65 pages 2 hours read

Radclyffe Hall

The Well of Loneliness

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1928

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Important Quotes

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“[H]er spirit grew with a mighty new courage, because a man-child would be born.”


(Chapter 1, Page 6)

This quote refers to how Anna felt when she believed she would give birth to a son, not a daughter. It shows the association in her culture between courage and masculinity. Having courage is a cause of concern for Stephen throughout the book, and her possession of this quality is one of the ways she defies society’s rigid conception of gender norms. 

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“[S]he hated the way Stephen moved or stood still, hated a certain largeness about her, a certain crude lack of grace.”


(Chapter 1, Page 9)

Anna has these thoughts about Stephen when Stephen is seven years old. The specifics she lists here are all a result of Stephen’s resemblance to Sir Philip. The quote shows the deep-seated disgust Anna feel towards her daughter and implies that she feels this way because her daughter does not conform to gender stereotypes.

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“Stephen first became conscious of an urgent necessity to love.”


(Chapter 2, Page 10)

At seven, Stephen has this revelation. The quote shows that Stephen has a deep sense of unanswered desire, even at an early age. Her “urgent necessity to love” drives her actions for the rest of the book.