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Chapter 5
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Fever 1793, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Freedom and Independence
Mothers, Daughters, and Familial Love
Disaster and Human Nature
Ingenuity, Ambition, and Survival
Summary
Analysis
A week later, the heat is still relentless. Mattie washes clothes and wishes for frost. Grandfather prefers the warmth, saying the thought of frost makes his bones ache. When Mattie recalls skating with the Peales last winter, Grandfather mentions a rumor of Nathaniel’s “improper” behavior toward her in the market. Mattie protests that Nathaniel was a gentleman. Grandfather grumbles that Nathaniel won’t amount to much as a painter’s apprentice.
Mattie’s longing for frost foreshadows the much greater longing she’ll feel after she falls victim to the epidemic. Grandfather doesn’t think much of Nathaniel’s prospects as a painter, even though his own son was a craftsman before he died. This suggests that painting wasn’t yet regarded as a particularly respectable ambition in the young republic. However, the Peale family—a real, historical family—was to become famous for their portrait-painting.
Themes
Mattie refuses to discuss Nathaniel any further, and Grandfather agreeably helps her hang the washing. When Eliza comes by, Grandfather jokes that Mattie’s mother has reduced “the hero of Trenton and Germantown […] to a simple errand boy” by sending him out for coffee beans. He adds that sometimes he’d rather face the British than Lucille. They all watch as Mattie’s cat, Silas, chases a squirrel and jumps onto Mattie’s clean laundry, causing the clotheshorse to collapse. Eliza and Grandfather laugh.
Despite his grumbling and his self-importance (Trenton and Germantown were both pivotal Revolutionary War battles), Grandfather is a humorous, good-natured man. At this point in the story, everyday life continues as normal, and daily routines are disrupted by nothing more threatening than a wayward cat—in contrast to the far scarier threats to come.
Themes
By the time Mattie re-washes the linens, it’s time for the midday meal. Grandfather is discussing the windfall caused by the fever—customers are avoiding establishments by the river and flocking to the Cook Coffeehouse instead. Grandfather thinks they should open a regular store. Mattie has her own ideas. She thinks they should buy another coffee urn, expand into the adjacent lot, and open a meeting room. They could even sell paintings and “fripperies” from France.
Grandfather still views the fever as a positive development for the family business, as it’s mostly served to send new business their way. Mattie is even more ambitious. Though she’s only 14, she’s obviously watched her mother’s business closely and observed what’s likely to bring in more customers. She shows an aptitude for thinking outside the usual boxes.
Themes
Mother says talk of expansion is pointless; only fear of the fever is driving customers their way. Grandfather points out that this happens every August. This year it’s because of “those cursed refugees” from Barbados. Mother is unconvinced; the fever, and the increased profits, will pass. Mattie silently agrees with Grandfather, wondering how much their neighbor, Watson, would sell his lot for.
Even Grandfather has a negative attitude toward outsiders, as his comments about the refugees show. None of them grasp just how consequential this particular fever will be for their family or for Philadelphia as a whole.
Themes
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A messenger comes to the door. Grandfather brings a note from Pernilla Ogilvie, which Mother hastily snatches. Pernilla has invited them for afternoon tea, which Lucille calls “the best news in weeks.” Mattie is reluctant; the Ogilvies are snobs, including their “young Edward,” whom Mother is eyeing as a potential match for Mattie. Grandfather, hoping for a quiet afternoon free of Lucille, coaxes Mattie to think of the chores she’ll escape and the pastries she’ll eat at the Ogilvies’. Mattie, irritated that both Grandfather and Mother have won, relents with a dull “Huzzah.”
Though Mattie just sees Mother’s marital ambitions for her as intrusive and unwelcome, Lucille feels the pressure to secure a strong future for her daughter. Mindful of her own widowed status and her estrangement from her family because of her elopement, she wants something better for Mattie.
Themes
Mother unearths an “unfashionable” post-War gown from the depths of her trunk. Then she lets the seams out of Mattie’s only fancy gown. Mattie whimpers and sulks as Eliza brushes her hair. Mother says that with Mattie’s manners, it could take years to find her a suitable husband. When Eliza laces Mattie into her clothes, Mattie sees spots and can barely breathe. Grandfather says see looks “like a china doll”; Mattie retorts that she “will break just as easily.”
The Ogilvies are in a higher social class than the Cooks, and trying to pass as suitable company for them takes considerable effort. Again, Mattie resents the necessity and sees her mother’s efforts as an affront to her own desire for independence.
Themes
