52 pages 1 hour read

Ira Levin

Rosemary's Baby

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1967

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Part 3, Chapters 1-2Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 3, Chapter 1 Summary

Content Warning: These chapters include scenes with an anti-gay slur and anti-Asian stereotypes.

Rosemary wakes up slowly, gradually aware of the pain between her legs. Guy is sitting by the bed. She remembers giving birth and asks if the baby is okay. Guy says yes and tells her that it is a boy.

When she wakes again, Laura-Louise is sitting by the bed. Rosemary asks where the baby is, startling Laura-Louise, who leaves without answering. Guy and Dr. Saperstein come in, looking serious, and when Rosemary asks again for the baby, Guy takes her hand and Dr. Saperstein tells her there were complications. She asks if the baby is dead, and Guy nods. Guy says they will conceive again, and Dr. Saperstein agrees, saying they can try in just a few months and this was “a one-in-ten-thousand mishap” that should not affect Rosemary’s ability to get pregnant (221). Rosemary calls them both witches and accuses them of lying until Dr. Saperstein gives her an injection.

While Rosemary eats a light meal in bed, Guy comments on her behavior over the past two weeks, which Dr. Saperstein thinks is prepartum hysteria. He doesn’t understand why she thought he was involved in the imagined conspiracy.