The titular bell in “The Lady’s Maid’s Bell” symbolizes the relationship between the working class, represented by Hartley and the Brymptons’ other servants, and the aristocracy, represented by Mr. and Mrs. Brympton. Ordinarily, the bell would symbolize the element of coercion that exists in even the friendliest relationships between “servant” and “master,” to use the terminology of the Victorian era in which the story is set: when the bell rings, the servant must respond, no matter what time of day it is. Hartley experiences this force vividly when she is awoken by the ringing of the bell in the middle of the night: “I jumped awake to the furious ringing of my bell.” However, the function of the bell in “The Lady’s Maid’s Bell” is more complex, since it also symbolizes the special relationship between Mrs. Brympton and Emma Saxon, her former lady’s maid who now haunts the house. This relationship, which was exceptionally loving and, indeed, sister-like, has continued after Emma Saxon’s death, causing a breakdown in the “natural order” that separates the living from the dead and the servant from the master. In fact, possession of the bell has passed to Emma Saxon herself, who uses it, unsuccessfully, to summon Hartley to save Mrs. Brympton, suggesting that the old class hierarchy is no longer in effect. This role reversal is amplified by the story’s conclusion, in which the upper-class characters are dead or disgraced and the servants return to the house alone—perhaps even to run it themselves.
The Bell Quotes in The Lady Maid’s Bell
The rain had begun again, and the drip, drip, drip seemed to be dropping into my brain. I lay awake listening to it, and turning over what my friend in town had said. What puzzled me was that it was always the maids who left...
After a while I slept; but suddenly a loud noise wakened me. My bell had rung.
The Bell Symbol Timeline in The Lady Maid’s Bell
