Chapters 29 and 30 Summary and Analysis
Summary
The next morning, Mrs. Luna visits Olive in order to determine who exactly sent Basil Ransom the invitation to Mrs. Burrage’s gathering the night before. Olive denies that she had been the one to invite him. Mrs. Luna knows how she feels about him now, but at the beginning she was the one who brought him into their lives. Olive believes that Mrs. Luna has come just to make herself disagreeable, but she admits that inviting Basil to call on her in Boston was a mistake, done simply because she believed her mother would have done so. She also thought that he and Mrs. Luna would have been married by now. Mrs. Luna acts shocked that Olive would think she would marry anyone just because he “hung around her.” The only other options as far as the previous night’s invitation are Mrs. Burrage or Verena. Mrs. Luna informs her sister that Basil had never met Mrs. Burrage, so it could not be she. Olive is certain that it could not be Verena, thinking that she has met Basil only twice before. Mrs. Luna, however, repeats to her Basil’s words from the previous evening, including the insinuation that he has seen Verena recently without Olive’s knowing it. Olive is shaken at this prospect. Mrs. Luna, sensing this, wants Olive to join her in preventing any further development of the relationship between Verena and Basil, but Olive does not want to be in collusion with her sister.
Olive regrets having come to New York when Verena considers staying with Mrs. Burrage for several days as Olive returns to Boston. Olive confronts Verena concerning the invitation that was sent to Basil. Verena confesses that she asked Mrs. Burrage to send him one, as he was a friend of hers in New York as Mrs. Burrage inquired. Verena also tells Olive that she did not tell her about the invitation because she knew how Olive felt about Basil and did not want to upset her. When asked how she found out his address, Verena says that it was included on a letter that Basil sent her on her return to America. Olive is dumbfounded that Verena has been communicating with a man she despises and moreover has kept all these secrets from her. When Olive says that she does not dislike Basil but dreads him, Verena offers to return with Olive to Boston the next day. Olive is grateful for the offer, but does not press the matter, as they are to have several visitors during the afternoon and a night on the town that evening.
Analysis
Olive begins to see that her well-crafted life with Verena is coming apart. After having Verena all to herself, without interference, for a year in Europe, the return to America has instigated the reemergence of the threat to her control. Not only does Basil arise from the past with even stronger feelings for Miss Tarrant as well as more determination to take her away from Olive, it is also revealed that Verena herself has been complicit in this downfall, seemingly becoming dishonest and secretive, keeping the fact of her communications with Basil, both in New York and in Boston, from Olive, on the grounds that she did not want to upset her. Olive is now surrounded by those who would end her special and exclusive relationship with Verena, taking away the privacy that she so labored to create, as Verena becomes more exposed to the public, and thus to those who want to gain some measure of control over her themselves.
Mrs. Luna is presented as the...
(This entire section contains 970 words.)
Unlock this Study Guide Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
“villain of the piece,” being deceptive as to her conversations with Basil, and even in her relationship with him, stating that he is pursuing her, when in fact the opposite is occurring. She has become a woman scorned, James’ yielding to a stereotype, and this is proving to be dangerous as Basil tries to win Verena’s affections. Her contempt for her sister, Olive, makes this even further enjoyable to her. Finding herself alone and rejected, she is ready to lash out at those who have rejected her and thus willing to see their lives ruined.
Verena is losing her naiveté as her success as a public speaker proceeds. She sees that it is necessary to dissemble with those gentlemen who seek her attention, yet at the same time she is deceptive with Olive, one who has devoted her time and effort to her. Olive has sought to create for Verena a stage from which she may speak out about female independence, but now she is finding Verena beginning to work toward that independence for herself, away from Olive. Captivated by the New York society, Verena is seeing that which she admired in Olive’s home in Boston played out in a wider arena. As her mother had pushed her into a relationship with Olive in order to make contacts with high society, Verena has now moved beyond Olive and into the world of Mrs. Burrage. In this world, the rights of women are a curiosity rather than a cause. Verena is admired for her beauty and her eloquence, yet not necessarily for her views. By weakening the ties that have bound her to Olive and the reform movement, Verena is now susceptible to any overtures from gentlemen, such as Basil Ransom. How much of a compromise will Verena make in regards to her political and social views in order to be what Basil wants her to be remains to be seen. Just as she has risen to success in regards to her role as a leader in the women’s rights movement, she is on the verge of compromising that role and entering into the more “traditional” role that Basil envisions for her.
