65 pages • 2 hours read
Edith WhartonSummer
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1917A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 7-9Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 7 Summary
After her library job is secured again, Charity disciplines herself to remain in attendance for the entire workday; nevertheless, she finds it “[…] more than ever irksome…after her vivid hours of liberty” (46). Harney, meanwhile, works with a local carpenter to install an improved ventilation system within the building and appears at the library in the company of the local minister, who serves as a consultant on the plan. Charity imagines Harney to be somewhat distant and formal in his manner toward her. She concocts an elaborate fantasy about her archenemy, Anabelle Balch, having stolen his attention. He fails to appear at the Royall home for his midday meal; Lawyer Royall makes no comment upon this, which disquiets the young woman; however, she refuses to give Royall the satisfaction of asking if he knows the reason for Harney’s absence.
Beset with curiosity, Charity leaves the house later that evening in order to ascertain Harney’s activities. Unwilling to approach him directly, she spies on him through the windows of the Hatchard house and observes him to be in a state of melancholic frustration. He is packing to leave, and Charity realizes that this will be the end of their relationship; nonetheless, she refrains from approaching the young man, who is alone in his cousin’s house, due to her fear of a sexual liaison: “It was the thing that did happen between young men and girls…that North Dormer ignored in public and snickered over on the sly” (54). Recalling the social ostracism of Julia Hawes, widely known to have had an affair while unmarried, Charity overcomes her instinctual attraction to Harney and goes home in the dark of night.
Chapter 8 Summary
As she returns home, Charity realizes that she has spent some hours observing Harney from her secret vantage point. She senses that perhaps someone has been watching her but is unable to be sure due to the darkness. Returning to her prior sense of victimization, Charity is sure that Harney has abandoned her without saying goodbye; however, Royall asks to speak to her after their shared meal, saying, “‘[…] for once, let’s you and me talk together like friends’” (57).
Charity is sure that the lawyer has sent Harney away, but he merely wants to advise her that the community of North Dormer stands convinced that she was having sex with Harney the preceding evening. She tearfully explains that she merely observed him from outside the window and then claims not to care about the neighbors opinions. Royall, who knows her well, refutes this assertion and reminds her “[…] how hard slander dies” (60). Apologizing once again for having approached her inappropriately several months earlier, he proposes marriage to her, luring her with the prospect of settling in a big town. She rejects the offer quite cruelly; Royall then asks if she wants him to pressure Harney into marrying her. Charity claims to be pleased that Harney is leaving but opens the front door to find that he has come to say goodbye to her. Subsequently, a young boy delivers a note from Harney to Charity. He begs her to meet him by Creston River, adding that “I can’t go away like this” (63).
Chapter 9 Summary
Charity prepares for a July 4 meeting with Harney by having a bonnet made by Ally Hawes, sister of the disgraced Julia Hawes. Excited about the prospect of a day in Nettleton, she gushes about it to Ally; however, the other girl associates her prior visit to the city with having brought her sister to an abortionist there. Julia nearly died in the process.
Charity lies to Royall about her plans for the day and is thrilled when Harney brings her on a train ride to the city. He is gentlemanly and attentive, buying her a much more expensive brooch than one she admires in a jeweler’s window. The pair eat in a French restaurant, “[…] a little open air place in a back street” (70), and Charity drinks wine. Acquiescing to her request, Harney brings Charity to a picture show; subsequently, the couple goes rowing on a lake. As the chapter ends, Charity notices a sign for “Dr. Merkle’s office” and has the terrible realization that this is the place where Julia Hawes had nearly died while undergoing an abortion.
Chapters 7-9 Analysis
This section of the novel deepens the reader’s understanding of the main characters. Charity’s behavior is altered, at least superficially, as a result of her exposure to Lucius Harney and her growing infatuation with him. For example, despite her innate dislike of working regular business hours, Charity keeps the library open for the intended time and adheres to her work schedule. Nonetheless, whenever she is confronted with what she perceives as a potentially threatening situation, the young woman reverts to a degree of paranoia. When Harney is somewhat formal while touring the library with the minister, Charity immediately perceives him as maintaining an emotional distance and resorts to the defense mechanism of paranoid victimization, envisioning her rival, Annabelle Balch, to have stolen the young man’s affections.
Conversely, despite her frequent considerations of her status in the eyes of her small-town neighbors, Charity throws caution to the winds when she is desperate to determine what Harney is doing when he stops visiting the Royall home for dinner. Spying on him from a dark porch for hours, she is elated by the realization that he is bereft because of his separation from her. Neighbors observing this quickly conclude that the two have had a sexual liaison; Royall advises Charity of this the next day.
Lawyer Royall also evolves as a character in this section. Previously depicted as either gruff or inebriated, he reveals another side when he proposes marriage to Charity in order to save her reputation in town. Gruffly rebuffed, and against his better judgement, he offers to pressure Harney into marrying Charity by leveraging the town gossip against him; however, she refuses this offer. Another aspect of Royall is revealed here: He is altruistic enough to want to provide the young woman with a marriage to another man if it will lead to her happiness.
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By Edith Wharton
