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Geoffrey Clifton’s wife and the English patient’s lover. After Katharine and Geoffrey are married, she goes with him to Cairo when he is hired to be part of the English’s patient’s desert exploration team. Katharine falls in love with the desert and begins to “discover herself” there, which, the English patient says, is “painful to watch” because Geoffrey is completely oblivious to it. Without realizing it, Katharine falls in love with the English patient, whom she knows as the Hungarian explorer László Almásy, and they soon begin an affair. Katharine’s love and attraction for Almásy is closely related to violence in the novel, and it frequently manifests as physical abuse throughout their affair. Despite her deep love for Almásy, however, Katharine feels incredibly guilty and, fearing Geoffrey will “go mad” if he discovers her infidelity, breaks off her relationship with Almásy. Without Katharine, Almásy grows bitter and begins to treat her badly, which tips Geoffrey off to their affair after the fact. Katharine is seriously injured in Geoffrey’s murder-suicide attempt in the Gilf Kebir, and Almásy is unable to carry her out of the desert. Almásy leaves Katharine in the Cave of Swimmers and goes for help, but he is detained by the British military in El Taj, and Katharine dies waiting. Years later, Almásy finally makes it back to Katharine, and after having sex with her dead body, loads her corpse into Madox’s plane. However, the old, decrepit plane ignites in midair, and Almásy is forced to eject his flaming body, leaving Katharine to burn with the plane. The character of Katharine Clifton and her intense relationship with László Almásy underscore Ondaatje’s primary argument that love has the power to transcend anything, including marriage, distance, and even death.
Katharine Clifton Quotes in The English Patient
The The English Patient quotes below are all either spoken by Katharine Clifton or refer to Katharine Clifton. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter V
Quotes
She picks up a cushion and places it onto her lap as a shield against him. “If you make love to me I won’t lie about it. If I make love to you I won’t lie about it.”
She moves the cushion against her heart, as if she would suffocate that part of herself which has broken free.
“What do you hate most?” he asks.
“A lie. And you?”
“Ownership,” he says. “When you leave me, forget me.”
Her fist swings towards him and hits hard into the bone just below his eye. She dresses and leaves.
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Chapter IX
Quotes
She had always wanted words, she loved them, grew up on them. Words gave her clarity, brought reason, shape. Whereas I thought words bent emotions like sticks in water. She returned to her husband.
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We die containing a richness of lovers and tribes, tastes we have swallowed, bodies we have plunged into and swum up as if rivers of wisdom, characters we have climbed into as if trees, fears we have hidden in as if caves. I wish for all this to be marked on my body when I am dead. I believe in such cartography— to be marked by nature, not just to label ourselves on a map like the names of rich men and women on buildings. We are communal histories, communal books.
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Katharine Clifton Quotes in The English Patient
The The English Patient quotes below are all either spoken by Katharine Clifton or refer to Katharine Clifton. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter V
Quotes
She picks up a cushion and places it onto her lap as a shield against him. “If you make love to me I won’t lie about it. If I make love to you I won’t lie about it.”
She moves the cushion against her heart, as if she would suffocate that part of herself which has broken free.
“What do you hate most?” he asks.
“A lie. And you?”
“Ownership,” he says. “When you leave me, forget me.”
Her fist swings towards him and hits hard into the bone just below his eye. She dresses and leaves.
Related Characters:
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter IX
Quotes
She had always wanted words, she loved them, grew up on them. Words gave her clarity, brought reason, shape. Whereas I thought words bent emotions like sticks in water. She returned to her husband.
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Explanation and Analysis:
We die containing a richness of lovers and tribes, tastes we have swallowed, bodies we have plunged into and swum up as if rivers of wisdom, characters we have climbed into as if trees, fears we have hidden in as if caves. I wish for all this to be marked on my body when I am dead. I believe in such cartography— to be marked by nature, not just to label ourselves on a map like the names of rich men and women on buildings. We are communal histories, communal books.
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