The Younger Wife

The hot-water bottle is a symbol of intuition, matrilineal inheritance, and the possibility of female agency, developing the theme of Female Solidarity as a Means of Survival. Pamela inherits the water bottle from her mother at a crucial juncture in her life: She is beginning to experience worrying symptoms of confusion and memory impairment. At the same time, Pamela is also growing increasingly suspicious that her marriage may be abusive. Although Pamela’s ability to reason and remember is declining, her ability to accurately perceive her relationship with Stephen is actually growing more acute. 

The gift of the hot water bottle and the money it contains (which Pamela’s mother has painstakingly saved) illustrates a matrilineal tradition of care that Pamela will carry on. Her own daughter, Rachel, will subsequently be liberated from a lifetime of shame and secrecy after finding the hot water bottle; Tully will also benefit from her grandmother’s money at a time when her family desperately needs it. The hot water bottle is a domestic object and might easily be dismissed or undervalued (as women’s experiences and voices are persistently dismissed throughout the narrative). However, it comes to symbolize how women can protect and care for one another, both through passing on material legacies (the money) and secret information (clues that eventually reveal Stephen’s dangerous true nature).