Kew Gardens

“All the time I spoke I saw her shoe and when it moved impatiently I knew without looking up what she was going to say: the whole of her seemed to be in her shoe. And my love, my desire, were in the dragonfly; for some reason I thought that if it settled there, on that leaf, the broad one with the red flower in the middle of it, if the dragonfly settled on the leaf she would say ‘Yes’ at once.”

Simon recalls his marriage proposal to Lily, and his recognition that the twitch of her shoe indicated her forthcoming rejection. However, he held onto hope by attaching meaning to a nearby dragonfly. His detailed recall of an event from 15 years earlier illustrates the intensity of Moments of Being.

“Doesn’t one always think of the past, in a garden with men and women lying under the trees? Aren’t they one’s past, all that remains of it, those men and women, those ghosts lying under the trees, […] one’s happiness, one’s reality?”

Prior to this quotation, Simon asks Eleanor if she minds him thinking about the past. Eleanor’s response demonstrates her understanding of the value such contemplations can have. Moreover, she acknowledges the meditative powers of an enriching natural environment such as Kew Gardens.

“They walked on past the flower-bed, now walking four abreast, and soon diminished in size among the trees and looked half transparent as the sunlight and shade swam over their backs in large trembling irregular patches.”

Simon, Eleanor, and their children—having entered the scene walking apart—reunite and walk together out of the scene. Initially, Simon distanced himself from his family so that he could think by himself, illustrating the theme of Interpersonal Conflict. However, his conversation about the past with Eleanor reunites them.

“In the oval flower bed the snail, whose shell had been stained red, blue, and yellow for the space of two minutes or so, now appeared to be moving very slightly in its shell, and next began to labour over the crumbs of loose earth which broke away and rolled down as it passed over them.”

While the snail is mentioned briefly at the beginning of the story, this passage introduces him fully. As the philosophical dialogue between Simon and Eleanor subsides, the narrator materializes the physical reality of the snail. The shift in perspective encourages the reader to focus in on minute details within the larger world of Kew Gardens.

“He talked almost incessantly; he smiled to himself and again began to talk, as if the smile had been an answer. He was talking about spirits—the spirits of the dead, who, according to him, were even now telling him all sorts of odd things about their experiences in Heaven.”

This quotation characterizes the older man by introducing his strange fixations. He excitedly discusses one topic—seemingly without a response from his younger companion—and succinctly moves to another. Additionally, his chatter about the afterlife contextualizes the story in the aftermath of World War I.

“Like most people of their station they were frankly fascinated by any signs of eccentricity betokening a disordered brain, especially in the well-to-do; but they were too far off to be certain whether the gestures were merely eccentric or genuinely mad.”

This quotation follows the introduction of the third character pair: the two elderly women. The passage describes the only interaction between any of the story’s character pairs. The women watch the old man’s ramblings and gestures and judge his mental state. It is implied that the lower-middle-class women derive satisfaction from observing these characteristics in a wealthy gentleman. The excerpt suggests an underlying class conflict.

“She stood there letting the words fall over her, swaying the top part of her body slowly backwards and forwards, looking at the flowers. Then she suggested that they should find a seat and have their tea.”

The ponderous woman briefly ignores her companion to look at the flowerbed. The beauty of the scene mesmerizes her for a moment, encapsulating the theme of Moments of Being. However, the final sentence shows the abrupt speed with which the woman moves on from this transcendental reverie.

“They were both in the prime of youth, or even in that season which precedes the prime of youth, the season before the smooth pink folds of the flower have burst their gummy case, when the wings of the butterfly, though fully grown, are motionless in the sun.”

This passage introduces the young couple—Trissie and her male companion. Woolf creates metaphorical comparisons to butterflies and flowers to describe the impressionable age of the couple. The description of a butterfly’s metamorphosis emphasizes the idea of transformation. The use of natural imagery to introduce these characters reinforces the theme of The Connection Between Humanity and Nature.

“The action and the fact that his hand rested on the top of hers expressed their feelings in a strange way, as these short insignificant words also expressed something, words with short wings for their heavy body of meaning, inadequate to carry them far and thus alighting awkwardly upon the very common objects that surrounded them.”

Prior to this quotation, the young couple brushes hands while setting up a parasol. This brief physical intimacy triggers the emotional intimacy of the quotation. Both Trissie and the young man are overwhelmed by a powerful and mysterious affection for each other. This leads them to attach meaning to their surroundings and trivial conversation. The moment showcases the magical optimism of youth.

“[W]hat precipices aren’t concealed in them, or what slopes of ice don’t shine in the sun on the other side? Who knows? Who has ever seen this before?”

This quotation occurs shortly after the young couple experiences a moment of unspoken emotional intimacy. Each of them feels a powerful connection to the other (as shown in the previous quotation). In this quotation, romance is compared to a treacherous journey to unknown lands. The metaphor further emphasizes the mysterious and chaotic aspect of young love while also communicating its excitement and anticipation.

“[E]ven to him it began to seem real; and then—but it was too exciting to stand and think any longer, and he pulled the parasol out of the earth with a jerk and was impatient to find the place where one had tea with other people, like other people.”

Prior to this passage, Trissie’s male companion imagines buying tea for Trissie in the company of wealthy socialites. When this daydream ends, he promptly packs up the parasol so that the couple can buy tea. The quotation shows how the young man’s insistence on conforming to social expectations shatters the couple’s moment of intimacy.

“‘Wherever does one have one’s tea?’ she asked with the oddest thrill of excitement in her voice, looking vaguely round and letting herself be drawn on down the grass path, trailing her parasol, turning her head this way and that way, forgetting her tea, wishing to go down there and then down there.”

Trissie agrees to leave the garden for tea but takes a wistful last look at the garden. Momentarily forgetting about tea, she silently expresses her desire to stay and explore. The quotation shows the way in which the modern world impedes imagination and contemplation.

“Thus one couple after another with much the same irregular and aimless movement passed the flower-bed and were enveloped in layer after layer of green blue vapour, in which at first their bodies had substance and a dash of colour, but later both substance and colour dissolved in the green-blue atmosphere.”

This passage occurs after the last character pair walks on. The imagery suggests that the characters merge into the garden’s color and light, underlining The Connection Between Humanity and Nature.