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Definition of Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved directly or indirectly, by making... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the... read full definition
Chapter 8
Explanation and Analysis—Matrimony:
Gaskell combines foreshadowing with a simile to chart Mr. Gibson’s reluctant path toward remarriage. The narration frames his courtship of Clare as “drifting,” a word that anticipates his eventual proposal while emphasizing his lack of deliberate agency. The movement is compared to “the soft floating movement of a dream,” a simile that captures both passivity and inevitability:
Mr. Gibson was drifting into matrimony. He was partly aware of whither he was going; and partly it was like the soft floating movement of a dream.
Related Themes:
Chapter 27
Explanation and Analysis—Letters:
Osborne’s secrecy is signaled through foreshadowing, as the narrator describes his elaborate efforts to hide a private correspondence. His routine of posting letters at distant offices and retrieving replies through neighboring towns plants the expectation that this concealment cannot last:
Unlock with LitCharts A+What with daily writing to his wife—taking his letters himself to a distant post-office, and receiving hers back again, through a neighbouring town—he spent a good deal of time and some money, unknown to every one.
Related Themes:
Chapter 35
Explanation and Analysis—Aneurysm:
Gaskell signals Osborne’s fate early through foreshadowing, embedding ominous hints about his health that prepare the reader for his eventual death. Consider this early conversation about his health:
Unlock with LitCharts A+'If he had got aneurism of the aorta his days are numbered.'
‘Well. Anything more?’
‘Yes; you said, “I hope to God I may be mistaken; but there is a pretty clear indication of symptoms in my opinion."
Related Themes:
