Fantasy vs. Reality

Where it surfaces

• Mary, Mary

  Mary's internal conflict between her mother's romantic fantasies and the grim reality of their lives, highlighted by her lies about her mother's work.

• I

  Mrs. Makebelieve escapes her poverty by pretending to be rich, imagining grand houses and dresses, contrasting sharply with their actual life.

• II

  Mrs. Makebelieve's elaborate plans for repapering, a Turkey carpet, and a piano contrast sharply with their actual impoverished conditions, while Mary imagines stories about ducks and flowers.

• III

  Mary's mother spins elaborate fairy-tale visions of lords and trousseaus, while Mary begins to see marriage as a mundane fact among grey-lived couples.

• IV

  Mary's romanticized view of the policeman contrasts with the mundane reality of his job. Her mother's sleep dreams also highlight the gap between desire and actual life.

• VI

  Mrs. Makebelieve's schemes—a returning uncle or a chance marriage—contrast with the harsh reality of their daily struggle, and Mary's imaginative observations of strangers blur the line between reality and fantasy.

• VII

  Mrs. Makebelieve oscillates between believing that the poor have hidden resources and confronting the harsh reality of their suffering, a tension between hope and despair.

• VIII

  Mary dreams of coral wristlets and velvet sashes while her actual dress is let out to its last tuck and her beads are cheap penny purchases.

• IX

  Mary's idyllic perception of the park contrasts with the intrusion of the policeman, blurring the line between her dreamlike state and harsh reality.

• XI

  Mary's romantic visions of the policeman contrast with her mother's pragmatic warnings about the moral dangers and instability of marrying one.

• XII

  Mrs. Makebelieve fantasizes about Patrick's return and emigration to America, while Mary deceives herself about her intentions to meet the policeman.

• XIII

  Mary's perception of the restaurant as a fairy-tale place contrasts with the harsh reality of her home life.

• XIV

  Mary's dreams of the policeman taking her to the theatre are shattered when she sees him with another girl, contrasting her romantic fantasies with harsh reality.

• XVIII

  Mary's imaginative naming of the boots (Grubtoes, Sloucher, etc.) provides a brief escape from her drudgery, but the reality of seeing the policeman and the girl shatters her illusions.

• Chapter XX

  Mrs. Makebelieve's dream of her brother's return and the ensuing fantasies of a wealthy life contrast sharply with the harsh reality of their poverty.

• XXI

  Mary actively tries to bury the reality of the policeman and her past in a 'oubliette,' preferring the distraction of Mrs. Cafferty's chatter over confronting uncomfortable truths.

• XXIV

  Mary recognizes the policeman's compliments as fabricated and greedy, contrasting his earlier idealized image with his true predatory nature.

• XXVII

  Mary's mother's elaborate dress fantasies contrast sharply with their impoverished reality, highlighting the gap between aspiration and circumstance.

• XXVIII

  The policeman's idealized image of Mary clashes with the reality of her independence and social standing, fueling his rage.

• XXIX

  The young man's romanticized view of Ireland as a distressed queen contrasts with the harsh realities of poverty and oppression.

• XXXI

  The young man's glorified account of the fight contrasts with the reality of his injuries and the silent recognition by Mary and her mother that the attacker was the big policeman.

• XXXII

  The inheritance feels almost unreal to Mrs. Makebelieve, who fears God might laugh at her; the chapter opens with a philosophical meditation on the unexpected in life.