38 pages • 1 hour read
Catharine Maria SedgwickHope Leslie, or Early Times in the Massachusetts
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1827A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Volume 1: Chapters 10-12 Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 10 Summary
Hope and Esther talk in private. Hope asks why Esther never told her that she had seen Everell before. Esther tells her the story. She had been nineteen when Everell came to stay with them for two months. Her father, Emanuel Downing, was Governor Winthrop’s brother-in-law. Esther quickly became infatuated with Everell, but did not tell him her feelings. Later, afflicted by a strange illness and reduced to what they all believed would be her deathbed, she asked Everell to visit her. She laid bare her feelings, thinking of her loving words as a deathbed confession. Then she began to recover. Everell left during her convalescence. The following autumn she came to Boston, where she met Hope and listened to her talk endlessly of Everell. Hope assures her that there is nothing to fear, and she does not blame her for keeping her feelings secret.
Jennet enters and tells them that Philip Gardiner will dine with them that night. They go down to dinner, where Everell is also waiting for them.
Chapter 11 Summary
Governor Winthrop comes down to dinner, attended by four Indians. Everell Is startled. They are the first Indians he has seen since returning. The guests make small talk. When Everell asks Esther if she would like some wine, Winthrop tells him they no longer drink at his table. The remark causes such discomfort and awkwardness that the meal ends quickly.
Winthrop and Fletcher retire to a study and discuss Hope Leslie. A letter from Mr. Downing has come, discussing Hope and her need for a husband. He says he noticed the affection between his daughter and Everell. Winthrop chides Fletcher for being too partial to her, and says that the strong hand of a husband will improve her disposition and decorum. He also says that he suspects her of having released Nelema. Then he reveals that William Hubbard, a young scholar, expressed a desire to marry her that very day. Fletcher says Hubbard would be poorly suited to Hope’s temperament, and Winthrop agrees. The Governor suggests Sir Philip Gardiner, and they discuss his relative merits and potential deficiencies. Their discussion ends with no decisions or resolutions.
Chapter 12 Summary
Hope attempts to play matchmaker, spending time with Everell to put positive thoughts of Esther in his head and arranging for them all to gather as often as possible. Fletcher speaks with Everell about his love for Hope and asks him to let the love remain as it was when they were children. Everell protests that he is now a man, and he does not want to submit to additional restrictions on his choices. Before they can finish the conversation, Madam Winthrop enters with Esther. They all leave together to attend a lecture. At the lecture, which feels interminably long to Hope, a young man stares at her the entire time. Afterwards, she walks with Sir Philip and Mrs. Grafton, but is obviously impatient. She begs their pardon and leaves them.
Soon she hears footsteps. The man who was staring at her is following her on the empty street. When she turns to confront him, he says he is Sir Philip’s slave. He begs her never to love Sir Philip. She thanks him and says that he must call her whenever he needs a favor from her.
Chapters 10-12 Analysis
With the introduction of Sir Philip Gardiner, the novel has a villain. Sedgwick goes to great pains to show that he is not to be trusted. However, Sir Philip merely hints at his strategies, rather than revealing them, implying that the reader will discover them later. In another break with contemporaneous novels (indeed, Uncle Tom’s Cabin would not be published until thirty years after Hope Leslie), the slave who initially seemed threatening to Hope is one of her protectors, and he and Hope strike an alliance.
Critical to chapters 10-12 is the scene in which Fletcher and Winthrop discuss Hope’s future. Despite Hope’s independence and fire, she is treated as piece on a chessboard, to be moved as others see fit. Despite the lack of resolution, the fact that they have designs for her will make her subsequent actions more poignant.
