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Foreshadowing
Explanation and Analysis—Lucy's Lies:
Toward the end of the novel, the titles of three chapters in a row follow an anaphoric construction. Chapter 16 is called "Lying to George," Chapter 17 is called "Lying to Cecil," and Chapter 18 is called "Lying to Lying to Mr Beebe, Mrs Honeychurch, Freddy and the Servants." This repetition foreshadow later events and creates some dramatic irony.
The "Lying to" titles pique the reader's curiosity—what will the lie be, will it be obvious, and what will come of it? Before the events of the chapter have even begun, the narrator alerts the reader to the fact that something Lucy says over the course of the chapter will be a lie. In a way, the chapter titles unite the narrator and reader in their disbelieving attitude towards the coming conversations. This creates dramatic irony, as the reader goes into each of the three chapters knowing more than the characters—knowing more than even Lucy, who above all appears to be lying to herself.
In a story, where there's a lie (especially one that the reader is alerted to in advance) there will very likely be a reveal of some kind. Accordingly, the titles of these chapters also serve to foreshadow the fallout of Lucy's lies. She has been lying to herself throughout the novel, all while attempting to be "absolutely truthful" with her friends and family members. The titles of the chapters contribute to the building suspense, as the reader feels increasingly sure that a confrontation and climax is on the horizon.
The content of Lucy's lies is finally put in black and white by the narrator in the seventeenth chapter, after she has lied to both George and Cecil:
Lucy entered this army when she pretended to George that she did not love him, and pretended to Cecil that she loved no one. The night received her, as it had received Miss Bartlett thirty years before.
The army that the narrator claims Lucy is entering is metaphorical. After explaining why she's broken off the engagement to Cecil, the narrator writes that Lucy feels determined to never marry and that she gives up on trying to understand herself, joining the "the vast armies of the benighted, who follow neither the heart nor the brain." Comparing Lucy to Charlotte, her unmarried cousin, the narrator claims that with these lies, Lucy seals her fate as someone who will never be honest with herself.
This foreshadowing is misleading. The narrator claims that Lucy's lies—in part to others but most of all her dishonesty with herself—put her on the path to be just like Charlotte. However, Lucy does ultimately allow herself to follow her heart and brain by marrying George. Paired with all the foreshadowing and dramatic irony that is brought about by the titles of these chapters, this foreshadowing creates one final instance of suspense for the reader. The novel seems to be going in the direction of Lucy being honest with herself and George, but the narrator doesn't want the reader to be quite certain yet. Hence the claim that Lucy enters the army of people who choose to turn their back on self-awareness and love out of fear.
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