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Book 3, Chapter 8
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Return of the Native, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Humans vs. Nature
Modernity vs. Tradition
Class and Morality
Deception
Summary
Analysis
July arrives. Eustacia and Clym are enjoying their marriage. However, as more time passes, Eustacia worries whether she will ever be able to escape to Budmouth, let alone Paris. Meanwhile, Clym worries that starting his school will be more difficult than he anticipated. At the same time, Mrs. Yeobright is upset that her son never thanked her for the money she sent his way. She has already received a note from Thomasin thanking her for the money and expects the same from Clym. Mrs. Yeobright remains unaware that Christian gambled away her money.
Tension begins to build between Eustacia and Clym because Clym has not followed through on his promises. Eustacia not only expected to go to Budmouth, but she also hoped to go to Paris. Meanwhile, because of a misunderstanding, Clym and his mother have yet to reconcile.
Themes
Literary Devices
Mrs. Yeobright wonders whether Eustacia has something to do with the missing money. She decides to go see her, but before she can do so, Christian confesses to what he’s done. Mrs. Yeobright is angry with Christian and fires him, but then, wondering what she will do without him, instantly rehires him. Mrs. Yeobright thinks that Wildeve and Eustacia might be romantically involved with each other and that Wildeve gave Eustacia the other half of the money, so she departs to confront Eustacia. Eventually, Mrs. Yeobright finds Eustacia and confronts her. Eustacia is appalled at the accusation and vehemently denies it. Mrs. Yeobright believes her but does not apologize. Instead, the two women get into a screaming match, and then Eustacia storms home, angry and upset.
Misunderstandings build upon one another until conflict between Eustacia and Mrs. Yeobright is worse than ever before. Notably, Mrs. Yeobright refuses to apologize to Eustacia, even when she realizes that she is wrong. Though Eustacia is not perfect, she is understandably offended by her mother-in-law’s actions, and it is hard to blame her for acting as she does. However, Eustacia’s actions place even more stress on Clym’s relationship with his mother.
Themes
