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
A couple of days later, Evan Pettyman wakes up in a bad mood. He is tired, and when he tries to masturbate, he finds that his penis is numb. Marigold is still asleep so he gets up, packs a bag, and sets off to see Una in Melbourne. Later that morning, Tilly arrives at Marigold’s door and gives her a bouquet of marigolds. Tilly explains that the sap from marigolds kills worms by making them go limp. Marigold lets Tilly in uncertainly and says she is sorry about Molly’s death. Tilly says that this is a lie, and she asks Marigold how much she knows about Molly. Marigold replies that Tilly was sent away as a child because Molly was unstable.
Evan uses sleeping tablets to control Marigold and to conceal his womanizing from her. Tilly is associated with plants throughout the novel because she often uses them to make her own medicines and remedies. Tilly is also associated with witchcraft because witches, historically, were often female outcasts who used herbal remedies to treat people and who were persecuted because they considered a threat to mainstream power. Tilly is an outcast in Dungatar and is persecuted because of her past—the townspeople blame Tilly for the death of Marigold’s son, Stewart, who died in an accident. Despite this, Marigold does not know the truth about Stewart’s death because Evan has lied to her and given her an unreliable account of past events.
Themes
Marigold asks Tilly where she went after she left Dungatar, and Tilly tells her. Marigold asks if Tilly’s father paid for her education, and Tilly says that he did. Marigold says vaguely that she had money saved for Stewart’s education but that now it is gone. Tilly tells Marigold that she can make her a costume for the play if Marigold wants. Marigold replies that it will be better than anything Una made, and then she immediately looks guilty. Marigold says that she knows Teddy’s death was not Tilly’s fault, but that she understands how his mother, Mae, felt. Marigold’s own son, Stewart, fell out of a tree and died when he was a child.
Marigold cannot clearly remember what happened to the money she saved for Stewart, who died when he was a boy. Marigold is addicted to sleeping pills and is encouraged to take them more frequently by her husband, Evan, who uses Marigold’s fuzzy memory to conceal his womanizing and corrupt behavior from her. Marigold is a weak person and is afraid to go against the Dungatar townspeople and stand up for Tilly, even though she knows that Tilly has done nothing wrong. The townspeople blame Tilly for Teddy’s death although it was not her fault. Meanwhile, Marigold’s version of Stewart’s death is incorrect because Evan has lied to her—really, Stewart, like Teddy, died in an accident which involved Tilly but was not her fault.
Themes
Tilly begins to tell Marigold about Molly. Tilly says that Molly was a spinster who was very naïve about men. One day, she met a very charming man who told Molly he was wealthy and successful. Molly fell pregnant with this man and wanted to get married. Marigold cries that the story is familiar, and Tilly says that Marigold knows this tale.
Marigold recognizes this story because she has heard it before from the townspeople, who gossip about everyone in Dungatar— particularly about people like Molly, who are outsiders and are therefore easy targets. Marigold’s memory is bad because she is addicted to sleeping pills. Her husband, Evan, encourages her to take pills and uses Marigold’s confusion to hide his womanizing. Although Marigold’s memory of the story is vague, she knows that she has heard it somewhere before. In fact, Beula told Marigold the story of Tilly’s parentage at the Dungatar Ball, when Marigold was heavily intoxicated.
Themes
Meanwhile, in Melbourne with Una, Evan is unable to maintain an erection. He returns dejectedly to Dungatar and finds Marigold waiting for him quietly in the living room. Evan tells Marigold that he is ill, and Marigold replies that he has made her ill for a long time and that Tilly has explained everything to her. Evan says that Tilly is crazy and that they should have her locked up.
Marigold now knows that Evan is Tilly’s father, making Tilly and Stewart half-siblings. She also realizes that Evan has drugged and manipulated her throughout their marriage. Evan uses medicine to control and silence women, and this is reflected in his suggestion that they should have Tilly committed to an asylum—he is afraid that she will reveal the truth about his corrupt behavior if she is not silenced.
Themes
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Marigold says that Tilly is not mad—Marigold knows that Evan assaults her at night after she has taken her medicine. Evan says that Tilly murdered Stewart, and Marigold replies that Tilly is Evan’s daughter. Marigold explains that Tilly has poisoned Evan to make him weak and powerless—she put marigold water in his pitcher at work. Evan follows Marigold into the kitchen and Marigold drops to her knees before him and cuts the back of his ankles with a razor.
Although Evan tries to manipulate Marigold, she now knows the truth about Evan’s past and poisons him to get revenge for the way he has treated her. Tilly poisons Evan to make him feel powerless and weak—the way that he has made her feel. The fact that she uses marigold water is pertinent because, while Evan uses traditional medicine to control and silence women, Tilly uses alternative, herbal medicine to empower Marigold and allow her to get back at her husband.
Themes
Evan crumples up on the ground, bleeding from his legs. He begs Marigold to save him—he will die from blood loss unless he receives help—but Marigold replies that everyone knows the strain she has been under and that they will understand. Even if they lock her in the asylum, she says, her life will be nice and peaceful. She leaves Evan on the kitchen floor, goes to her bedroom, and takes sleeping pills with sherry.
Marigold takes revenge on Evan for the way that he has abused her over the years—he has kept her weak and powerless using drugs. Although Marigold’s revenge is extreme, this suggests that pain and suffering often drives people to extremes and causes them to lash out and take drastic action against their persecutors.
Themes
