Mental Equilibrium

"'Insanity is not a fit subject for fiction’” (366).

Points for Reflection

chps. 26-34

1. Upon (earlier) detailing his model of free and unemotional friendship—in which neither partner has any obligation to the other except honesty—Ralph as well as Katharine felt light in spirit, “convinced that something of profound importance has been settled” between them (356-57, my emphasis).  Does the narrator use the word “convinced” to suggest that this joint epiphany was but a hollow illusion, or do the chapters that follow suggest these characters have indeed discovered some profound and balanced relational ideal?
2. Is Katharine’s earlier observation that there is more of the conservative, traditional “old maid” in William Rodney than the romantic and daring “poet” correct as concerns his relations with Cassandra (67)?
3. Earlier, Joan recognized in her brother an admixture of “Spartan self-control and what [appears] to her romantic and childish folly” (27).  Which of these two sides of his character appears to be winning out in the second half of the novel?
4. Is Cassandra correct in her claims that Katharine is, by nature, neither sympathetic nor practical (436)?
5. Is William Rodney correct in his claim that Katharine loves Ralph but just hasn’t admitted it to herself (440), or is Katharine being bullied by others’ expectations into believing herself in love when she really is not?
6. Within a very short amount of time, Ralph claims that he does not know Katharine, that he does know her well, that he sees her precisely as she is, and that he loves her, after which series of claims he silently reflects on the fact that he is actually less happy in her presence than he was out on the street thinking of her moments before (443-45).  Does Ralph’s confusion make him unsympathetic?
7. Consider Katharine’s oscillating feelings and thoughts across pages 461-67, and spin some kind of argument concerning the significance of her confusion.  Is her uncertainty itself proof of her love for Ralph, as Mary assumes (470)?  Upon seeing Ralph again, Katharine experiences both an “extraordinary clearness of sight” and a “desire no longer to strive and to discriminate,” feelings which conclude with a declaration of love (476).  Does this conclusion to chapter thirty-one constitute a joyful or a tragic moment in the text?
8. At the beginnings of both chapter thirty-two and thirty-three, we discover Katharine escaping to her world of math problem and theorems (477, 504).  She briefly asks herself whether someone will some day be able to share with her this love of numbers and science (477), and the narrative neatly introduces this possibility by allowing Ralph to discover her secret (518).  Does this moment read as a romantic revelation that will unite them even more closely, or another problem introduced into an already unsteady relationship?
9. As recently as her conversations with Ralph and her mother (497-98, 506-10), Katharine is still denying that she loves Ralph (509) and is claiming that marriage is a wasted effort if one continually finds one’s spouse “‘an illusion’” (509).  At the same time, she asserts that she and Ralph “‘can’t live without each other’” (510).  Does Katharine’s logic for deciding to live unmarried with someone (as her second cousin Cyril has done) convince?
10. Recall the reflection of Henry, Katharine’s cousin, that Katharine had not yet found herself, that “‘Life [was not] altogether real to her yet’” (213)?  Assuming Henry was correct, has Katharine’s condition changed by the novel’s conclusion?  Consider this passage in the last chapter in your response: “She had not wish to see anyone tonight; it seemed to her that the immense riddle was answered; the problem had been solved; she held in her hands for one brief moment the globe which we spend our lives in trying to shape, round, whole, and entire from the confusion of chaos. To see Mary was to risk the destruction of this globe” (530).
11. Recollect his sister Joan’s assessment of the “curious perversity in [Ralph’s] temperament,” the suddenness with which she believes he might some day sacrifice his successful career for a cause, idea, or woman, leading to either “splendid . . . success or failure” (127).  Remember too the narrator’s claim that if Ralph could have seen what his sister predicted for him, he would have laughed outright (128).  Have her predictions proven accurate?  If so, which has he achieved, splendid success or splendid failure?  Does this novel give the reader a happy ending?
12. Why might this novel be entitled Night and Day?
    

Eugène Manet on the Isle of Wight (1875)
Berthe Morisot

Dr. Paul Marchbanks
pmarchba@calpoly.edu