The Madman · Chapter
The Sleepwalkers explained
A mother and daughter, both sleepwalking, meet in their garden at night and express deep-seated resentments toward each other.
What happens
A mother and daughter, both sleepwalking, meet in their garden at night and express deep-seated resentments toward each other. When a cock crows, they awaken and speak to each other with gentle affection, revealing the contrast between their unconscious truths and conscious facades.
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
- Closing
This is the dramatic climax because the narrator’s ecstatic proclamation of Joy—the emotional peak of his life…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Masks and Authenticity
The mother and daughter wear masks of gentleness while awake, but their sleepwalking reveals their authentic hostility.
- Illusion and Reality
The sleepwalking state blurs the line between illusion and reality, as the characters' true feelings emerge only when they are not conscious.
Characters to notice
- The Madman
The narrator who recounts the story of the sleepwalking mother and daughter.
Key passages
“At last, at last, my enemy! You by whom my youth was destroyed—who have built up your life upon the ruins of mine! Would I could kill you!”
The mother, in her sleep, accuses her daughter of ruining her youth and building her own life on the mother's destruction, expressing a murderous wish.
This reveals the mother's deep-seated resentment and sense of sacrifice.
“O hateful woman, selfish and old! Who stand between my freer self and me! Who would have my life an echo of your own faded life! Would you were dead!”
The daughter, in her sleep, calls her mother hateful and selfish, accusing her of blocking her freedom and wanting her life to mirror the mother's faded one, wishing her dead.
This shows the daughter's perception of her mother as an obstacle to her own identity.
“The mother said gently, “Is that you, darling?” And the daughter answered gently, “Yes, dear.””
After waking, the mother and daughter speak to each other with tenderness and affection, as if the previous hostility never occurred.
This contrast highlights the theme of masks and the hidden truth beneath social niceties.
