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Jonas
Helen Clarke is an old friend of the Blackwood family, and one of the few people who hasn’t abandoned them since the murders. She still comes to tea periodically, and she eventually begins to urge Constance to reenter the world. While Helen Clarke is friendly to the sisters, she insists repeatedly that the villagers are no longer a danger to the Blackwoods, which proves not to be true. This shows that, while Helen Clarke’s attempted kindness sets her apart, she is no less dangerous to the sisters than the rest of the villagers.
Helen Clarke Quotes in We Have Always Lived in the Castle
The We Have Always Lived in the Castle quotes below are all either spoken by Helen Clarke or refer to Helen Clarke. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 2 Quotes
I must have known what she was going to say, because I was chilled; all this day had been building up to what Helen Clarke was going to say right now. I sat low in my chair and looked hard at Constance, wanting her to get up and run away, wanting her not to hear what was just about to be said, but Helen Clarke went on, “It’s spring, you’re young, you’re lovely, you have a right to be happy. Come back into the world.”
Once, even a month ago when it was still winter, words like that would have made Constance draw back and run away; now, I saw that she was listening and smiling, although she shook her head.
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When Helen Clarke comes to tea, she declares herself a close friend of Constance’s and takes it upon herself to offer advice. Constance has hidden away in the house ever since her trial, never appearing in public and only entertaining a few visitors. Helen Clarke’s brief words to Constance betray a number of assumptions. First, she assumes that Constance isn’t happy in her current life. Second, by mentioning Constance’s appearance and the fact that it’s spring, a time associated with mating in animals, she implies that if Constance returned to the outside world, she would want to pursue a romantic Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui
“Another child, my niece Mary Katherine, was not at table.”
“She was in her room,” Mrs. Wright said.
“A great child of twelve, sent to bed without her supper. But she need not concern us.”
I laughed, and Constance said to Helen Clarke, “Merricat was always in disgrace. I used to go up the back stairs with a tray of dinner for her after my father had left the dining room. She was a wicked, disobedient child,” and she smiled at me.
“An unhealthy environment,” Helen Clarke said. “A child should be punished for wrongdoing, but she should be made to feel that she is still loved.”
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When Helen Clarke and Mrs. Wright come for tea, Uncle Julian happily indulges Mrs. Wright’s curiosity about the poisoning by giving her a complete account of the night it occurred. Though the reader doesn’t yet know it, Uncle Julian believes that Merricat is dead. His attitude in this passage demonstrates that he thinks she is of no significance to the poisoning. She wasn’t at the dinner and so was not affected, and the possibility that she was the murderer never even crosses his mind, probably because twelve-year-old girls are not expected to poison their families. Merricat finds his attitude funny, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum
Chapter 9 Quotes
“She certainly wanted her tea,” I said to Constance when I came back to the kitchen.
“We have only two cups with handles,” Constance said. “She will never take tea here again.”
“It’s a good thing Uncle Julian’s gone, or one of us would have to use a broken cup.”
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The day after the fire is the day of the week that Helen Clarke comes to tea at the Blackwood house. She and her husband come knocking at the door, wanting to bring Merricat and Constance home with them to help them. Although the sisters hear Helen Clarke calling out her intentions, Merricat insists on believing that she has come for her tea, showing the extent to which Merricat lives in her own reality and depends on routines to keep her life in order. In fact, this entire passage demonstrates the absurdity that the sisters increasingly embrace after the fire. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima
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Helen Clarke Character Timeline in We Have Always Lived in the Castle
The timeline below shows where the character Helen Clarke appears in We Have Always Lived in the Castle. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
...where they’ll stay forever, and prepare the food. She asks whether Constance is afraid because Helen Clarke is coming to visit. Constance says she isn’t. A few acquaintances still visit for a...
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...room is beautiful and the sisters keep it clean, though they only use it for Helen Clarke ’s visits. Their mother always kept the room perfectly, and her portrait hangs there. Constance...
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Merricat watches at the window. She asks whether Constance is frightened, which Constance denies. When Helen Clarke ’s car arrives, there are two people in it. Merricat wants to send Helen away,...
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The guests enter the drawing room, and Helen Clarke ’s awkwardness forces Mrs. Wright to sit in a corner, while she herself sits too...
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Helen Clarke says she’s going to give Constance advice, as a friend. Merricat has a bad feeling...
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Helen Clarke eats numerous sandwiches. Merricat believes that Helen Clarke thinks she can act however she likes...
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...Constance is beginning to look tired. She hears Uncle Julian coming and opens the door. Helen Clarke asks whether people would be afraid to visit the house. Uncle Julian greets the visitors,...
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Uncle Julian remarks on how fascinating the case is. Helen Clarke tries to stop him from talking about it, but he mentions tasting arsenic and Mrs....
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...some people. Constance eats neither sugar nor berries, which counted against her at her trial. Helen Clarke tries to stop them from continuing on this subject, as she pities Constance, but Constance...
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...begins to doubt whether it actually happened, but Constance assures him it did. He invites Helen Clarke to see the dining room where it occurred, saying he wanted to be a witness...
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...had to cook dinner, but Uncle Julian says that Mrs. Blackwood was an awful cook. Helen Clarke interjects that Mrs. Wright wasn’t supposed to bring up this topic, and they should leave.
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...forgotten. Mrs. Wright can’t reconcile the Constance she’s met with her image of the murderer. Helen Clarke finally tells Mrs. Wright that she’s leaving. Merricat points out that Mrs. Wright hasn’t drunk...
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Constance expresses exasperation with Helen Clarke and points out that Merricat was teasing Mrs. Wright. Merricat says she always wants to...
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Chapter 3
...Constance might suspect it. Merricat watches Constance looking often down the driveway. The day after Helen Clarke ’s visit, Uncle Julian stays in bed, and Jonas is restless, often running all over...
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Chapter 8
...get to the woods. While they hesitate, two more cars arrive, and Jim Clarke and Helen Clarke get out of one. Jim Clarke goes inside, enraged at what’s happening, but his words...
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...shouts, and then the villagers surround them, pushing to see them better and taunting them. Helen Clarke is crying against her car. The villagers don’t want to touch the sisters, and so...
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Chapter 9
It’s Helen Clarke ’s day to come to tea, but Merricat and Constance will have to straighten the...
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...and Merricat are all that’s left, and they’re going to isolate themselves more than ever. Helen Clarke will never come to tea again.
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...Then someone begins to knock on the front door, and they run into the cellar. Helen Clarke begins to call their names outside. Merricat wonders if she has come for tea. She...
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Merricat thinks they’ll have to cover the kitchen window so Helen Clarke won’t be able to see in if she returns. Helen continues to call to them,...
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Chapter 10
Helen Clarke returns to knock and call for the sisters, but when she sees the barricade she...
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