Previous
Chapter 20
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in What Maisie Knew, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Innocence and Corruption
Money and Society
Hypocrisy
Perspective and Understanding
Summary
Analysis
Ida delivers a long, elaborate, and often incoherent speech on her own goodness, contrasting herself to Sir Claude and bemoaning the fact that she isn’t enough for Maisie. She repeats her assertion that she is very sick but refuses to say more and tells Maisie not to ask her about it, only offering that she might be leaving England for South Africa. Ida insists that Maisie is unaware of all that she has done for her daughter, but she continually returns to her unhappy marriages with Beale and, later, with Sir Claude. Maisie is moved by this speech and tries to imagine Ida as morally virtuous. She mentions the Captain’s description of Ida, but her mother’s response surprises her: Ida insults the Captain and calls Maisie an idiot for repeating his words.
Ida’s speech reveals just how in denial she is. Unable to take responsibility for the way she has treated her daughter, Ida convinces herself that it is Maisie who has rejected her rather than the other way around. Ida’s description of herself as sick may not be literally true, but it perhaps betrays an unconscious awareness of the fact that she compulsively treats people around her badly. Ida’s self-centered worldview depends on seeing herself as the victim, and anyone who isn’t her current lover as her enemy—like the Captain, with whom she has clearly had a falling out.
Active
Themes
Maisie stands up for herself and defends the Captain, pointing out that his kind words about Ida charmed her and she was hoping that Ida was still seeing him—even that Ida would take him with her to South Africa. Ida falls silent, and Maisie is surprised to find her fear of her mother replaced by pity. Ida mutters horrible insults toward Maisie before turning and walking away. Maisie ponders her situation—her mother and father both having left her life forever—before Sir Claude returns. She tells him that Ida is leaving for South Africa. Maisie also suspects that Ida wanted to give her a parting gift, perhaps money, but changed her mind. Sir Claude is amused by his wife’s stinginess. Maisie and Sir Claude enjoy a dinner together, and afterward he remarks to her that he is finally free. In the morning, they will leave for France.
