On a Chinese Screen · Chapter
VI: Dinner Parties explained
The chapter presents two contrasting dinner parties: one in the Legation Quarter with a cosmopolitan mix of diplomats and socialites, and another at a Treaty Port where expatriates dine in stifling routine and boredom.
What happens
The chapter presents two contrasting dinner parties: one in the Legation Quarter with a cosmopolitan mix of diplomats and socialites, and another at a Treaty Port where expatriates dine in stifling routine and boredom. Both scenes highlight the insularity, pretension, and emptiness of colonial social life.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
The emotional peak occurs when the stripling’s youthful audacity and pride in his strength reach their zenith…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Colonial Ennui and Isolation
Both parties are marked by boredom, repetition, and a sense of being trapped in a closed social world.
- Hypocrisy and Moral Compromise
The English lady's shifting loyalties and the diplomats' superficiality reveal moral emptiness.
- Futility of Western Superiority
The characters' self-importance and ignorance of local culture underscore the futility of their colonial posture.
Characters to notice
- The Consul
Implied through the diplomatic setting; the first secretary of the British Legation is a central figure.
- The Taipan
Represented by the 'number one at Jardine’s' and other business leaders at the Treaty Port dinner.
- Mr. Wingrove
Not directly named but the Treaty Port gathering includes figures like the manager of the Hong-Kong and Shanghai Bank, consistent with Wingrove's circle.
- The Sultana Fatima
Mentioned in the English lady's hypothetical anecdotes about Constantinople.
- Miss Lambert
Not directly present, but the 'English maiden lady' and 'English lady' may be related to her type.
- Jardine
Referenced as 'number one at Jardine’s' at the Treaty Port dinner.
Key passages
“They dwelt in a world in which Copernicus had never existed, for to them sun and stars circled obsequiously round this earth of ours, and they were its centre.”
The diplomats lived in a self-centered bubble, oblivious to any perspective beyond their own.
Highlights the theme of colonial arrogance and isolation.
“Homeless, she was at home wherever her country had a diplomatic representative.”
The English lady felt at home in any foreign capital as long as there was a British embassy.
Illustrates the rootless yet privileged existence of colonial expatriates.
“They were bored to death with one another.”
The Treaty Port guests were utterly weary of each other's company.
Captures the pervasive ennui of colonial social life.
