Shirley

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1849

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-10

Chapters 11-18

Chapters 19-25

Chapters 26-30

Chapters 31-37

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Chapters 31-37Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 31 Summary: “Uncle and Niece”

The Fieldhead party, aside from Louis, goes to dine with Sir Phillip and his family. Sympson sees Shirley and Sir Phillip talking together and assumes she has accepted his proposal, mentioning it to Louis the following day and saying that they will soon leave Fieldhead. Days later, Sympson learns that Sir Phillip and his family have left Nunnely and he asks Shirley if she refused Sir Phillip. Sympson is incensed and asks her if she is interested in another man, insinuating it is Robert. She turns him out of the room and Sympson declares he will leave Fieldhead the next day. Louis finds Shirley and tells her of a letter he has received from Yorke, telling him Robert has been shot. He asks Shirley to tell the news to Caroline, and is surprised that he does not have to console Shirley much after the news is delivered.

Chapter 32 Summary: “The Schoolboy and the Wood-Nymph”

Robert is taken to the Yorkes’ home where his siblings come to attend to him but no other visitors are allowed. Robert remains in bed until the winter. One of the Yorkes’ young sons, Martin, meets Caroline outside one day and she asks after Robert. Martin says he is likely to die soon as a joke. Seeing Caroline’s shock, he tells her the truth that Robert is doing well, and assumes that Caroline is in love. He invites her back the next day so he can update her on Robert’s progress.

Chapter 33 Summary: “Martin’s Tactics”

Martin hatches a plan and stays home from school to enact it. Caroline meets him after he has cleared out all the others in the house, and promises he will bring her to Robert, even though he does not know she is coming. Martin brings Caroline to Robert’s room and says he will give them 15 minutes alone to settle their business. She tells him how she, Shirley, and Mrs. Pryor have tried to visit but they were turned away by Mrs. Yorke. Robert doubts that he will live, although he is doing better, and Caroline tells him of her recent illness and how she was cured by a happy discovery. Mrs. Yorke arrives in the room and forces Caroline to leave with promises that she will return to Robert as that is his only wish.

Chapter 34 Summary: “Case of Domestic Persecution—Remarkable Instance of Pious Perseverance in the Discharge of Religious Duties”

Martin wants Caroline to visit again and goes to church to see her that Sunday when the weather is too bad for the rest of the family to go. He is angry when Caroline does not notice him, but she later meets him closer to his home and asks him when she can see Robert again. Martin tells her he cannot arrange a meeting again and Caroline says she will see Robert without his help.

Chapter 35 Summary: “Wherein Matters Make Some Progress, but Not Much”

Robert, feeling better, insists on returning to the Hollow for the first time in six months. He is no longer afraid of the ruin he knows he is bound to face, and he thinks of a backup plan of going to America with Louis if he cannot find work afterward. Robert asks Hortense to invite Caroline over to tea, and they notice that Caroline looks much healthier than she had the previous year. Caroline confesses that she has inferred that Robert proposed to Shirley and she and Shirley had discussed deeper matters a week earlier. Robert thinks Shirley is incapable of love, but Caroline knows differently. Robert tells Caroline he had never loved Shirley, but Caroline finds it hard to believe him. Robert tries to guess who Shirley is actually in love with, and Caroline gives in and tells him after some time that it is Robert’s brother Louis.

Chapter 36 Summary: “Written in the Schoolroom”

Shirley asks the Sympsons to stay longer and they do, Mr. Sympson not wanting to leave Shirley to marry Robert. Shirley learns that the dog who bit her was not rabid, and the Sympsons plan to depart before Christmas. Louis notices that Shirley is speaking to him less, and he contrives to meet with her before he leaves with the Sympsons. Louis confesses that he will no longer be Henry’s tutor and the two argue about his future. Louis confesses his love for Shirley, who is initially cold to him, but admits she loves him as well.

They do not immediately want to tell the Sympsons they intend to marry, but they do not hide their relationship. Mr. Sympson finds them together one day and learns all. Louis turns the Sympsons out of the house after Mr. Sympson insults Shirley. Louis visits Shirley every day, but she starts acting coldly to him once again.

Chapter 37 Summary: “The Winding-Up”

The narrator sums up the fates of all characters of the novel. Of the curates: Malone does not turn out well, but Sweeting marries the woman he had always admired, and Donne turns out much better than anyone expected. The man who shot Robert was never caught or pursued, although everyone knew it must be a man called Michael Hartley, who died a year later. The war continues, but trade blockades are lifted, leading to prosperity for northern mills like Robert’s. Shirley continues to put off her marriage, but she finally marries Louis and abdicates her role as head of household to him.

Robert was about to sail for Canada when the trade blockades were repealed. With this change, he knows the change in his prospects will allow him to think of marriage. Robert apologizes for how cold he has been to Caroline and proposes, saying he also wants Mrs. Pryor to live with them. Robert has plans for him and Louis to improve welfare in the neighborhood and to house and employ all those he can as his own prosperity increases. He offers to set up a Sunday school for Caroline to run. Caroline was planning to be Shirley’s bridesmaid, but now both women marry on the same day in August. The ceremony is performed by Helstone, with Yorke giving away Shirley and Hall giving away Caroline. Henry Sympson and Martin Yorke are groomsmen.

Years later, the narrator tells her housekeeper, Martha, that she has been to see Hollow Mill, and Martha tells her about when it was originally constructed. In the narrator’s time, Robert’s plans have been enacted and the green countryside that surrounded the mill in Martha’s time is now full of roads and cottages. The narrator mentions that the reader must be looking for a moral but offers no directions in finding it.

Chapters 31-37 Analysis

Debates about the purpose of marriage and the theme of A Woman’s Place continue through to the end of the novel when the two pairs of lovers are married. Shirley remains firm on the one reason why she would choose to marry, causing her uncle to lose his temper. She tells him in Chapter 31 that her only intentions regarding matrimony are “To be quiet, and to do just as I please” (524), causing Mr. Sympson to believe she is a selfish eccentric woman with no respect for her family. While Shirley respects her family, she knows that they, unlike her, will not have to live in her marriage. Her faith in her own right to choose is solid. She continues to reflect these ideas when Sympson discovers her and Louis alone together, and Louis throws the overbearing uncle out of Shirley’s house—a display of authority in a house that will soon be lawfully his. Robert’s differing reasons for marrying are detailed in previous chapters but seem to come together toward the end of the novel. His love for Caroline is tempered by his understanding that they will need money to live. Robert only proposes to her after he learns that the trade blockades that had prevented his business from succeeding have ended, despite having decided to flee to Canada without her just the day before and thus complicating his intentions.

Along with questions of marriage, Brontë asks the question of what is owed to family in this section. In Chapter 31, Shirley makes it clear that she does not feel she owes her family anything as she is no longer their ward, has her own fortune, and does not share the name of Sympson. She throws them out of her house more than once in this section, for good once Sympson insults her and Louis. However, she still includes Henry in her wedding party as he is the one Sympson to show her kindness at Fieldhead. This shows how she believes friendship is more important than blood alone. In contrast to Shirley, one of Caroline’s first concerns when she is proposed to is her family, a natural consideration as she has less autonomy than Shirley and, not 21, would need their approval to marry. It is also natural for her to put others first: She immediately asks where her mother will live. Robert, showing how well he knows Caroline, deals with both of these matters before proposing, showing insight into his character and proactive care for Caroline’s happiness. This contrasts with his selfish proposal to Shirley and shows how he has progressed as a character. The marriage is part of the theme of The Benefits and Deficits of Progress, as is the message of joint progress and collaboration when all four of the main characters end up as family by marriage and form a united front to improve their shared land. Their joint prospects are improved by love and friendship, not by the prioritization of mercenary concerns over all else.

Although the narrator of Shirley inserts her beliefs frequently throughout the novel and is a character in her own right, the tone of the narration shifts significantly in the final few paragraphs of the novel. The narrator visits Hollow’s Mill, a highly symbolic location, years after the events of the novel take place, and she notes how it has changed. Already a symbol of progress, the mill and the area surrounding it have become even more industrialized in the years since the story occurred, with many cottages, roads, and new buildings taking up the land that was once green countryside. Several different perspectives are given back-to-back as the narrator speaks to her housekeeper, Martha, who recounts her and her mother’s experiences at the mill interwoven with the stories of Caroline and Shirley. This gives the effect of seeing the novel’s setting throughout the years all at once, highlighting the changes that have occurred since the mill originally opened even before the start of the story. In this way, Brontë returns to the theme of the Benefits and Deficits of Progress, especially as the narrator does not clearly disclose the moral of the story at its ending. Although the setting and characters have changed significantly throughout the novel, the narrator ultimately asks the question—was the progress worth it? Noting the great changes that Shirley’s land has experienced since her time, the narrator illustrates both the progress and the destruction caused by the Industrial Revolution, playing on the potential nostalgia of the reader in 1849.