Essay Questions

What is the irony of the matrimony described in the first chapter?

First, the couple is utterly incompatible: "Speaking to her softly, I told her my heart: she was beautiful; I was old, ugly, used up; this match was strange, had its roots not in love but expedience; her father was poor, her mother ill. That was why she was here." The narrator's observation affirms that their matrimony is not founded on love. Romantic chemistry is impossible considering how different they are. Second, the matrimony is superficial: "I proposed that we should be…friends. Should behave outwardly, in all things, as if we had consummated our arrangement." Evidently, the marriage is not consummated at the onset due to the circumstances relating to the union. Outsiders would perceive them as a couple but, in reality, they are not.

What is Saunders' major ideology regarding arranged matrimony?

Love can be realized in an arranged matrimony: "She left a note on my desk. Although shyness prevents her from expressing this sentiment in speech or action, the note said, my kindness to her had resulted in an effect much to be desired…That night, in her bed, I was careful not to be other than I had been: gentle, respectful, deferential. We did little-kissed, held one another-but imagine, if you will, the richness of this sudden indulgence." The woman requests for intimacy. The narrator does not force her to be intimate even when he has the power and opportunity to coerce her. Her request for intimacy affirms that she has fallen in love with him eventually. Accordingly, arranged matrimonies could turn out prosperous when sufficient time is invested in them and when they are founded of honesty and reverence.

Why does Sophie Lenox cry after seeing a mitten?

The mitten is emblematic of Willie’s memories: “Many months later, going through some old clothing for Mrs. Lincoln, I found, in a coat-pocket, a tiny wadded-up mitten. Many memories came back to me and I burst into tears. I will remember that little boy forever, and his sweet ways.” Psychoanalytically, the mitten contributes to Sophie Lenox’s regression by reviving her memories of Willie because she had seen him with the mitten. Her position as a maid gave her the chance of developing memories of Willie.