Previous
Chapter 8
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
Clare is happy to receive Lady Cumnor’s invitation to spend her holidays at Cumnor Towers, and she’s pleased to be able to temporarily escape her ramshackle existence to experience the luxury of Cumnor Towers. When Clare arrives, Lord Cumnor cautions her that Lady Cumnor is ill, though she won’t admit to it. When Lord Cumnor leaves, he puts Clare in charge of monitoring Lady Cumnor’s condition and says to send for Mr. Gibson if it seems necessary. Like Lord Cumnor, though, Clare won’t do anything that goes against Lady Cumnor’s express wishes. A day or two later, Clare is surprised when Lady Cumnor asks her to send for Mr. Gibson.
Notably, the novel makes clear Clare’s pleasure at receiving the invitation to spend the holidays at Cumnor Towers comes at least in part from economic, and perhaps materialistic concerns—critically, Clare is pleased to be able to momentarily exchange the well-worn furniture of her life, borne from financial difficulties, for the luxuries of Cumnor Towers. The novel also shows how Gibson’s role as the town’s doctor enables him to cross socioeconomic lines, as his profession leads him to administer to everyone in town, including wealthy landowners like the Cumnors.
Active
Themes
Meanwhile, Mr. Gibson’s struggles at home continue. One day, Lord Hollingford arrives, and the two have a lengthy conversation about scientific advancements, after which Lord Hollingford asks Gibson if he might have some food to spare for lunch. However, Jenny, the cook, continues to be upset about Bethia’s dismissal and doesn’t get food out on time. Gibson is distraught by the lack of hospitality he’s able to show Lord Hollingford. When the food does eventually come, Lord Hollingford, seeming to sense Gibson’s distress, asks Gibson if he’s ever considered remarrying. Lord Hollingford says that a wife would help him organize his household and would also provide Molly with the “tender supervision” that she needs.
This passage makes it clear that Gibson is looking to remarry, raising the question of how Molly might react to that plan if she were to discover it. Furthermore, Lord Hollingford’s comments hint at why Gibson might want to remarry. On the one hand, Gibson thinks that a wife will help his household become more organized. On the other hand, he also thinks that Molly needs a kind of role model who will help guide her through life. Both of those goals also underline the sexist gender dynamics of the community, as there is no question about whether Gibson’s prospective wife will have a career. Instead, Gibson assumes that her function in his life will be to be a mother and homemaker.
Active
Themes
After Lord Hollingford leaves, Mr. Gibson is summoned to Cumnor Towers. He finds Lady Cumnor ill, but not as ill as people supposed, and he prescribes her a course of action to try and help her recover from the illness. While Gibson is at Cumnor Towers, he wonders if Clare might be the person he has been looking for as a second wife. He recalls how kindly Clare treated Molly the day Molly got lost as a child at Cumnor Towers. And Clare has a child herself, a daughter named Cynthia, who must be about the same age as Molly. He goes away thinking of Clare. Later, Clare reads a letter out loud to Lady Cumnor from Lord Cumnor. In that letter, Lord Cumnor offhandedly mentions a matchmaking plan to set Clare up with Mr. Gibson. Clare has gotten along well with Gibson, and she likes the idea of potentially marrying him.
Active
Themes
