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Part 5, Chapter 3
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Razor’s Edge, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Wisdom and the Meaning of Life
Social Norms and Conformity
Trauma and Self-Destruction
Snobbishness, Social Status, and Cosmopolitanism
Truth and the Problem of Evil
Summary
Analysis
Elliott and Somerset travel together to Paris that fall. When Somerset arrives at his hotel, he finds a note from Isabel saying that something terrible has happened. She wants Somerset to meet her as soon as possible and not bring Elliott. When Somerset arrives at Isabel’s apartment, she explains the emergency. “Larry’s going to marry Sophie Macdonald,” she says. Isabel is convinced that Sophie is a bad person because she’s “soused from morning till night” and “goes to bed with every tough who asks her.” Somerset says he doesn’t think that makes her a bad person. Isabel says that if Larry marries her, it will only be a matter of time before she walks out on him and resumes her old lifestyle.
The novel creates suspense through Isabel’s note, which only says that something horrible has happened without clarifying what it is. That mystery opens up any number of possibilities. The fact that the terrible thing is just Larry deciding to get married shows again how deeply Isabel is still in love with him. To anyone else, Larry’s decision to get married wouldn’t be terrible news. To Isabel, though, it’s catastrophic, hinting at the motives behind actions that Isabel will later take to try and stop the marriage.
Themes
Isabel says that because Larry listens to Somerset, she wants him to talk to Larry and tell him that marrying Sophie will be a disaster. Somerset says Larry is going into the situation with open eyes. Besides, Somerset says, it’s none of his business. Isabel asks if Somerset thinks she sacrificed herself to let Larry fall into the hands of someone like Sophie. Somerset says Isabel didn’t sacrifice herself; instead, she gave up Larry for “a square-cut diamond and a sable coat.” Isabel throws a plate of bread and butter at Somerset’s head. Somerset catches the plate, and the bread and butter fall on the floor. The two argue, but then Somerset compliments Isabel’s appearance. He then brings up Elliott’s story of his title and being a descendant of a Spanish grandee.
This passage shows just how much intense emotion underlies Isabel’s cool exterior. When Larry is on his own, Isabel seems able to stomach her decision to reject him, but once someone else, in this case Sophie, comes along, Isabel is no longer able to contain her jealousy. Somerset’s assessment of Isabel’s decision to forego a relationship with Larry puts that decision in straightforward terms; while Isabel might like to tell herself she married Gray out of a sense of practical love, the novel seems to support Somerset’s claim that she did so simply for materialistic reasons.
Themes
Isabel and Somerset’s tempers cool, and Isabel kisses Somerset in a gesture of reconciliation. After, Somerset asks what Isabel wants. She says she doesn’t want Larry to ruin himself. Somerset says that won’t likely happen because Larry is driven by one of the strongest human emotions: self-sacrifice. Lust, hunger, and perhaps even love pale in comparison to self-sacrifice, Larry says. Isabel says that she loves Larry and doesn’t want him to be unhappy. She starts to cry. Somerset says that if she cares about Larry and wants to continue to see him, she should try to be friendly with his fiancée. Otherwise, Larry won’t keep seeing Isabel. Isabel asks if Somerset will invite everyone to lunch, and Somerset agrees.
According to Somerset, Larry wants to marry Sophie out of a sense of self-sacrifice. In that narrative, Larry is a kind of “hero” who “rescues” Sophie from her pain and trauma, a narrative that notably deprives Sophie of agency. Later, the novel (or at least Sophie) will show justifiable suspicion toward that narrative. Somerset assesses the situation and recommends that Isabel act friendly toward Sophie regardless of how she (Isabel) actually feels. For the time being, it seems like Isabel decides to follow his advice.
Themes
