Chapter XXIII
1 (p. 262) Kew: Woolf often walked in the Royal Botanic Gardens, known as Kew Gardens, in the southwest London district of Kew. She used the site as the setting for her short story “Kew Gardens,” which she wrote simultaneously with Night and Day.
Chapter XXIV
1 (p. 266) Anne Hathaway had a way, among other things, of writing Shakespeare’s sonnets: Mrs. Hilbery is taking her place in a long line of critics who argue that someone other than Shakespeare wrote the sonnets attributed to him—possibly his wife, Anne Hathaway (c.1556-1623).
2 (p. 267) “Rosalind . . . old nurse . . . Hamlet . . . the fools ... Hotspur ... Henry the Fifth”: Mrs. Hilbery refers to characters from several of Shakespeare’s plays: Rosalind in As You Like It; Juliet’s nurse in Romeo and Juliet; the title characters of Hamlet and Henry the Fifth; the fools in As You Like It, King Lear, and Twelfth Night, and Hotspur in Henry IV, Part One.
Chapter XXV
1 (p. 287) The world . . . offers no happiness, no rest from struggle, no certainty: This passage recalls lines from English poet Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach” (1867): “for the world, which seems / To lie before us like a land of dreams, ... / Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light, / Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain.”
2 (p. 287) “Here she comes, like a ship in full sail”: Ralph may be alluding to the arrival of Dalila in English poet John Milton’s lyrical drama Samson Agonistes (1671), who “Comes this way sailing, / Like a stately ship . . . / With all her bravery on, and tackle trim, / Sails fill‘d, and streamers waving.” Or he may be alluding to Mirabell’s description of Mrs. Millamant’s appearance in English dramatist William Congreve’s 1700 drama The Way of the World: “Here she comes, i’faith, full sail, with her fan spread and streamers out, and a shoal of fools for tenders” (act 2, scene 5).
3 (p. 287) the rigid tail of the Ducal lion: Katharine, glancing across the River Thames, catches sight of the stone lion on the roof of Syon House, Middlesex, home of the duke of Northumberland; the lion is the ducal emblem.
Chapter XXVI
1 (p. 308) “At twelve my horses turn into rats and off I go”: This is an allusion to the fairy tale “Cinderella,” in which Cinderella’s fairy god-mother transforms a pumpkin and mice into a carriage and horses to transport her to the royal ball, with the stipulation that the spell will be over at midnight.
2 (p. 309) he had drawn up a scheme for the education of labour, for the amalgamation of the middle class and the working class, . . . combined in the Society for the Education of Democracy, upon Capital: The language of this passage suggests the influence of German political philosopher Karl Marx (his 1867 work, Das Kapital, is an analysis of the economics of capitalism), as well as Mary’s and Ralph’s far-left views.
Chapter XXVII
1 (p. 317) After visiting the National Gallery, or Hertford House, or hearing Brahms or Beethoven at the Bechstein Hall: Cassandra would be visiting notable London arts sites. The National Gallery, located in Trafalgar Square, houses one of Great Britain’s permanent national art collections; Hertford House contains the Wallace Collection, the extensive private art collection of Sir Richard Wallace (1818-1890); Bechstein House, now Wigmore Hall, is a concert hall where Woolf might have heard the works of German composers Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) and Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827).
2 (p. 318) Sunday . . . is usually dedicated to Nature . . . But Cassandra rejected Hampton Court, Greenwich, Richmond, and Kew in favour of the Zoological Gardens: Hampton Court Palace, Greenwich, Richmond upon Thames, and Kew are areas in and around London known for their royal parks and gardens. The London Zoo opened in Regent’s Park in 1828.
Chapter XXVIII
1 (p. 339) “I’m out of my mind. . . . it’s insanity, and yet it’s perfectly reasonable”: Ralph’s seemingly contradictory statements are staples of love poetry, English and otherwise.
2 (p. 342) an odd image came to his mind of a lighthouse.... senseless against the glass: This passage is a striking anticipation of Woolf’s later novel To the Lighthouse (1927).
3 (p. 347) “what fools we both are!”: Rodney’s outburst recalls Puck’s statement in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream when he is gazing upon the confused arrangements of lovers: “Lord, what fools these mortals be!” (act 3, scene 2).
Chapter XXIX
1 (p. 355) “The love of husband and wife is the most holy we know. That is the lesson Mamma’s children learnt from her”: Mrs. Hilbery is referring to Katharine’s paternal grandmother.
Chapter XXXI
1 (p. 372) Shakespeare’s command to leave his bones undisturbed applied only to odious curiosity-mongers: Mrs. Hilbery recalls the inscription on Shakespeare’s tomb—“Good frend for Jesus sake forbeare / To digg the dust encloased heare; / Blest be ye man yt spares thes stones / And curst be he yt moves my bones”—but decides that it will not impede her literary sleuthing.
2 (p. 386) “Mount Ararat Road, Highgate”: There is no such road in Highgate, but there is a Mount Ararat Road in Richmond near Paradise Road, where the Woolfs lived.
