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Chapter 6
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in That Hideous Strength, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Obedience, Exclusivity, and Humility
Modernization vs. Tradition
Divine Conflict
Deception and Confusion
Gender and Marriage
Summary
Analysis
Mrs. Maggs, Camilla, and Denniston bring Jane to Miss Ironwood, who helps Jane identify the man she’s been dreaming of as Augustus Frost. Jane agrees to meet Mr. Fisher-King, and she is startled when he appears to be a boy of about 20 years old. He is clearly in great pain, yet he is visibly strong, and he makes Jane think of kings from myth and legend. Fisher-King thanks Jane for the information she has given his organization, but he is reluctant to allow her to join because her husband is in the N.I.C.E.
Mr. Fisher-King’s name evokes the Fisher King from Arthurian legend, and his appearance gives Jane the impression of kings from across different mythologies and religions. The chapter title “Pendragon” also alludes to King Arthur’s bloodline. Fisher-King has a regal presence that reflects an ancient tradition of kingly behavior and bearing.
Themes
Fisher-King suggests Jane encourage Mark to leave the N.I.C.E. without revealing to him the true stakes of the matter. Jane believes that her and Mark’s relationship is too strained for that to work, but Fisher-King insists that he must adhere to the views of his “Masters” when it comes to marriage. He explains that obedience and humility, not equality, are the most important parts of marriage. Jane goes home, so conflicted over Mr. Fisher-King’s advice that she feels as if multiple versions of herself are arguing with each other. Despite her confusion, she feels a sense of joy from meeting Mr. Fisher-King.
Jane experiences a different kind of confusion than Mark does at the N.I.C.E. Jane’s confusion comes from confronting the divine truth that Mr. Fisher-King represents, while Mark’s confusion comes from being surrounded by lies. That divine truth emphasizes the importance of obedience and humility, in contrast to Mark and Jane’s shared flaw of pride. The importance placed on a wife obeying her husband reflects sexist ideals, though it also mirrors the way the book suggests that people of any gender should humble themselves before God.
Themes
On her way home, Jane is caught up in the N.I.C.E.’s riot. She encounters Miss Hardcastle, who arrests her. Miss Hardcastle threatens Jane with sexual violence and presses her to reveal where she has been. Miss Hardcastle and her policewomen (nicknamed “the Waips”) transport a battered and exhausted Jane until Jane falls unconscious. She wakes on a train and tells a concerned passenger that her home is St. Anne’s.
For all Jane tries to distance herself from femininity, she is still a more traditional model of womanhood than Miss Hardcastle, who is an unfortunately offensive caricature of a mannish woman who derives pleasure from torturing more traditionally feminine women. Though the novel challenges some gender roles in Jane’s character, it ultimately condemns nontraditional femininity by linking Miss Hardcastle’s gender expression to her villainy.
Themes
