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Chapter 6: Anna Victrix
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Rainbow, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Search for Meaning
Love and Sexuality
Gender Roles
Religion and Spirituality
Industrialization and Modernity
Summary
Analysis
During the first year of their marriage, before Ursula’s birth, Anna and Will visit Baron Skrebensky. Baron Skrebensky, a clergyman, had remarried three years after his wife’s death to a young Englishwoman, Millicent Maud Pearse. This marriage had brought him a new status in society, and he had published a book on the history of his parish, dedicated to his new wife. When Anna and Will receive an invitation to visit them at Briswell Vicarage, they are surprised, given the Baron’s newfound social standing.
Anna and Will's surprise at receiving an invitation highlights the growing divide between their more modest life and the Baron's elevated status. This invitation forces them to confront their own place in society and the changes they may face in their own marriage and future.
Themes
Baron Skrebensky is now quite old, yet he retains a sharp, fiery intensity. Anna notices his age has made him more direct and sometimes he sounds rather cruel. While the Baron and Anna converse, Millicent focuses on Will, playing with him through subtle flirtation. However, Will remains largely unresponsive to her, maintaining a polite but detached interest. His steady, unchanging nature irritates her, as she is used to more dynamic reactions. She attempts to provoke him by asserting a sense of class superiority, but Will does not react as she expects. While speaking with the Baron, Anna finds herself wishing that her relationship with Will was more detached, as she finds that their intimacy sometimes feels suffocating. She sees herself as losing her own distinct identity.
The contrast between Anna and Will's responses to the Skrebenskys show the strains in their relationship. Millicent’s flirtation with Will reflects how women, particularly in this period, navigated social interactions through subtle displays of power and class. Her irritation at Will’s disinterest in her provocations demonstrates his detachment, not just from her, but from the upper-class games she plays. Meanwhile, Anna’s conversation with the Baron exposes her growing discontent with the closeness of her marriage. As Anna begins to question the intensity of her relationship with Will, she also starts to long for more independence, suggesting a desire to reclaim her identity beyond their union.
Themes
From the Skrebenskys’, Anna and Will travel to Lincoln Cathedral. Will, who has promised Anna that they will visit all the cathedrals of England, is particularly excited about this visit. As they approach the cathedral, the very sight of it fills Will with a feeling of ecstasy. Anna finds Will’s intense reaction irritating. To her, the cathedral is just a large, historical building—nothing more. As Will becomes increasingly absorbed in the beauty of the church, Anna feels more disconnected. She follows him into the cathedral, but even as she witnesses Will’s rapturous excitement, she cannot help but feel disconnected.
Will’s near-spiritual reverence for the Lincoln Cathedral is part of his ongoing search for transcendence through art and religion. Meanwhile, Anna’s indifference reveals her increasing alienation from him. To Will, the cathedral represents something larger than life—a symbol of divine beauty that allows him to transcend his earthly concerns. However, Anna’s irritation reflects her practical, grounded approach to life, where the cathedral is just another building, devoid of the symbolic power that Will attributes to it.
Themes
Anna finds herself drawn to a series of small, mischievous carvings hidden in the cathedral walls. These little faces, carved in stone, seem to mock the grandiosity of the building, suggesting that the cathedral is not the absolute truth that Will believes it to be. Anna points out the faces to Will, laughing at how they undermine the seriousness of the place. She suggests that one of the faces looks like the artist’s wife, poking fun at the idea that something so grand could have such a mundane, human element. This annoys Will, who sees her comments as blasphemous and disruptive to his spiritual experience.
Anna’s fascination with the mischievous carvings is a rejection of grandiosity and an embrace of human imperfection. The hidden faces that mock the seriousness of the cathedral resonate with Anna’s growing skepticism of institutions, both religious and marital. By pointing out the ordinary, even mocking nature of these carvings, she challenges Will’s idealized vision of beauty and perfection. Her irreverent approach irritates Will because it undermines his spiritual experience.
Themes
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Anna’s irreverence breaks the spell that the cathedral has over Will. He feels his deep, almost sacred connection to the place dissolve into something more mundane and material. What had once been a powerful symbol of eternity and divine presence becomes just a building—a beautiful structure, but no longer the spiritual haven he had envisioned. This realization leaves Will feeling bitter because it seems that Anna has taken something precious from him.
Will’s disillusionment with the cathedral reflects the fragility of his spiritual convictions. Anna’s mocking commentary disrupts the symbolic meaning he has attached to the cathedral, transforming it from a sacred space into just another structure. This marks a shift in Will’s spiritual journey, as he realizes that the transcendent experience he seeks cannot be permanently attached to any one place, person, or object.
Themes
After the trip, Will redirects his focus to the small church near their home, becoming more involved in its upkeep and services. He takes comfort in maintaining the church, playing the organ, and teaching the choir boys. Though he recognizes that the church is not the perfect spiritual refuge he once believed it to be, he still cherishes it as a symbol. He finds solace in the familiar routines and in the sense of belonging it provides, even if it no longer holds the absolute truth that he once thought it did. Meanwhile, Anna puts all of her attention into her pregnancy and motherly duties. Just 10 months after Ursula is born, Anna discovers that she is pregnant again. By this time, Anna and Will have settled into a routine, where both of them seem relatively content and eager to pursue their individual passions.
After the trip, Will retreats to a more localized version of spirituality, finding comfort in the familiar rituals of the small church near their home. Though the church no longer represents absolute truth for him, it still provides a sense of belonging and routine. His shift from grand cathedrals to this humble, familiar space mirrors his internal journey from seeking transcendence in the extraordinary to finding solace in the everyday. Meanwhile, Anna's growing focus on motherhood represents her full immersion in domestic life. As they both turn to their individual passions, their lives settle into a more comfortable routine, beginning a more grounded phase in their marriage.
Themes
