The Rainbow: Chapter 16: The Rainbow Summary & Analysis

Ursula returns to Beldover in a state of emotional numbness after ending her engagement with Anton. She feels detached from everything, moving through her days without energy or purpose. Her family notices her distant behavior and questions her about the broken engagement, but Ursula finds it hard to care. Weeks pass in a haze, her apathy deepening. Even the news that Anton has likely sailed to India doesn’t stir much in her. She feels like a shell of her former self, her vitality drained, as though she has been frozen in time.

Suddenly, a shock runs through her body, as though a dormant part of her has been awakened. Ursula realizes that she might be pregnant. At first, the possibility makes her feel alive again. But as the initial shock fades, a heavy sense of dread settles in. She wonders what it would mean to bring a child into the world, especially now, with her life in such turmoil. The idea of being tied to Anton through a child fills her with conflicting emotions. While her flesh thrills at the idea of motherhood, her soul feels sick. She worries that having a child will trap her in a life that she does not want.

As these thoughts weigh on her, Ursula begins to reconsider her previous rejection of domestic life. She starts to think that perhaps she had been wrong, that her desire for independence and self-fulfillment was unrealistic. Maybe she had been foolish to think she could live a different life than Anna, who accepts her role as a wife and mother with quiet dignity. Ursula decides that she could live a simple life with Anton, raising their child together. She convinces herself that she can give up her yearning for more and settle into the traditional role of a wife. With a sense of humility, Ursula writes a letter to Anton, apologizing for her behavior and offering to marry him. She promises to be a dutiful wife and mother, letting go of her fantasies of independence.

After posting the letter, Ursula feels an unnatural sense of calm, as if her fate is sealed. She is sure Anton will accept her proposal, and she begins to prepare for their future together. However, as the days pass without a response, a growing restlessness begins to stir within her. She feels a tumult building, a sense of impending change that she cannot control. Her previous sense of peace begins to dissolve, and she becomes increasingly anxious. The more time passes, the more she begins to doubt the path she has chosen.

One afternoon, unable to bear the stifling atmosphere of the house, Ursula leaves and walks into the rain, heading into the woods. As she walks, she feels a strange sense of freedom in the privacy and chaos of the rain. The landscape around her is drenched, but she welcomes the solitude and the wildness of the weather. As she approaches the wood, Ursula senses something strange and powerful lurking nearby. A small herd of wild horses is moving through the trees, their presence pressing on her even though she cannot see them. Ursula’s heart begins to race as the horses move closer, blocking her path.

The horses surround Ursula as she reaches a hedgerow. Although she tries to remain calm, fear overwhelms her. The animals are massive and powerful, making their movements feel oppressive. Desperate to escape, Ursula scrambles up a nearby oak tree. She manages to climb a few feet before losing her grip and falling hard to the ground on the other side of the hedge. Winded and aching, she seizes the moment to flee, running across a field as fast as she can. She climbs a fence and turns to watch the horses from afar, her body still trembling from the encounter. Exhausted but relieved, she begins the long walk home.

Shortly after the incident with the horses, Ursula falls ill. For two weeks, she is bedridden with a fever, her body weak and wracked with pain. She feels trapped, not just by her body but by the expectations of the world around her. She repeats to herself that she belongs to no one—not her parents, not Anton, not anyone. She yearns to break free from these bonds, to escape from the life that has been mapped out for her, but she feels pinned down. In her fevered state, she begins to view her connection to Anton as something false, a bond that no longer has any real meaning. The more she thinks about it, the more she realizes that her tie to Anton is rooted in the idea of the child. It’s the possibility of the child that binds her to him, not any genuine love for him.

Eventually, Ursula begins to recover from her illness, and with her recovery comes a new clarity. She realizes that she is not pregnant, and even if she had been, she knows now that she could have raised the child on her own, without Anton. He is a figure of her past, a part of her life that no longer holds power over her. As her strength returns, she receives a telegram from Anton, informing her that he has married someone else. The news stirs a brief flicker of pain, but Ursula quickly realizes that it doesn’t matter. Anton, like so many other aspects of her old life, belongs to the past. He is no longer relevant to her future.

After receiving the telegram, Ursula steps outside to observe the world around her. She watches the coal miners working in the rain, their bodies moving mechanically through the bleak, gray landscape. As she contemplates the drabness of her surroundings, she notices something extraordinary. A rainbow begins to form in the sky, its colors vivid and alive against the backdrop of rain and clouds. As Ursula watches the rainbow stretch across the horizon, she feels a renewed sense of hope. In this moment, Ursula understands that despite the darkness and the constraints of the world around her, there is still beauty and hope to be found. The rainbow gives her a glimpse of a different world, one that is yet to come, and she feels herself drawn toward it with a sense of purpose and clarity.