The Passage of Time

Where it surfaces

• Epigraph

  Reflects on life as a brief, dreamlike episode on a perishing planet.

• I

  Neville's birthday prompts intense awareness of time slipping away, regret for wasted years, and fear of aging.

• II

  Neville's 43rd birthday prompts reflection on how she has changed since her youth as a medical student.

• III

  Neville's birthday prompts reflections on aging, her past, and her children's futures.

• IV

  Neville's meditation on the 'hurrying stream of life' and the inevitability of aging and death.

• IV

  The contrast between the adult children playing as they did twenty years ago and Mrs. Hilary's feeling of being left behind underscores the relentless march of time.

• III: Family Life

  The contrast between Neville's youthful ease with study and her current difficulty highlights aging and the loss of intellectual agility.

• II

  Time 'flutters away' from Neville as she drifts in indolence, emphasizing the fleeting nature of time and her anxiety about wasted years.

• VI

  The reading of the news and Grandmama's reflections on 'new things' like Anglo-Catholicism and secularism underscore the changing world and the erosion of familiar traditions.

• VII

  Mrs. Hilary's hunger for the past and her sense of an empty stage highlight the theme of time passing and the loss of purpose.

• VI: Jim

  Mrs. Hilary reflects on lost intellectual companionship with her husband, and Jim notes that Neville cannot regain the 'twenty years' lost to child-rearing.

• II

  Jim asserts that Neville cannot recover the twenty lost years or the clear brain she had before children, highlighting the irreversible effects of time on women's lives.

• I

  The prolonged chess game and Kay's mention of a future walking regimen subtly mark the passage of time and anticipation of change.

• VIII: Nan

  Nan reflects on aging, finding youth touching but noting that it is more touching not to be young, and considers the tragedy of growing older.

• I

  Nan counts the days until Barry's arrival, watching time slip by in deep content.

• III

  The chapter's juxtaposition of global events with Nan's timeless routines underscores the relentless march of time and the persistence of human folly.

• IV

  The sunset and tidal causeway symbolize fleeting moments and the inevitability of change in relationships.

• V

  Nan reflects on the poignancy of aging, contrasting the touching nature of youth with the tragedy of growing older, likening life to a ball where one must make the most of each bar of music before going home.

• IV

  They choose to live in the present and ignore the future, highlighting the tension between immediate happiness and long-term commitment.

• I

  Mrs. Hilary contrasts her present difficult journey with memories of traveling with Richard in 1899, highlighting the changes brought by time.

• VI

  The moment is transient, a strayed fragment of what should have been

• XV: The Dream

  Neville contemplates aging and the loss of dreams, recognizing that even the poor grow old and lose their aspirations.

• II

  Reflection on growing old and losing dreams, both for the rich and the poor.

• XVI: Time

  The chapter's central theme: time is experienced differently by Mrs. Hilary (enemy to be killed), May (fleeting bird), and Grandmama (nearly dead, faithful steed).

• I

  Mrs. Hilary sees time as an enemy to be killed, while Grandmama accepts its approach; the chapter contrasts their experiences of time's passage.

• II

  Each character experiences time differently: Grandmama sees it as dead, Mrs. Hilary as interminable, May as fleeting.

• XVII: The Key

  Pamela and Grandmama debate the significance of age and the brevity of life, with Pamela dismissing the importance of years lived on the planet.