The Golden Bowl

Maggie believes that the arrival of the guests at a moment when she and Charlotte seemed to be making amends has helped both her and Charlotte. The other guests now assume that whatever “quarrel” had taken place between the two women has been resolved; the tension in the house is reduced. Maggie knows that this is not true. She is surprised by how much the others have misunderstood the situation, but she does not correct them. She believes their misunderstanding will help her save her marriage. To Maggie, Charlotte now seems like an animal that has broken out of its cage and started to roam around the grounds. Charlotte is acting as the perfect hostess to the guests at Fawns. With Amerigo keeping his distance from her, Charlotte seems even more compelled to play the role of the perfect hostess. Amerigo is so determined to keep his distance that he makes up reasons to leave Fawns regularly. Each departure, coupled with Charlotte’s pretensions, breaks Maggie’s heart. She pities Charlotte’s apparent sense of isolation. When Amerigo is at Fawns, he wanders alone through the galleries in a contemplative mood. To Maggie, Amerigo seems to actively seek out his isolation. He seems exhausted by the duties of being a husband. When Charlotte emits a piercing noise, as though she is wounded, Amerigo does not even look at her.

On a Sunday, the remaining guests at Fawns are the Assinghams, the Ververs, and Father Mitchell, who is visiting from his nearby church. Amerigo and Maggie are also present. Fanny turns to Maggie, wondering whether she would prefer if Fanny and Bob left. Fanny would prefer to stay and support Maggie however she can. Maggie tells Fanny to stay and “see [her] through” (519).

Charlotte separates herself from the other guests. Even though the August weather is very warm, she takes a solitary walk around the grounds in the afternoon. Maggie has recommended a book to Charlotte, which she takes with her on the walk. She has mistakenly selected the second, rather than the first, of the novel’s three volumes. Maggie uses this as a “pretext” for confronting Charlotte. She approaches Charlotte, book in hand, and Charlotte invites her to talk. Charlotte admits to Maggie that life at Fawns tires her. She and Adam are planning to go to America, which Maggie already knows. They plan to depart immediately. Maggie asks whether Charlotte is taking her father away from her. Charlotte wants to be with her husband, she says, and she wonders whether Maggie believes this to be desirable. Maggie agrees that her father is well worth the effort. Charlotte has long suspected that Maggie dislikes the marriage between herself and Adam and wants to know whether Maggie has been plotting against her. Maggie is dismissive. She may have plotted, she suggests, but wonders whether this matters if she has “failed.“

Adam and Charlotte leave Fawns. Amerigo and Maggie are left to live at the country house. Maggie is willing to go anywhere Amerigo wants. She will even travel abroad to his favorite places. Amerigo wants to remain in England. Despite this insistence, he continues to wander around Fawns in a solitary, bored manner. Fanny is concerned that Charlotte could still affect Amerigo; she asks Maggie whether she shares this fear, even though Charlotte is far away. Maggie has no doubt that Charlotte will have an influence over Amerigo, wherever she happens to be. Maggie explains to Fanny that she plans to spend her evenings by entertaining guests, once everyone becomes aware that Amerigo and Maggie are living together again without Adam or Charlotte. Maggie fears that she and her father are the “ones who are lost” (541), as Charlotte and Amerigo were able to get what they wanted. Fanny asks if Adam was ever aware of the possible affair between his wife and son-in-law. Maggie assumes he does not; even she has no idea of the extent of the affair. She is certain that Charlotte has no idea of how much her father understands. This uncertainty, Maggie feels, is what binds Charlotte to her husband. Conversely, she has no real idea what binds Amerigo to her.

Charlotte sends a telegram to Maggie. She wants to arrange a lunch for herself, Adam, Maggie, and Charlotte. Maggie shows the telegram to her husband. They both tacitly accept that this will be the final meeting of the four of them before the Ververs travel to America. Amerigo is confused by Charlotte’s suggestion, wondering why she has not proposed a formal dinner instead of a lunch. Maggie tells him that this is a calculated effort to dismiss them. She suggests her father intends to have a final dinner with her alone, leaving Amerigo to have dinner with Charlotte.

Amerigo wishes that Charlotte had better understood Maggie, though Maggie insists that Charlotte is trying to deceive her by maintaining a distance between them. Amerigo dismisses Maggie’s claim; Charlotte does not know that Maggie knows about the possible affair, he says, so she must be acting foolishly. Amerigo asks Maggie for a final favor. He will not tell her the exact details of this favor until Charlotte and Adam have left the country and they are “really alone.”

Charlotte and Adam arrive for the lunch. The mood is tense. Maggie talks to her father in private, but they do not have enough time to say everything they want to say. Later, Charlotte and Adam depart. Amerigo takes his son upstairs, leaving Maggie to prepare herself for a confrontation with her husband. Amerigo enters the room and, as he does so, Maggie realizes at last that Charlotte has completely exited their lives. She has nothing left to fear. Amerigo assures Maggie he sees “nothing but [her]” (567).