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Summary
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Collector, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Power and Control
Class and Snobbery
Painting vs. Photography
Gender Roles
Summary
Analysis
Frederick Clegg, a young man who works in the city clerk’s office, describes stalking a young woman named Miranda. He recalls seeing her go out with young men, which he does not like. Whenever Clegg sees Miranda go somewhere, he makes a note of it in his journal. Clegg is an amateur entomologist (entomology is the study of insects) and the journal he uses to track Miranda is the same one he uses to record his entomological findings. Clegg’s obsession dates back to when they were both minors, as he recalls watching Miranda whenever she came home from boarding school.
Clegg’s use of his entomology journal indicates that he sees Miranda as a sort of specimen to be studied rather than as another human being. Based on Clegg’s description, it seems that their relationship is entirely one-sided, as Miranda is unaware of Clegg’s obsession with her. Additionally, this opening section reveals important details about the class of each character, which becomes increasingly important as the novel continues. The fact that Miranda goes to boarding school indicates that she comes from a richer family than Clegg.
Themes
For the most part, Clegg only sees Miranda from afar, though one time they took the same train together, and he could watch her for over a half hour. For some time, Clegg does not see Miranda because she moves to London to study art. Clegg often has dreams about Miranda where he imagines them living together happily. However, sometimes, on the occasions where he saw Miranda alone with other young men, he would dream about hitting her.
Clegg narrates the entire first part of the novel and describes his behavior in a matter of fact manner. He does not see anything wrong with what he is doing and generally lacks self-awareness. For instance, he recognizes that he feels jealous when he sees Miranda with other men. However, he does not connect his jealousy with the violence he inflicts upon Miranda in his dreams.
Themes
Clegg is born in 1935 and his father dies in a drunk driving accident when he is two. His mother—who may or may not be a sex worker—leaves him with his Aunt Annie and Uncle Dick, and they raise him. Aunt Annie and Uncle Dick also have a daughter, Mabel, who Clegg grows up with. Clegg is particularly fond of Uncle Dick because he shares Clegg’s interest in entomology. However, Uncle Dick dies from a stroke when Clegg is 15.
Without being too specific, the novel suggests that Clegg’s tumultuous and traumatic childhood is partially to blame for his maladjusted behavior as an adult. In particular, the possibility that his mother was a sex worker is something that bothers Clegg, who seems particularly troubled when it comes to women and sex.
Themes
At age 21, Clegg, who works as a city clerk, starts gambling and eventually wins over 70,000 pounds. After winning the money, Clegg moves himself, Aunt Annie, and Mabel to London. In London, he occasionally spots Miranda, but he does not start stalking her again right away. Although Clegg has money now, he notices that other wealthy people do not treat him with respect. One night, in particular, Clegg goes out to a nice restaurant and cannot even enjoy the food because he feels everyone in the room looking down on him.
At least in the way he tells it, Clegg does not move to London explicitly to continue stalking Miranda, though that is what ends up happening. Rather, his justification for moving is that London is a place where wealthy people live, just as going out to nice restaurants is something wealthy people do. Clegg has a certain idea of what it means to be wealthy, but he does not know how to fit in with the upper class, as his restaurant experience demonstrates.
Themes
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Shortly after Clegg’s experience at the restaurant, he decides to see a sex worker because he has never been with a woman before. Clegg despises the woman he meets, claiming she is “old” and “common,” but he has sex with her anyway. He thinks he was “no good” during the interaction, but also claims he barely tried. Throughout his life, Clegg feels like he has never been pushy with women like some men he knows. He is not an attractive man and envies men who find it easy to attract women.
Here, Clegg’s uneasiness and perhaps even disgust with sex is on full display. Throughout the interaction, he places blame for his disgust on the female sex worker rather than himself. In general, Clegg likes to point the finger at others for his own problems, which makes him feel better about himself. Additionally, this is the first of many times that he will say that he treats women much better than most men—a claim that will become increasingly more absurd as the novel progresses.
Themes
While Aunt Annie and Mabel are away on a trip to Australia, Clegg decides to start stalking Miranda again. He has recently bought a van with a bed in the back and a new camera because he wants to travel around the country and photograph insects. Clegg takes the van to the Slade School of Art, where Miranda is studying, and waits outside for over a day until he sees her. When Clegg spots her, she is walking with a number of other young men.
Unlike Clegg, who finds himself alone in a van and engaging in exceptionally abnormal behavior, Miranda appears to have a normal social life. The number of young men surrounding Miranda indicates that she has no problem attracting male attention, making her seem unreachable from Clegg’s perspective.
Themes
Miranda and the young men walk into a coffee-bar and Clegg follows them inside. Clegg sits down and, as Miranda is waiting in line, she moves just inches away from Clegg, which excites him. As Clegg observes Miranda, he notices her classy behavior; she is polite and never talks down to people. Clegg imagines kidnapping Miranda and holding her captive until she falls in love with him. He is convinced that she would come to love him once she got to know him better.
Clegg expresses a great deal of resentment toward the upper classes because he believes they look down on him. In part, his attraction to Miranda is based on the fact that she is upper class but lacks the typical upper class snobbery. Also, the more time Clegg spends around Miranda, the wilder his imagination starts to run, and he appears increasingly more delusional.
Themes
One day, not long after he follows Miranda into the coffee shop, Clegg is reading a newspaper and sees an advertisement for a remote home for sale outside of London. Clegg calls the estate agent and then goes to look at the property. Although the property is old, it is fitted with modern technology and looks perfectly suitable to live in. Additionally, the house has an extensive cellar, which Clegg finds appealing, though it is unfinished. Clegg walks around the cellar and, upon coming back upstairs, he feels that the cellar and the rest of the home are like two different worlds. Clegg decides to buy the home on the spot, which surprises the real estate agent, who assumed Clegg could not afford it.
Here, it becomes obvious that Clegg is intending to kidnap Miranda, whether he consciously realizes it or not. The features he finds appealing about the house are the same features that would make it a good place to hold someone hostage. Additionally, the real estate agent’s reaction is yet another example of the class prejudice that persists everywhere in English society. Although Clegg is an extreme example, the novel uses his experience to make a point about how the class system excludes and alienates vulnerable people (or, at least, those who appear to be vulnerable).
Themes
Clegg ends up paying more than the asking price for the home. The various tradesmen he hires to spruce the place up also fleece him. He writes to Aunt Annie to tell her about his new purchase but lies about what he paid for it. Clegg moves into the home in August and deliberately alienates himself from his neighbors, all of whom live miles away anyway. After moving in, Clegg begins remodeling the cellar, making it a comfortable place to live. Additionally, he makes sure it is soundproof, stocks it with art books, and installs a burglar alarm. Once the room is finished, he sits in it and thinks about all the possible ways someone might try to escape. Whenever he thinks of something, he makes the necessary adjustment.
Everyone takes advantage of Clegg because they view him as an easy target from whom they can extract money. Clegg realizes he is being irresponsible with his money, which is why he does not disclose the details to Aunt Annie. As Clegg remodels the cellar, he still does not explicitly say why he is doing it, though it is clear he intends to kidnap Miranda and put her there. This is typical of Clegg; he seems as though he does not fully understand his own intentions.
Themes
Once the cellar is ready, Clegg begins stalking Miranda again. He finds out where she lives, how she gets home, and makes notes about her daily schedule. One night, Miranda is forced to go home later than normal because it is raining outside. Realizing this might be his chance, Clegg drives to an isolated spot he knows Miranda will have to walk by. When he sees her coming up the road, Clegg gets out of his car and waves her down. Then, he lies, claiming he accidentally ran over a dog, and asks for her help. When Miranda walks over to his van to look, Clegg chloroforms her and throws her in the back.
At this point, Clegg explicitly begins formulating his plan. Once again, he does not ascribe any moral judgment to what he is doing. Rather, he seems to genuinely believe he can make Miranda fall in love with him by kidnapping her. The kidnapping scene is a highly influential moment that authors of psychological thrillers still imitate. In it, the predator (Clegg) takes advantage of his prey (Miranda) by playing on her sympathies. Because Miranda is a conscientious person, she falls victim to Clegg’s trap.
Themes
Clegg drives Miranda out into the country and then gets into the back of the van to check on her. He offers to take the gag off but warns her there is no use screaming because they are miles away from civilization. Miranda nods her head in understanding. As soon as Clegg takes the gag off, Miranda immediately vomits. Surprised and concerned, Clegg puts the gag back in Miranda’s mouth and then takes her to his new home.
Already, Clegg’s plan is far less romantic than he envisioned. Aside from the fact that he’s kidnapped her, his first chance to speak with his love begins and ends with her puking. Clegg did not expect this reaction, and he quickly realizes that he needs to get Miranda to a controlled environment as quickly as possible.
Themes
They do not arrive until 10 p.m. Clegg carries Miranda into the cellar. She struggles a bit but is too small for Clegg to worry. Clegg promises to come check on her the following morning and then unties her hands, allowing her to take the gag out of her mouth. As he leaves, he hears her yelling for him to come back, though her voice is faint because he has soundproofed the room.
Throughout the novel, the physical difference between Clegg and Miranda is a boon for Clegg and a real problem for Miranda. Because Clegg is so much bigger than Miranda, it makes it easy for him to physically manipulate her and keep her under his control.
Themes
When Clegg checks on Miranda the following morning, she demands to know what is going on. Clegg lies and says he kidnapped her on behalf of Mr. Singleton, the manager of the bank Miranda’s father uses. He claims to owe Mr. Singleton a lot of money, which is why he is working on Mr. Singleton’s behalf. Miranda knows Mr. Singleton’s daughter and does not understand why he would have her kidnapped. Clegg claims he does not know any further details and insists that he was not even supposed to say as much as he has already.
The reliability of Clegg’s narration is difficult to pin down because it is not clear who he is telling his story to. Largely, he seems to be recalling his life story to himself, meaning he is not being deliberately unreliable. However, sections like these call Clegg’s narration into question because he appears to be far more socially aware than he lets on. He makes up the lie about Mr. Singleton because he knows his behavior is abnormal and that Miranda would not accept him if he came out and told her the truth (that he kidnapped her because he’s obsessed with her) right away.
Themes
To Clegg’s dismay, Miranda recognizes him because she saw his picture in the newspaper after he won his fortune. This is something Clegg did not plan on. Miranda also tells Clegg that she knows he is lying about Mr. Singleton because Clegg already has a lot of money and would not owe Mr. Singleton a debt. Clegg tries to alter his story, but it is already too late. Miranda asks Clegg if he brought her to Mr. Singleton’s home in Suffolk. Clegg says that he has. In response, Miranda says that Mr. Singleton does not have a home in Suffolk, making Clegg realize he has been caught.
Miranda quickly demonstrates that she is far cleverer than Clegg was prepared for. Not only does she vaguely know who he is, but she quickly pokes holes in the plan he has been developing—unconsciously or not—for months. Largely, Clegg felt he could keep Miranda captive because he is physically more capable than her. However, he put less thought into the possibility of her being smarter than him.
Themes
For the rest of the day, Clegg tries to be polite to Miranda, and he brings her food. However, she does not speak to him again until the evening. After Miranda eats dinner, she tells Clegg that she knows Mr. Singleton did not order Clegg to kidnap her and then asks him again what he wants with her. When Clegg does not answer right away, Miranda asks him if his reasons for kidnapping her are sexually perverse. Clegg assures her they are not and then tells her what he sees as the truth: he wants her to be “his guest.” He also tells Miranda that he loves her and that his love for her has driven him mad. Miranda warns Clegg that she cannot love him as long as she is his prisoner. Afterwards, Clegg regrets admitting his love so quickly; he acted impulsively because Miranda’s questioning left him frazzled.
Miranda is frank in her conversations with Clegg when she does decide to speak to him. Notably, she is also in control of the conversations, even if she lacks control over her physical freedom. Clegg is not prepared for how Miranda speaks to him and ends up being more honest with her than he ever intended. In his own words, Clegg describes himself as a romantic figure, portraying his kidnapping of Miranda as the act of a man driven insane with love. However, both Miranda and the novel recognize that Clegg’s behavior is grotesque rather than romantic.
Themes
The following day at breakfast, Miranda demands that Clegg release her. Clegg says he cannot but promises he will not hold her for too long. Miranda asks Clegg for his first name. Clegg lies and says “Ferdinand.” Then, Miranda spends more time trying to convince Clegg to let her go, but to no avail. During their conversation, Clegg suggests that Miranda does not like him because he is from a lower class than her. Miranda assures Clegg this is not the case, but Clegg still feels like Miranda looks down on him for this reason whenever they speak.
Shakespeare’s The Tempest is an important intertext for The Collector. In The Tempest, Ferdinand is the name of a prince who falls in love with a woman named Miranda. Miranda and Ferdinand have a romantic relationship, and they end up married at the end of the play. Meanwhile, it seems unlikely that this Miranda and Clegg are headed for a similar ending. Additionally, this passage once again brings up Clegg’s class insecurity. Even in a situation where he ostensibly has all of the control, he expresses feelings of powerlessness because Miranda is of a higher social class.
Themes
Later the same day, Clegg drives to a local store and looks at the newspapers. There, he sees two articles describing Miranda’s disappearance. He thinks about how the papers have only picked up on the story because Miranda is a beautiful woman. He suspects if she were ugly, people would pay far less attention to the fact that she has gone missing.
Here, Clegg lets more of his insecurities show. He considers himself an unattractive person and is angry that the media only cares about attractive people. While Clegg’s point is somewhat overstated, the novel is making a comment on how the media is biased toward certain groups of people.
Themes
After dinner that night, Miranda asks Clegg to tell her about himself. Clegg explains his interest in entomology. Miranda suggests that Clegg has captured and pinned her, just as he would with one of his insects. She also expresses her general disapproval of entomology as a practice because she considers it unnecessarily violent and cruel. Clegg offers to give up entomology if it would make Miranda happy. Then, Miranda changes the subject, asking Clegg when he will let her go. When Clegg does not give a straightforward answer, Miranda tells him to go away and think about it.
Although much of how Clegg interacts with Miranda is calculated, his interest in entomology is genuine, which makes it especially painful when Miranda derides it. Miranda immediately sympathizes with the insects and demonstrates that she understands more about Clegg than he does about himself. Additionally, this is the first time Miranda expresses her distaste for violence of any kind—a position that will be called into question as the story continues.
Themes
The following morning, Miranda tricks Clegg into bending over and looking at something. When his back is turned, Miranda pushes him and then bolts upstairs. Clegg chases her down, puts his hand around her mouth so she cannot scream, and then drags her back to the cellar. Once she is back in the cellar, Clegg lets her go. In response, Miranda slaps him in the face and gives him a look of intense hatred. For the next few days, Miranda stops talking to Clegg and goes on a hunger strike.
Here, Miranda shows that she is willing to engage in some level of violence if it means escaping Clegg’s grasp. However, she quickly realizes that, although she may be smarter than Clegg, physically she is no match for him. She decides to starve herself because she knows it hurts Clegg. Despite what Clegg has told her, Miranda has no desire to make him happy. Instead, she seems to think her best chance of escape is making sure he does not like her.
Themes
To get Miranda to speak to him again, Clegg offers her a deal: if she will speak, eat, and promise not to escape, he will tell her when he plans to let her go. Miranda says she cannot promise she will not try to escape but agrees to the other two conditions. Then, Clegg promises to let her go one month from when he initially captured her. Miranda tells Clegg that she will behave, but she wants to be able to go upstairs for baths and to be let outside on occasion.
Even while making an agreement, neither party trusts the other. Miranda does what she can to continue getting more out of Clegg. For his part, it seems unlikely that Clegg is planning to let Miranda go. Clegg is aware enough to know that his number one priority is making sure Miranda stays put. Making her fall in love with him is secondary.
Themes
Clegg is worried that Miranda will try to escape but promises to think on it and let her know. He is eager to be able to show Miranda the rest of the house because he is proud of how nicely it is furnished. Miranda also makes Clegg a list of things she would like, including art supplies, music, and food. Clegg happily purchases these items for her, though he is careful not to frequent the same shops too many times, as he does not want people recognizing him and asking questions.
Because Clegg wants to impress Miranda, there is an odd power dynamic present in their relationship, as he allows her opinions to influence much of how he behaves. However, at the end of the day, Clegg still has the final say over everything Miranda does, and he does not intend to give her the one thing she truly wants: freedom. Instead, he hopes to be able to buy her love.
Themes
The next day, Clegg boards up the bathroom window, which is on the backside of the house, and makes sure he has removed everything from the upstairs Miranda could use as a possible weapon. Then, in the evening, he ties Miranda’s wrists, gags her, and brings her to the bath. There, he unties her hands, but asks that she keep the gag in her mouth. He tells her that he will sit outside the bathroom door and promises to respect her privacy. During her bath, Miranda takes the gag out of her mouth and doesn’t put it back in. When she sees Clegg, she tells him that she took the gag out because it was uncomfortable. Because Clegg looks concerned, Miranda says she would have already started screaming if that was her intention.
Here, Clegg feels like he is placing trust in Miranda, even though he takes every opportunity to ensure she cannot escape. For her part, Miranda continues to push Clegg’s boundaries in the hopes of expanding them, presumably to offer herself the chance to escape eventually. Miranda takes the gag out of her mouth not only because it is uncomfortable, but also to show Clegg that he can trust her. Coming upstairs for the first time is a big deal for Miranda and taking a bath helps her feel like a human being again.
Themes
Then, Miranda asks if she can look around the house, which Clegg reluctantly allows her to do. Immediately, Miranda begins insulting the décor, though she does compliment two pictures of butterflies, which Clegg says he picked out himself. Miranda particularly does not like some china she sees sitting on the fireplace mantel, so she picks them up and smashes them. She explains to Clegg that he is destroying the “soul” of his house by furnishing it so poorly.
Clegg is proud of how the house looks, which makes Miranda’s comments especially scathing. Clegg thought that by pouring a lot of money into the house, he would impress Miranda. However, money alone does not impress Miranda, who has had money all of her life. Rather, it is taste and aesthetic sensibility that she cares about. Still, her decision to destroy Clegg’s china seems extreme for someone who is trying to earn his trust.
Themes
Then, Miranda asks Clegg to show her his entomology collection, which she refers to as her “fellow-victims.” Eagerly, Clegg shows her a collection of butterflies. Miranda acknowledges that the collection is beautiful, but it makes her sad. Clegg also shows her some photographs he has taken, photography being another one of his hobbies. The photographs do not impress Miranda, who dislikes photography in general. She tells Clegg, “When you draw something it lives and when you photograph it it dies.” After a brief pause, Clegg asks Miranda if he can photograph her. Miranda says she will let him the following day.
As Miranda suggests, Clegg’s collection of butterflies highlights his obsession with control and demonstrates how he seeks to control beauty through violence. Like Miranda, the butterflies are beautiful and, also like Miranda, they are one of the few things in the house Clegg genuinely cares about. Additionally, Clegg’s desire to photograph Miranda foreshadows a bleak future for her, given that she associates photography with death.
Themes
As promised, Clegg takes several pictures of Miranda while she is reading. For her part, Miranda attempts to draw Clegg, though she rips up her work instead of letting him see it because she is dissatisfied. She tells Clegg that he is hard to capture in a drawing because she thinks of him more as an object than a person. During the drawing session, Clegg and Miranda have intimate conversations about philosophy and family. These conversations reveal that Miranda believes in God, but Clegg does not. Additionally, Miranda hates her mother, who she calls “a nasty ambitious middle-class bitch.” Then, Miranda changes the subject and asks Clegg if he is gay. Clegg blushes and says he is not. In response, Miranda tries out a different theory, suggesting that Clegg has an Oedipal complex. Again, Clegg shuts her down, saying he does not believe in Freud’s theories.
Here, drawing stands in opposition to photography because it captures life instead of foreshadowing death. However, Miranda struggles to draw Clegg because there is nothing about him that feels alive to her. Like the pictures Clegg takes, everything about him is cold and calculated. Additionally, Miranda’s conversations with Clegg reveal that she might be more like her mother than she realizes. She posits theories about Clegg that would have been popular with the “ambitious middle-class” of the time, such as Freudian psychology. The Oedipal complex is a psychoanalytic theory from Freud which posits that a child feels a subconscious sexual attraction to the opposite-sex parent and hostility toward the same-sex parent.
Themes
During a different drawing session a few days later, Miranda draws several pictures of fruit and asks Clegg which one is the best. Clegg points at one. Miranda shakes her head and says the one he pointed at is the worst. Miranda shows him the correct answer, and Clegg thinks it looks sloppy and incomplete. Seeing that Clegg is not understanding, Miranda shows him some paintings by Cézanne in an art book and tries to get him to understand what she is getting at with her drawing. In response, Clegg simply nods his head and says he likes everything she draws. Miranda looks at Clegg for a moment and then tells him his name should have been Caliban instead of Ferdinand.
Here, Miranda’s snobbishness begins to come out in full force. She thinks of her snobbishness as emanating from her status as an artist, but it is also representative of her class. Miranda’s artistic sensibilities match those of an educated, upper class person, and she dislikes Clegg because he does not share this background. Caliban is a deformed, savage creature in The Tempest. He has a hostile relationship with the play’s Miranda, whom he once tried to assault and whom he resents because her father, Prospero, rules over him. Miranda is suggesting that Clegg is similarly a jealous and savage man, who resents her because he feels powerless. Notably, Clegg does not understand the reference.
Themes
A night or two later, Clegg agrees to let Miranda walk around outside at night with his supervision because she begs him for fresh air. Clegg gags Miranda before letting her go outside. He revels in the moment of placing the gag in her mouth because he lightly touches her hair as he does so. As they walk together, Clegg thinks about taking Miranda in his arms and kissing her. Clegg tells her that he is very happy. Miranda, who is gagged, cannot respond.
The novel occasionally incorporates dark humor, which is present in this scene. Clegg thinks of this outing with Miranda as a happy moment, not seeming to realize that it is happy for him (and for him alone) because he has complete control over her, and she cannot talk to him. He also seems to overlook the fact that kissing Miranda is impossible, given that she has a gag in her mouth.
Themes
When they are back inside and Miranda can speak again, she asks Clegg if he wanted to kiss her while they were outside. Clegg, ashamed, promises her that he will not get that way again. Miranda tells Clegg that if those feelings do arise again, she wants him to promise her that he will never drug her to get what he wants. Clegg makes the promise and shakes Miranda’s hand.
Miranda worries that, even if Clegg does not consciously realize it, his desire for sex is driving everything he does. While Miranda’s theories may veer too far in the Freudian direction, she is certainly correct that sexual repression is part of what has driven Clegg to this point.
Themes
The next few days are largely uneventful, though Miranda is always looking for new ways to escape. One day, Miranda fakes appendicitis and asks Clegg to call a doctor. Clegg rushes out of the room and deliberately leaves the door open. Then, he sits and waits. As expected, Miranda quickly comes up the stairs, trying to make her escape. Clegg can tell by the way she is moving that she is not really sick. Realizing she is caught, Miranda walks back downstairs without saying a word.
Miranda’s escape attempts demonstrate that nothing Clegg does will make her want to stay with him. Although Miranda is crafty, Clegg is far cleverer than she gives him credit for, at least when it comes to keeping her under his control. When Miranda reaches the top of the stairs, she does not even attempt to put up a fight because she knows she will not win.
Themes
For the next several days, Miranda undergoes a rapid series of mood changes, which startle Clegg. Some days she is sweet and tries to teach him about art. Other days, she berates him, telling him that he mutilates the English language every time he speaks. Clegg decides that these rapid changes in mood are simply the result of Miranda being a woman and does not put any more thought into them.
Again, Miranda’s snobbery comes out when she gets angry with Clegg. She does not like to think of herself of snobbish, but it comes out quickly whenever she gets frustrated. Clegg’s notion that Miranda’s behavior is simply the result of her being a woman is absurd on its face and is a critique of a culture that often applies labels such as “hysterical” to women. Miranda’s mood changes are, more likely, due to the fact that she’s being held hostage.
Themes
One day, Miranda asks Clegg if she can send a letter to her parents to let them know she is alive and safe. Clegg lets her write the letter and promises to send it. However, when he checks the envelope Miranda put the letter in, he finds another small note hidden there. The note reveals the truth about what has happened to Miranda, and, in it, she calls Clegg a “madman.” Miranda expects Clegg will hurt her after discovering the note, but he just acts dejected instead. Clegg tells Miranda that he is not a madman because a madman would not treat her as well as he does. Miranda warns Clegg that the reason he scares her is because of something he does not realize is inside of him.
Clegg likes to insist that he is better than most men because he does not resort to violence whenever he grows upset. He seems to think it is natural that men are violent, just as he thinks it is natural that women are hysterical. He uses these crude gender roles to distinguish himself from the pack and to deflect criticism of his highly abnormal behavior. Miranda is trying to tell Clegg that he has a violent side even if he does not realize it. She wants him to see that keeping her prisoner is a kind of obsessive violence.
Themes
The following day, Miranda gives Clegg a list of rare and expensive items that she wants him to purchase, which will require him to travel to London. Clegg buys everything Miranda asks for and when he returns to the house, he sees that she has pried a few stones from the cellar wall. At this point, Clegg realizes that Miranda used the list to give herself time to escape. Clegg looks around in an attempt to figure out how Miranda got the stone out of the wall. Eventually, Miranda throws a small nail at Clegg without saying a word. Clegg wonders how she obtained it.
Every time Miranda tries to escape, she loses some of Clegg’s trust. Clegg leaves her alone in the cellar for extended periods of time because he trusts his security measures, not because he trusts Miranda. Still, her escape attempts are hurtful to him because each one affirms the fact that she does not want to be around him. In turn, it also reaffirms that he is committing a crime by keeping her hostage.
Themes
One night, after Miranda takes a bath, Clegg allows her to stay upstairs with him and read by the fire. After a while, Miranda asks Clegg to entertain her. When Clegg doesn’t do anything, Miranda stands up and begins smashing more of the china around the room. Clegg grabs her so she will stop. Then, Miranda offers to clean up the mess and asks Clegg to fetch a broom. Clegg insists that he will clean it up himself the following day. In response, Miranda tells Clegg that, despite his hatred of upper class snobbery, he is “the most perfect specimen of petite bourgeois squareness.” When Clegg says he does not know what she means, Miranda tells him that he is so worried about tradition and propriety that he never truly lives. She also claims that she hates herself for constantly talking down to Clegg but thinks his behavior warrants it.
Miranda smashes Clegg’s china to get a reaction out of him while simultaneously destroying something she finds aesthetically displeasing. Miranda wants Clegg to see that he is using his money to try to replicate a class of people he hates. Miranda speaks as if she is not one of these “petite bourgeois” people, though she certainly grew up as one. Miranda has replaced the idea of being superior because she has money with the notion that she is superior because of her aesthetic taste and lack of “squareness.” However, it is her financial superiority that allowed her these opportunities in the first place.
Themes
Leading up to the day Clegg told Miranda he would let her go, Miranda repeatedly talks about the fact that she will soon be free. Clegg knows he is not actually going to let Miranda go but does not want to tell her the truth. The night before Miranda is set to go free, she asks Clegg if they can have a party upstairs—just the two of them. Clegg agrees to a small celebration and offers to buy Miranda a nice dress to suit the occasion. Clegg travels to Brighton where he buys Miranda a dress, an expensive necklace, and a ring. He intends to use the ring to propose to Miranda, knowing she will say no. He plans to use her rejection as his excuse for not letting her go free.
Clegg knows he cannot keep his promise to free Miranda, both because he has not gotten what he wants out of Miranda and because he assumes she will immediately turn him in to the police. As such, he continues appealing to her the only way he knows how: money. For her part, it seems likely that Miranda knows Clegg will not let her go. However, using the opportunity to spend more time upstairs where she has a higher chance of escaping is better than nothing.
Themes
Clegg returns home, gives Miranda her dress, and then prepares himself for the evening. When Clegg sees Miranda in her new dress, her beauty makes him feel lightheaded. Then, he lets her go upstairs without being gagged or tied up, though he intends to watch her like a hawk. At dinner, Miranda is in the best mood Clegg has seen since she arrived at his home. She even laughs at some of his jokes. When Clegg gives Miranda the expensive necklace, she says she will wear it for the night, but she does not intend to keep it because it is far too expensive. Miranda asks Clegg to put the necklace on her and then kisses his cheek afterwards.
Miranda is on her best behavior because she wants to prove to Clegg that it would be okay for him to let her go. Although Clegg is too stunned by her beauty to notice, it seems unlikely that Miranda’s behaviors are genuine. She has never laughed at him before or desired to touch him in any way. She is also kind about the necklace and dress, though she usually hates everything Clegg buys except the items she specifically requests.
Themes
After dinner, Miranda asks Clegg if he will want to continue seeing her after he lets her go. Still playing along, Clegg says that he would. Miranda offers to spend time with him in London, though Clegg doubts she would actually want to. Abruptly, Clegg produces the ring he bought in Brighton and asks Miranda to marry him. Miranda tells Clegg that she cannot marry him, insisting that they are not compatible and saying that she does not love him. Miranda’s rejection sends Clegg into a rage. He tells her that she treats him like he is some sort of strange specimen rather than a human being. Additionally, he implies that he will not be setting her free.
Clegg’s accusation that Miranda treats him like a specimen is not unfounded. However, she is merely reciprocating his behavior, and for that matter, Miranda needs to study Clegg carefully to figure out how to escape him. Meanwhile, Clegg feels like he has to study Miranda carefully to make her fall in love with him. Thus far, both have been unsuccessful. Neither knows how to acknowledge the other’s humanity. Miranda has been dehumanized to the point where she cannot see her captor as human, while Clegg perhaps never could acknowledge her humanity in the first place.
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Outside, Clegg and Miranda hear a car somewhere nearby. When Clegg turns to look, Miranda kicks a log from the fire at him and tries to run away. She also screams loudly for help. Clegg grabs Miranda, forces his hand over her mouth, and chloroforms her. Then, he takes her back down to the cellar and looks outside to make sure no one saw anything. When he sees that the coast is clear, he returns to the cellar, strips Miranda out of her dress and takes pictures of her in her underwear. He feels that the pictures turn out nicely, describing them as “not artistic, but interesting.”
Finally, Clegg begins exhibiting the behavior Miranda expected from the start. He becomes physically abusive and ignores the sexual boundaries he promised to respect. Although Clegg’s pictures are sexually violating, he does not think of them as sexual in nature. “Interesting” is the only word he can use because he will not admit to whatever sexual repression is causing him to behave this way.
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Knowing Miranda will be angry with him, Clegg writes her a letter that he brings in with her breakfast. The letter is an apology for his use of force. In it, he lies and says he took her dress off because he did not want her to vomit on it. As Clegg expected, Miranda does not talk to him when he gives her the breakfast and the note. Miranda stops talking for several days and, when she does decide to speak again, she tells Clegg that she intends to kill him.
This moment marks a distinct turning point for Clegg and Miranda’s relationship. Previously, Miranda, as a pacifist, did not want to use violence toward Clegg. However, now that she knows he does not plan to let her go, she is abandoning this principle. Perhaps she is merely bluffing, but her anger is genuine because of the previous night’s events.
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After a few more days of tense interactions between Miranda and Clegg, Clegg agrees to let Miranda walk outside with him at night again. While outside, Miranda distracts Clegg and then hits him in the head with an axe that he left lying on the ground. However, she hits him with the blunt side of the axe and not enough to stun him for long. Clegg quickly manages to wrestle the weapon away from her and, once again, takes her back down to the cellar.
Here, Miranda partially keeps her word. She is willing to use violence against Clegg, but she will not kill him. Had she hit him with the sharp side of the axe, she could have saved herself. However, because she did not take this opportunity, she is left once again to face Clegg’s wrath.
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Clegg leaves Miranda bound and gagged in the cellar to teach her a lesson. Then, he goes upstairs to treat his wound. When Clegg checks on Miranda the following morning, she is kind to him. She asks to look at his wound and apologizes for hitting him. She also thanks him for not retaliating. Clegg accepts her apology and almost feels like the head wound was worth it if it means she will speak to him again.
For his part, Clegg is also losing his patience. He wants to punish Miranda to reassert the fact that he is in control, regardless of how she talks to him. Miranda, perhaps genuinely feeling bad, suddenly alters her behavior once again. Her apology immediately makes Clegg set their problems aside, temporarily assuring Miranda’s relative safety.
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A few days later, Miranda asks Clegg what she needs to do for him to set her free. However, he does not give her a straight answer. Then, Miranda offers to sleep with him in exchange for her freedom. Clegg insists that sex is not what he is after, even though he admits to finding her exceptionally attractive. Privately, he thinks he is a gentleman for how he is behaving with Miranda, thinking most men would have treated her far worse than he has.
Again, Clegg seems to think that he is a superior man because he has yet to resort to sexual assault. Miranda cannot imagine that Clegg is looking for anything other than sex, but he denies this and declines to give a straight answer as to what he does want. Because neither Clegg nor Miranda know how to deal with Clegg’s vague desires, they cannot devise a clear path forward.
Themes
A few nights later, Clegg lets Miranda have another bath. After the bath, she and Clegg share a bottle of sherry and Miranda kisses Clegg. Surprised, Clegg steps away from her for a moment to calm himself down. Miranda asks Clegg to come back and when he turns around, he sees she is naked. Then, Miranda does something that Clegg describes as “really shocking,” which leaves him feeling sick. Clegg implies that Miranda is performing some kind of sex act, though he is too proper to say exactly what she is doing. After some time, Miranda stops because Clegg cannot get an erection.
Clegg’s unwillingness to describe the sex act Miranda performs on him is yet another demonstration of his sexual repression. His mix of disgust and excitement shows that he is neither lying nor telling the truth when he talks to Miranda about sex. On some level, he is interested in her sexually. However, his sexual urges (and Miranda’s) also disgust him. Ultimately, his disgust prevails, as he is unable to perform sexually.
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Miranda tells Clegg that many men have similar problems and insists that he should not worry about it. Clegg lies and says that a psychiatrist told him that he is unable to have sex. Upset, Clegg implies that Miranda performed the sex act simply so she could try to escape again after. Miranda insists that, although she is always thinking of escape, she was also trying to show Clegg that sex is not as improper as he seems to think. She claims to have sacrificed all of her principles to teach him this lesson. For his part, Clegg is left feeling that Miranda is like every other woman he has ever met. Whatever attracted him to her initially is gone now.
This is the most important development in Miranda and Clegg’s relationship in the novel. At this point, both feel they have debased themselves for the sake of the other. As a result, the resentment between them grows. Clegg feels as though he no longer loves Miranda because she was willing to engage in sex. When Miranda hit him in the head with an axe, he was willing to forgive her; however, for him, trying to initiate sex is a bridge too far.
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The following day, Miranda tells Clegg that she plans to starve herself again unless he will renovate a room upstairs for her to live in. Clegg tells Miranda he will create a new space for her but warns her it will take time. However, he does not intend to actually do so. Instead, he begins to think about what he will do when Miranda realizes he is bluffing. In the meantime, he places some carpentry materials in one of the upstairs room to make Miranda think he is working there.
Miranda knows that the last card she has to play against Clegg is to threaten her own safety. As terrible as he has been to her, she is willing to gamble that he is not a murderer. Indeed, Clegg does not want to kill Miranda. However, he also needs to figure out what to do with her now that he has fallen out of love with her.
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After some time, Clegg tells Miranda that the new room is ready. However, he says he will not let her move up there until she allows him to take nude pictures of her. He implies that he plans to use the pictures as blackmail should Miranda ever escape him. He says the pictures do not need to be obscene. Instead, he wants “art-photographs” that Miranda would not want published. Miranda immediately grows furious and screams at Clegg to leave her alone. Clegg does as she asks and finds himself feeling happy. He thinks he is getting revenge for all of the terrible things he feels Miranda has done to him.
Clegg is willing to engage with female sexuality, but only on his own terms. He thinks it is appropriate to strip Miranda and take nude pictures of her when he is the one in control of the situation. While he would not have made such a request of her previously, he does not mind now that he is not in love with Miranda. Meanwhile, Miranda grows increasingly frustrated both because she feels violated and because she does not know how to get what she wants out of Clegg anymore.
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The next morning, Clegg visits Miranda in the cellar and sees that she has a nasty cough. He gives her breakfast and cold medicine and then leaves because she will not speak to him. At lunch, Miranda, who is still sick, tells Clegg that she wishes she was strong enough to kill him. In response, Clegg says that he is the boss and threatens to stop attending to Miranda altogether, effectively leaving her to die.
The decline of Clegg’s relationship with Miranda coincides with Miranda falling ill. Even though Miranda knows she needs Clegg to survive, she cannot bring herself to behave the way he wants her to. At this point, it is unclear how Clegg would respond anyway.
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By dinner, Miranda thinks she has the flu, though Clegg assures her it is just a cold. When Miranda protests, Clegg states that he thinks she is simply acting again so he will let his guard down. Miranda says that she wishes Clegg were a real man so he would take care of her. Her words incense Clegg, who stands up and says he is going to teach Miranda a lesson. Then, he binds her wrists and gags her before stripping her naked and taking photographs.
Miranda has already faked being ill, though her prolonged symptoms suggest she is not lying this time. Meanwhile, Clegg finally snaps because Miranda calls his manhood into question. To prove himself, Clegg commits his most despicable act yet, once again proving that he can only handle female sexuality if he feels it is under his control.
Themes
The next day, when Clegg goes to check on Miranda, it seems that she genuinely is quite sick. Her temperature is at 102 degrees, and she says she is having trouble breathing. She asks that Clegg take her out of the cellar so she can get some fresh air. Even though Clegg thinks she is probably telling the truth, he refuses to let her out of the cellar. Desperate, Miranda asks Clegg to sit with her and leave the door to the cellar open for fresh air. Clegg does as she asks but shuts the door and leaves as soon as she falls asleep. Despite Miranda’s condition, Clegg feels justified in everything that he has done up to this point.
Here, it becomes clear that Miranda is not lying and is perhaps in genuine danger of dying. In part, her illness is likely that result of her living conditions, though Clegg does not take any responsibility for it. In fact, Clegg does not take responsibility for anything because he always finds a way to point the finger elsewhere. Additionally, because he does not love Miranda like he once did, he is less inclined to take care of her or trust her.
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