58 pages • 1 hour read
Henry WoodEast Lynne
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1861A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 3, Chapters 52-62Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 3, Chapter 52 Summary: “Miss Carlyle in Full Dress. Afy Also”
On the day of the election, Francis is arrested in public on charges of murder. Many people are very shocked; when Afy hears what has happened, she faints.
Part 3, Chapter 53 Summary: “Mr Jiffin”
Afy recovers and goes immediately to a local shop owned by a man named Mr. Jiffin. Afy has flirted with him before and knows that Jiffin is infatuated with her; she contemplates the security that marrying him would bring her. Afy receives word that she is summoned to testify in the court case against Levinson and becomes very agitated. She tries to flee West Lynne but is intercepted and forced to go to testify. Meanwhile, since the arrest has required Francis to withdraw from the election, Archibald has been confirmed as the new member of Parliament.
Part 3, Chapter 54 Summary: “The Justice-Room”
The hearing begins. The first witness confirms that in the time period leading up to the murder, Francis regularly came to West Lynne and visited Afy in her cottage. During this period, Francis went by the name Thorn; he regularly encountered Richard (who was also frequently visiting Afy) and two local men (Bethel and Locksley) who were often in the area.
Afy is then called to testify. She explains that she met a man who gave his name as Thorn by chance and that he regularly visited her. On the night of the murder, she spoke briefly with Richard and then sent him away, as “Thorn” was inside the cottage already. She brought the gun inside, and then she and Thorn went for a walk. After a time, Thorn went back to the cottage; she heard the sound of a shot, and some time later, Thorn came hurrying up to her and told her that Richard had shot her father.
Upon further questioning, Afy admits new information: After the murder, when she abruptly left West Lynne, she lived in London and continued her relationship with Thorn/Francis, during which time she learned his true identity. This explains why Afy was so reluctant to testify, as she did not want this scandalous information publicly exposed. After more evidence is provided, including evidence that Francis bribed Bethel, both Francis and Bethel are formally charged and put in prison to await trial in a higher court. Afy is stunned to learn that it is likely that Richard was innocent all along.
Part 3, Chapter 55 Summary: “Fire!”
Justice Hare is guilt-stricken by the knowledge that he has likely been wrong about his son. However, Richard has to remain a fugitive because until someone else is found guilty of the murder, he himself could be accused and tried. Meanwhile, Barbara is confident and happy that her brother’s innocence is finally going to be assured.
Late one night, there is a mistaken alarm of fire at East Lynne; chaos ensues as everyone hurries out of their rooms in the middle of the night. Isabel briefly emerges without the items she typically uses to disguise herself. Joyce later seems to be in a state of shock and claims that she has seen a ghost.
Part 3, Chapter 56 Summary: “Three Months Longer”
Archibald and Barbara spend some time in London due to his new political role; during that time, Lady Levinson (Francis’s wife) comes to them to get information about her husband’s case. She laments the unhappiness of her marriage and how much she regrets the choice she made.
Time passes; Barbara gives birth to a second child, and William grows sicker and sicker, leaving Isabel greatly distressed. In the aftermath of the trial, many people in the town gossiped about Afy, and she was dismissed from her job as a maid. However, Mr. Jiffin stood by her and now proposes. Afy accepts, although she continues to wonder if she can find a better match for herself.
Part 3, Chapter 57 Summary: “The Trial”
The formal trial begins, and Richard appears in court to testify. He repeats his story: He went to see Afy on the night of the murder, left the gun, and then hid nearby. He heard the sound of a shot, saw Bethel rush to the cottage (confirming that Bethel could not have been inside when the shot was fired), and then saw Francis emerging in a state of shock. Richard then entered the cottage, saw the dead body, grabbed his gun, and ran. Bethel also testifies, explaining that he saw Richard outside of the cottage just before the shot was fired, confirming that Richard could not have been the killer. Bethel also explains that he saw Francis and that Levinson offered to pay him never to reveal what he saw.
Francis is found guilty of murder and sentenced to execution. Richard is formally cleared of any wrongdoing, and the community of West Lynne is eager to welcome him.
Part 3, Chapter 58 Summary: “The Death Chamber”
Isabel tirelessly nurses William and is alone with him when the child dies. She is overwhelmed by grief; Joyce enters the room and addresses Isabel as “my lady,” revealing that she is aware of Isabel’s true identity. Joyce hurries Isabel away so that she won’t reveal her secret in the throes of grief and then breaks the news of William’s death to Archibald and Barbara.
Part 3, Chapter 59 Summary: “Lord Vane Dating Forward”
After William’s death, Isabel’s own health breaks down, and she realizes that she is dying. She asks Barbara for permission to leave East Lynne, but Barbara persuades her to stay for a few weeks while Barbara is away. Isabel agrees since she wants more time with her children. William Vane continues to be playfully insistent on someday marrying Lucy; one day, Isabel takes him aside and points out that his parents (Lord and Lady Mount Severn) might object to this marriage because of the scandal associated with Lucy’s mother. William Vane assures Isabel that he would never hold Lucy’s family history against her.
Part 3, Chapter 60 Summary: “It Won’t Do, Afy”
Afy breaks off her engagement to Mr. Jiffin; she now hopes to marry Richard, whose reputation has been cleared and who comes from a wealthier and higher status family. However, Richard makes it clear he wants nothing to do with her. Afy then tells Jiffin that she was merely joking, and the couple reunite. Richard has no interest in finding a wife and is happy to live with his parents. Meanwhile, Francis’s sentence is commuted: He will be sent to a penal colony in Australia.
Part 3, Chapter 61 Summary: “Until Eternity”
Barbara departs on her trip, and Isabel quietly rests in the house, sensing that her death is approaching. When Joyce admits to Cornelia and Archibald that Isabel is dying, they are both very startled. Cornelia insists on seeing Isabel and immediately recognizes her true identity. She forgives Isabel and also asks for forgiveness for her role in making Isabel unhappy. Cornelia agrees to Isabel’s plea to see Archibald one more time. Archibald is stunned to realize that the governess is his first wife. Isabel expresses her deep regret, her ongoing love for her husband and children, and her hope that they will all be together in heaven. Archibald tells her that he forgives her, and she dies peacefully a few minutes later.
Part 3, Chapter 62 Summary: “I.M.V.”
Archibald tells Lord Mount Severn about the true identity of the governess; the two men and Cornelia discuss how they all had noticed a resemblance but thought it was too improbable to be true. Barbara hurries home when she learns that the governess has died, and Archibald confides that the woman working as their governess was actually his first wife in disguise. He affirms to Barbara that he loves only her and that this will have no impact on their marriage. Barbara vows to love and obey him always; she admits that she has been somewhat cold and distant toward her stepchildren but promises to be much more caring going forward.
Part 3, Chapters 52-62 Analysis
The novel’s final chapters focus on justice and closure, resolving various plot threads and largely rewarding and punishing characters according to their moral behavior throughout the novel. Francis is finally punished for his most egregious crime, and because he murdered Hallijohn in the context of his relationship with Afy, the trial and sentence symbolically punish him for his reckless mistreatment of women as well. Francis’s punishment is explicitly linked to a reversal of his luxury and privilege, reflecting the theme of The Anxieties and Opportunities of Unstable Social Positions. Francis’s social position does not entitle him to get away with his crime; instead, the judge rebukingly notes, “[Y]our position in life makes your crime the more terrible” (639). The narrator also comments on the contrast between the hardships of life in a penal colony and Francis’s predilection for ostentatious luxury: “[W]here would his diamonds and his perfumed handkerchiefs and his white hands be then” (674). This is the last time that Francis appears in the novel, permanently marking his character as decadent and spoiled.
The conviction creates justice for two characters: Francis is punished, while Richard is finally vindicated. Richard’s redemption is important because of its intersection with the theme of False Perceptions of Innocence and Guilt. Richard’s innocence, initially a possibility, becomes a more or less verified truth that is still only apparent to a few people before eventually being confirmed in the public eye. Richard’s innocence is consistent throughout the novel, but the objective reality matters less than what other people believe about his actions. Significantly, Richard’s own father is only able to forgive his son once he sees that he was mistaken all along. Richard’s arc prompts readers to contrast his fate with that of Isabel. Unlike Richard, Isabel did actually make a serious act of misjudgment, whereas Richard is only guilty of cowardice. Nevertheless, Richard’s embrace by his family and community provides an alternative model of what Isabel’s fate could have been in a society that approached adultery and other sexual “transgressions” less punitively.
In the lead-up to her death, Isabel does achieve some measure of redemption: Both Archibald and (notably) Cornelia express their forgiveness toward her. Moreover, Archibald and Cornelia admit that Isabel’s choice occurred in a context where she was unhappy. Wood still portrays Isabel’s actions as ultimately unforgiveable. Isabel welcomes her death because she knows there is no longer any role for her in the social fabric of Victorian England: She can never achieve the role of wife and mother again, and the death of her son symbolizes the severing of her last ties to her former family. Still, it is significant that Isabel dies believing that she will be welcomed into heaven and eventually reunited with her family members there. The novel punishes Isabel severely for her moral downfall but does not present her as utterly damned, particularly since it is clear that she was manipulated and misled.
Two other female characters add nuance to the novel’s seemingly conventional conclusion. Faced with the public shame of her husband’s trial, Lady Levinson (Francis’s wife) asks Barbara and Archibald for help, expressing her wish to legally sever ties with her husband: “If only I could get a divorce!” (624). Archibald confirms that Lady Levinson does not have this recourse, as the Matrimonial Causes Act required that a woman could only begin divorce proceedings if she could prove both her husband’s infidelity and additional cause (such as abuse, desertion, etc.). While Barbara is aghast at Lady Levinson’s desire to dissolve her marriage, the latter counters, “I will throw him off in the face of day; there is no moral obligation to debar my doing so” (625). While Wood’s novel presents tragic consequences associated with adultery and disruptions to the traditional family, Lady Levinson’s frustration hints at the limitations of that traditional family structure—specifically, how women lacked legal recourse when a marriage had clearly failed them.
Afy’s storyline also unsettles norms of gender and class. She violates expectations of feminine sexual propriety, especially when it comes to light that she was living as Francis’s mistress in the period after the murder. She also blatantly pursues social mobility, deploying her sexual appeal as a tool. She is interested in Francis because of his seemingly apparent wealth and social position, and then she calculates that a marriage to Jiffin will provide her with the material luxuries she craves. Despite the public humiliation that occurs during the trial and despite Richard’s denouncement of her, Afy ends the novel married to Jiffin, presumably enjoying the life she has pragmatically crafted for herself. While Isabel is severely punished, Afy’s story implies that there may be cases where a woman can exert agency, make choices that benefit her, and determine her own fate.
