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Book 4, Chapter 1
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
Eustacia returns home upset and tells Clym that she never wishes to speak to his mother again. She refuses to go into more detail, leaving Clym in the dark about what all transpired. Later in the day, Thomasin arrives with Clym’s half of the inheritance money. Apparently, Thomasin heard about the fight between Eustacia and Mrs. Yeobright, though she doesn’t say how. Thomasin tells Clym to be grateful that the money was not lost. Clym responds that he would rather not have the money if he could’ve avoided such an incident.
One of Eustacia’s major character flaws is that she refuses to speak plainly to Clym. There are a number of key moments in the novel where Eustacia chooses silence over an explanation when an explanation could make things better. Perhaps her silence is in part due to the fact that she has unresolved feelings for Wildeve, even if she has not acted upon or consciously acknowledged them.
Themes
Knowing that Eustacia is unhappy, Clym studies extra hard so that they can move soon. However, he is quickly beset by misfortunate. His constant studying has had a negative impact on his eyesight, and he starts to go blind. A doctor tells him that it will be months before he can read again without putting an undue strain on his eyes. This means that Clym and Eustacia will have to continue living in their small cabin, which horrifies Eustacia. Even when Clym is better, it doesn’t seem as though he will be able to build a school anytime soon.
Clym and Eustacia’s plans have quickly fallen apart. Now that Clym can no longer offer Eustacia an escape from Egdon, it becomes difficult to know if she still loves him. Certainly, a large part of Eustacia’s love for Clym is predicated on his ability to get her away from Egdon, something he no longer appears able to do. Also note that Clym’s diminished eyesight corresponds with Eustacia’s waning interest in Clym; this helps establish Clym’s eyesight as a symbol for his (figurative) shortsightedness—he’s inability to see that Eustacia’s love for him is (and perhaps always has been) conditional.
Themes
Because he cannot read, Clym decides to become a furze-cutter. Clym enjoys the job and spends much of his time singing. Eustacia overhears one of Clym’s songs, at which point she decides to confront him. Eustacia cannot believe that Clym can find pleasure in such work, which she feels is beneath him. However, Clym thinks that she is overreacting and tells her so. They need money, so why shouldn’t he do something he enjoys? This does not satisfy Eustacia, who leaves in tears.
