58 pages • 1 hour read
Henry WoodEast Lynne
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1861A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 1, Chapters 11-19Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 1, Chapter 11 Summary: “The New Peer, and the Bank Note”
After several days, the new Lord Mount Severn arrives. He consults with Archibald and the Vane family lawyer, Mr. Warburton, and is horrified to learn that Isabel is completely destitute. He concedes that she will come and live with him and his wife, Mrs. Vane. Isabel is very unhappy because she does not like Mrs. Vane. Before she leaves, Isabel expresses her gratitude for all the kindness that Archibald has shown both her and her father, and Archibald gives her some money.
When the new Lord Mount Severn tells his wife that Isabel will be coming to live with them, she is furious and vows that Isabel “shall marry the first [man] who asks her” and thus leave as soon as possible (157). Meanwhile, Barbara is interested to learn that Archibald now owns East Lynne and that Isabel is destitute.
Part 1, Chapter 12 Summary: “Life at Castle Marling”
Isabel moves in with the new earl (formerly Mr. Vane) and his wife at their home, Castle Marling. A few months pass, during which both Isabel and Lady Mount Severn are unhappy; one of the earl’s two young children also passes away in this time (leaving one son, William Vane, surviving). In the spring, about six months after the death of Isabel’s father, Mrs. Levinson (Lady Mount Severn’s grandmother) comes to stay with them, bringing Francis Levinson with her.
Lady Mount Severn is jealous of Francis’s obvious interest in Isabel; she rebukes Isabel for flirting with him, the two women quarrel, and Lady Mount Severn slaps Isabel. Isabel is desperate to live elsewhere but has no financial resources. The next day, Archibald unexpectedly stops at Castle Marling. While Archibald is there, the young William Vane reports on how his mother physically hurt Isabel. Archibald is disturbed by how unhappy Isabel is and abruptly proposes that she marry him: This would mean that Isabel could return to East Lynne as his wife.
Isabel is very surprised by the proposal and hesitant to accept it: “[I]t is not only that I do not love Mr Carlyle, but I fear I do love, or very nearly love, Francis Levinson” (166). Nevertheless, Isabel agrees to the marriage after Levinson comments that he has no intention of marrying anytime soon. Isabel and Archibald plan to marry as soon as possible.
Part 1, Chapter 13 Summary: “Mr. Dill’s Shaking”
Archibald does not tell anyone about his engagement. In a conversation with Barbara, he does allude to the idea of marrying soon, and Barbara misunderstands and thinks that Archibald is hinting at proposing to her. Cornelia (Archibald’s sister) is astonished and furious when she receives a letter informing her that Archibald has married Isabel. Cornelia immediately shares this news with Barbara, who is devastated and equally shocked. Barbara conceals her emotions, while Cornelia decides that she will move in with Archibald and Isabel at East Lynne.
Part 1, Chapter 14 Summary: “The Earl’s Astonishment”
Lord Mount Severn is also very surprised by Isabel’s marriage; he suspects that Isabel secretly has feelings for someone else and warns her that “Captain Levinson is not a good man” (183). Although Lord Mount Severn is initially suspicious of why Archibald married Isabel so suddenly, he is appeased when he learns that his wife was mistreating Isabel, and he gives his blessing to the couple.
Part 1, Chapter 15 Summary: “Coming Home”
When Isabel and Archibald arrive at East Lynne about a month after their marriage, they find that Cornelia has already moved in. Cornelia is very concerned about Archibald spending too much money and believes that Isabel will not be able to manage a large house competently. Isabel senses that she will not be happy living with Cornelia, but she wants to please her husband and therefore agrees that Cornelia will live with them.
Part 1, Chapter 16 Summary: “Barbara Hare’s Revelation”
Joyce (a servant) comes to East Lynne with Cornelia and ends up working as Isabel’s personal maid. Joyce confides her family history to Isabel: She is the half-sister of Afy Hallijohn (they share the same father). Joyce explains how Afy became involved in a flirtation with Richard and how (she believes) Richard killed their father. Joyce also explains that as both Richard and Afy disappeared shortly after the murder, she believes they ran away together. Isabel is more interested in Barbara, about whom she has heard some gossip. Joyce confirms that many people think Barbara is in love with Archibald.
Meanwhile, Barbara visits East Lynne and is pained by the obvious love between Archibald and his new wife. When Archibald is escorting her home, Barbara confronts him, explaining that she had feelings for him; Archibald explains that he had no idea and only ever thought of Barbara as a friend. Barbara vows that she will never fall in love with anyone else. When Archibald comes home, Isabel jealously asks about Barbara.
Part 1, Chapter 17 Summary: “Death or Life”
Time passes; Isabel is often bored and lonely since Cornelia controls everything within the household. In April, about a year after her marriage, Isabel gives birth to a daughter named Isabel Lucy. The birth is difficult, and Isabel nearly dies.
Part 1, Chapter 18 Summary: “Wilson’s Gossip”
A servant named Wilson, who formerly worked for the Hare family, comes to work at East Lynne. Wilson and Joyce gossip about how Barbara is still in love with Archibald and how some people speculate that if Isabel had died in childbirth, Barbara and Archibald might have married. Isabel overhears this conversation and becomes very jealous and upset. She confronts Archibald and asks him to promise that he will never marry Barbara.
Part 1, Chapter 19 Summary: “Captain Thorn at West Lynne”
Barbara and her mother are shopping in town when she catches sight of a well-dressed man with a diamond ring; she overhears someone calling the man “Captain Thorn” and realizes this could be the mysterious man whom Richard identified as the murderer of Hallijohn. Barbara hurries to share this information with Archibald, who promises to try to find out more. Archibald discovers that Captain Thorn is in town visiting his friend, Tom Hebert. Archibald is unable to obtain any more information about Thorn or link him to Afy, and after a few days, Thorn leaves. Barbara is disappointed when Archibald tells her that there is not yet anything they can do to clear Richard’s name.
Part 1, Chapters 11-19 Analysis
The marriage between Isabel and Archibald is part of the plot’s rising action rather than its conclusion (as is often the case in 19th-century novels), allowing Wood to explore the conflict between two somewhat mismatched individuals. Cornelia bitterly describes the couple as “she, a high-born beauty, brought up to revel in expense, in jewels, in feasts, in show; and he […] a dull bear of a lawyer” (181), highlighting the class conflict between the spouses. Isabel holds a higher social rank but has no financial assets, whereas Archibald is quite wealthy but not titled, exemplifying the theme of The Anxieties and Opportunities of Unstable Social Positions. Isabel never seems critical of the fairly modest and socially secluded life she ends up leading (which characterizes her as humble and appreciative), but this context does suggest why she is eventually bored and susceptible to the novelty and charisma represented by Francis. Moreover, the marriage is not grounded in any kind of passion or romantic sentiment; Isabel simply states her hope that she “shall love [her] husband in time” (183). A sensitive and somewhat idealistic young woman, Isabel gives up all of her hopes of experiencing romantic love to settle for a merely companionable marriage, foreshadowing future discontent. Her reasons for doing so offer further commentary on how money and gender shape opportunity. Financial insecurity and the precariousness of an unmarried woman’s existence (e.g., Isabel’s vulnerability to abuse by Lady Mount Severn, the mistress of the house) combine to make marriage to virtually anyone an attractive option.
Despite Archibald’s benevolent intentions, the marriage unleashes jealousy and resentment amongst multiple characters. Barbara has been nursing hopes of a possible marriage with Archibald and suffers from “her love, her jealousy, the never-dying pain always preying on her heart-strings” (211). While Archibald doesn’t return these sentiments, the shared project of trying to establish Richard’s innocence brings Barbara and Archibald into close proximity and gives them a goal to work toward. While initially Barbara is the one consumed with jealousy, over time this dynamic reverses so that Isabel fixates on the idea that her husband harbors feelings for Barbara; reflecting the theme of Jealousy Leading to Irrational Decisions, Isabel becomes prey to jealousy and suspicion that gradually erode the trust and communication in her marriage even before Francis enters the picture. Cornelia is also a kind of rival to Isabel, though not a romantic one. She reacts to her brother’s marriage with her own jealousy and resentment, admitting that she feels he has, “discard[ed] [her] with contemptuous indifference, and [taken] a young wife to his bosom” (182). Cornelia’s jealousy manifests as a need to assert control and dominance within the domestic world of East Lynne, which fuels Isabel’s sense that her status as Archibald’s wife is somehow threatened and undermined.
Like Isabel’s time with the new Earl and Lady Mount Severn, the conflict between Cornelia and Isabel suggests how much even a woman’s limited power as a domestic overseer could contribute to her self-worth and sense of purpose. Once again relegated to second-class status—but now in a household that her marriage entitles her to oversee—Isabel languishes. The depiction of the early years of Isabel’s marriage disrupts the Victorian idealization of the role of wife and mother; her physical decline symbolizes her loss of emotional vibrancy and joy as she grows more isolated and bored. Rather than representing fulfillment, marriage, and motherhood afflict Isabel with physical and emotional malaise.
