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Chapter 22
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
Mrs. Wix explains her arrival. Ida came to see her, explaining that she met Maisie and Sir Claude on the Channel coast. Much to Mrs. Wix’s surprise, Ida was kind to her, even going so far as to give her money for the journey. Ida wants Mrs. Wix, not Susan Ash, to care for Maisie, as she resents the idea of her daughter being taken care of by Mrs. Beale’s maid. Sir Claude says he will take Susan back to London, leaving Mrs. Wix and Maisie in France. Maisie is excited by this plan before she notices Mrs. Wix’s displeasure. Sir Claude insists that it wouldn’t be right to send Susan back alone, but Mrs. Wix—in a newly assertive tone—questions his motivations for returning to London. Mrs. Wix explains to Sir Claude that Ida wants him to know he is free.
Mrs. Wix was clearly left unemployed after Maisie left Ida’s house. Ida, however, sent her to follow Maisie and Sir Claude for both noble and petty reasons: Ida knows that Mrs. Wix can give Maisie a proper moral education, but she also doesn’t want Mrs. Beale’s servants to care for Maisie—and she wants to use Mrs. Wix to frustrate Sir Claude and Mrs. Beale’s affair. Mrs. Wix suspects that Sir Claude wants to take Susan back to London so that he can also see Mrs. Beale, now that he is free to do what he wants romantically.
Active
Themes
Sir Claude remains distrustful of Ida, suspecting her of some further betrayal, but Mrs. Wix attests to Ida’s honesty—at least in this case. Mrs. Wix insists that Ida, for all her flaws, knows that Maisie is a “decent person” and doesn’t want to corrupt her, prompting Sir Claude to ask why then Ida left Maisie in his custody. Mrs. Wix is upset to hear him talk about himself like that, and explains that that is why she has come, to protect Maisie and Sir Claude’s virtue—from Mrs. Beale. Sir Claude halfheartedly stands up for Mrs. Beale, refusing to promise Mrs. Wix that he will not take Susan back to London the next day and use the opportunity to visit his lover. Mrs. Wix admonishes Sir Claude as afraid of Mrs. Beale, an accusation he fully admits to before walking out of the hotel.
