A Respectable Woman

“‘This is what I call living,’ he would utter with deep satisfaction, as the air that swept across the sugar field caressed him with its warm and scented velvety touch.”

These lines represent a distinctive shift in the narrative tone toward more sensuality. The figurative use of the vaguely erotic “caress” and “velvety” helps create that tone, but the sensory-rich description also contributes. Gouvernail’s response to nature is also key to his characterization, which is reminiscent of a Romantic poet and thinker.

“After a few days, when she could understand him no better than at first, she gave over being puzzled and remained piqued.”

This passage reflects the story’s growing internal tension. Mrs. Baroda is interested in the new and unfamiliar: a man she cannot understand. As her curiosity begins to trouble her, this marks how much the visitor affects her despite having done nothing to her.

“She persistently sought to penetrate the reserve in which he had unconsciously enveloped himself.”

Mrs. Baroda joins Gouvernail on his previously solitary walks when she realizes that he has not minded her absence in the previous days. She does not understand why his indifference irks her, but her response indicates the beginning of a change in her character.

“Gaston took his wife’s pretty face between his hands and looked tenderly and laughingly into her troubled eyes. They were making a bit of a toilet sociably together in Mrs. Baroda’s dressing room.”

The small, realistic details of the Barodas’ interactions convey the nature of their relationship. The image of the couple chatting while getting ready for the day adds verisimilitude to the portrayal of married life.

“‘Here you are,’ he went on, ‘taking poor Gouvernail seriously and making a commotion over him, the last thing he would desire or expect.’”

When Gaston insists on his friend’s aversion to attention, it makes Gouvernail appear more mysterious—which, in turn, only makes him more alluring to the protagonist. Moreover, Gouvernail does nothing to deliberately provoke Mrs. Baroda, so her feelings for him—while triggered by his presence—are entirely her own.

“‘Your husband told me to bring this to you, Mrs. Baroda,’ he said, handing her a filmy, white scarf which she sometimes enveloped her head and shoulders. She accepted the scarf from him with a murmur of thanks, and let it lie in her lap.”

The white scarf sent by her husband symbolizes Mrs. Baroda’s status as his wife. However, the fact that she lays the scarf in her lap instead of donning it indicates her uncertainty, or at least her ambivalence, about that role.

“Night of south winds—night of the large few stars! Still nodding night—”

Gouvernail’s Whitman reference adds to his Romantic characterization. The poem in question is from the 1855 collection Leaves of Grass, which is famously erotic—so much so that it stirred controversy in the late 19th century—so this characterization is particularly trenchant. The reference to a real-world author also adds verisimilitude to the text.

“Gouvernail was in no sense a diffident man, for he was not a self-conscious one. His periods of reserve were not constitutional, but the result of moods.”

Gouvernail is somewhat unknowable to Mrs. Baroda (and to the reader) throughout this story. However, his retreat to the sugar plantation seems a particularly introspective time for him. Gaston also points out that their visitor is there because he has been overworked and is tired. These small details add depth to his character, indicating that there is more to him than what is shown in the story.

“Her mind only vaguely grasped what he was saying. Her physical being was for the moment predominant. She was not thinking of his words, only drinking in the tones of his voice.”

Mrs. Baroda’s sensible, analytical side—which has been dominant throughout the story—retreats. Her transition to a more physical, desirous state is the story’s climax.

“She wanted to draw close to him and whisper against his cheek—she did not care what—as she might have done if she had not been a respectable woman.”

Even though Mrs. Baroda is aware of the intensity of her physical urges, her sense of duty prevails and allows her to stop before she acts. Her restraint reflects her chosen identity (“respectable”) at this point in the story.

“The stronger the impulse grew to bring herself near him, the further, in fact, did she draw away from him.”

Leading up to this scene, there has been a rising tension, which culminates in Mrs. Baroda recognizing her physical attraction to Gouvernail. Now, as she purposefully pulls away from him, that tension becomes more dynamic, showing the strength of both her desire and her self-control.

“Before she reached the house, Gouvernail had lighted a fresh cigar and ended his apostrophe to the night.”

Even during Mrs. Baroda’s surge of feelings for him, Gouvernail speaks less to her than to the night air. In fact, he seems completely unaware of her experience. Even when Mrs. Baroda gets up to leave, he continues to talk and smoke his cigar. This further emphasizes that her desire is completely unprompted by the visitor’s behavior.

“There was some talk of having him back during the summer that followed. That is, Gaston greatly desired it; but this desire yielded to his wife’s strenuous opposition. However, before the year ended, she proposed, wholly from herself, to have Gouvernail visit them again.”

The passage of time and Mrs. Baroda’s shifting demeanor adds interest to the ambiguous ending. She initially stayed true to her “respectable” identity by removing herself from temptation until Gouvernail left, and her resistance to his return consists with this choice. Her change of mind may suggest that she wants the chance to prove her own sense of duty to herself. However, it also invites the possibility that she has changed her mind about her course of action.