tilly resews it that night.
Lois is a hypocrite: she is happy to bully Tilly and to join in with the townspeople when they bully and persecute her, but she still expects Tilly to do her a favor. Unlike the townspeople, Tilly is a good person and continues to help people even when they treat her cruelly.
Themes
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The Winyerp and Itheca Drama Club members arrive at Elsbeth’s house for the Ladies Social Club meeting. The Dungatar women are dismayed by their guests’ stylish outfits—they suddenly feel inadequate in their own homely frocks. The group congregates in Elsbeth’s living room, where Lois rushes in and begins to show off her new dress. Mona arrives wearing a dress Tilly has made for her. Then, Mrs. Flynt from Winyerp brings up her idea for a drama competition, and the Dungatar women listen attentively.
The Dungatar women are vain and competitive. Rather than try to connect with new people, they see the meetings as an excuse to show off their own superiority. However, although the townspeople knew nothing about fashion before Tilly’s arrival, they have grown used to wearing modern and exciting styles and are disappointed that Una cannot execute these. This suggests that once people have had a taste of new and exciting things, it is difficult for them to return to their old way of life.
Themes
The ladies decide to perform the plays in Winyerp’s town hall. Mrs. Flynt says that there should be prizes for acting and costume. At this, Elsbeth suddenly looks nervous and says that Una will make their costumes. Mrs. Flynt is delighted—Winyerp will take Tilly. Gertrude suddenly stands up, and the skirt Una has made for her rips off. Gertrude announces that she has already asked Tilly, and that Tilly has agreed to make Dungatar’s costumes.
The townspeople are hypocrites because they have ostracized and persecuted Tilly, but now that they need her help, they want to use her services again. Gertrude even ruins Tilly’s chances of finding clients elsewhere because she lies to the Winyerp ladies and loses Tilly their business. This suggests that even though the Dungatar residents will not accept Tilly into their community, they still want to control and use her while giving her nothing in return.
Themes
