Previous
Chapter 51
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Wives and Daughters, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Friendship
Class, Status, and Romance
Independence, Opportunities, and Gender
Challenges, Growth, and Community
Gossip and Rumors
Summary
Analysis
Mr. Gibson arrives later at the Hamleys’ house. He goes upstairs to see Osborne’s body and talk to Squire Hamley before returning downstairs, where he speaks to Molly. He says that Osborne’s death had something to do with his heart, but he doesn’t elaborate. Molly then tells Gibson that she has to tell him a secret about Osborne. She explains that Osborne was married to a French woman (Aimée), with whom he has a child. She says she also knows the woman’s address.
Gibson’s statement that Osborne died of something related to his heart can be read symbolically. Though the novel doesn’t suggest that Osborne’s conflict with Squire Hamley or his distance from Aimée literally killed him, Gibson’s comments point to how much of a toll those unresolved matters heart must have weighed on Osborne’s heart.
Active
Themes
Mr. Gibson is shocked and says that they will have to tell Squire Hamley. He’s not sure how Squire Hamley will take the news. Molly goes to tell Squire Hamley that she and her father would like to speak to him. When Squire Hamley comes downstairs, they tell him that Osborne was married. Squire Hamley laments that he and Osborne had not been closer and says he wishes that Osborne had told him. Molly and Gibson then tell Squire Hamley that Osborne and his wife (Aimée) also had a child. That news is even more shocking to Squire Hamley. He sits down, exhausted. Molly and Mr. Gibson then speak alone. They both register that Squire Hamley has not yet opened a letter Cynthia wrote, announcing that she has broken off her engagement with Roger. Gibson then says that they will need to write to Osborne’s widow.
Squire Hamley’s wish that he and Osborne had been closer and that Osborne would have shared the information about his marriage with him points to Squire Hamley’s dawning realization about the error of his ways. That is, Squire Hamley’s insistence that Osborne marry someone from a high socioeconomic status led Squire Hamley and Osborne to remain at odds up to Osborne’s death. This tragic outcome adds to the novel’s criticism of Victorian society’s preoccupation with socioeconomic status as a determinative factor when it comes to marriage.
Active
Themes
Literary Devices
Molly returns home with plans to go back to the Hamleys’ house later that afternoon. When Molly returns home, without thinking, she tells Clare about Osborne’s marriage and his child. Though Molly is sure that the marriage is legal, Mr. Gibson is privately skeptical about that and had wanted to verify the marriage’s legality before telling anyone else about it. Molly then talks to Cynthia and asks if she would write to Roger and say that she doesn’t want to break off the engagement. Molly can’t bear to think of Roger receiving news of his brother’s death and the end of his engagement simultaneously. Cynthia, though, sticks by her decision to break off the engagement.
Active
Themes
