Chapter 17 Summary: Simple Requests
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
Denise arrives at Margaret's home and asks her to read the writing sample she plans to send to Oxford. Margaret, flattered but uneasy about being called a “professional writer,” agrees. The essay is a tragic fairy tale about a woman in a suburban community called Harmony who dreams of a lavish garden but never follows through. Workers eventually plant shrubs identical to her neighbors', and the woman, enraged, buys a watering can and poison, slowly killing the plants until the ground is barren. Margaret recognizes the main character as a thinly disguised version of Charlotte, but she is struck by the story's precision, intimacy, and luminous quality. She tells Denise the work is remarkable and insightful, and that she has no suggestions for improvement.
Denise thanks her quietly, then reveals that her real purpose is to talk about her mother. She explains that Charlotte overdosed on sleeping pills the previous year and spent a month in a psychiatric hospital. Denise insists the overdose was accidental—Charlotte had been in one of her exuberant, sleepless cycles and was groggy from medication. Howard, who had been skiing in Vermont, arrived and told the doctors that Charlotte was erratic and unstable. The doctors listened to him, not Denise, and committed Charlotte. She was released only after agreeing to leave New York and move to Concordia.
Denise then reveals that Howard has been unfaithful for years, with girlfriends in New York, Vermont, and Connecticut. She explains that Charlotte knows but looks away to lessen the sting. Denise also discloses that she is Howard's stepdaughter: Charlotte became pregnant at twenty-one by a country club caddy, and Denise's grandfather arranged a marriage to Howard, a lower-level manager, in exchange for a promotion. The grandfather, who never forgave Charlotte for not being a boy, now favors Howard as the son he never had.
Margaret asks why the couple doesn't divorce. Denise explains that Howard won't because he fears losing his position and inheritance, and Charlotte won't because she fears the grandfather would choose Howard over her. Denise says she stayed in Concordia to look out for her mother, but she must get away to start her own life. She reveals that she borrowed Charlotte's copy of The Feminine Mystique and read it overnight, identifying with Friedan's accounts of women pathologized for their intelligence, creativity, and drive. She asks Margaret to be Charlotte's friend and keep an eye on her after she leaves for Oxford. Margaret, aware of the weight of the request, agrees to try.
The phone rings. Bitsy asks to borrow a sewing machine, requests that Margaret feed her pets that night, and says she won't be coming home. Margaret, concerned, asks what is going on, but the chapter ends before Bitsy answers.
Key Events
-
Denise asks Margaret to critique her Oxford writing sample; Margaret praises it as remarkable.
-
Denise reveals Charlotte's overdose, hospitalization, and the forced move to Concordia.
-
Denise discloses Howard's infidelity and the arranged marriage that made her his stepdaughter.
-
Denise explains why neither spouse will divorce: financial and familial leverage.
-
Denise asks Margaret to look after Charlotte; Margaret agrees to try.
-
Bitsy calls with a sewing machine request and pet care, hinting at an unexplained absence.
Character Development
Denise emerges as the chapter's emotional center. Her quiet confidence in accepting Margaret's praise, her fierce protectiveness of Charlotte, and her clear-eyed account of family dysfunction reveal a young woman who has learned to see through adult pretenses. Her overnight reading of The Feminine Mystique and her identification with Friedan's subjects show her grappling with the same messages that have pathologized her mother's uniqueness—and her own.
Margaret moves from flattered observer to reluctant caregiver. Her initial discomfort at being called a professional writer gives way to genuine admiration for Denise's work. When Denise asks her to watch over Charlotte, Margaret recognizes the magnitude of the request—that no one can guarantee another's welfare—yet agrees anyway, signaling her deepening commitment to Charlotte and to the community forming around her.
Charlotte, though absent, is revealed through Denise's account: a woman whose creativity and intensity have been labeled as illness, whose marriage is transactional, and whose daughter is her only true champion.
Howard is characterized as manipulative and unfaithful, using his position to control Charlotte's fate.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
The garden-poisoning allegory is the chapter's central symbol. The woman in Denise's story destroys what she cannot shape, poisoning the ground so nothing will grow again. It mirrors Charlotte's situation—a woman whose plans and desires were overridden, who now quietly erodes the life imposed on her. Margaret notes that the story allows the reader to insert anyone into it, even herself.
Women pathologized for uniqueness runs throughout. Denise explains that Charlotte's intelligence, stubbornness, and creativity have been framed as neuroses by her family, teachers, and psychiatrists. Denise sees the same pattern in her own life, and The Feminine Mystique gives her a language for it.
Marriage of convenience and family secrets are laid bare. The arranged marriage, the grandfather's favoritism, and the financial trap that keeps both spouses in place reveal how family structures can become prisons.
Caregiving burden appears in Denise's role as her mother's protector and in the request she passes to Margaret. The chapter asks what it means to promise care for someone you cannot fully protect.
Why This Chapter Matters
This chapter deepens the novel's central concerns: the cost of being a woman who does not fit in, the ways institutions and families pathologize difference, and the quiet bargains people make to survive. Denise's revelations reframe Charlotte's erratic behavior as a response to a life constrained by others' expectations. The chapter also strengthens the bond between Margaret and Denise, setting up Margaret's role as a caretaker and ally. Bitsy's cryptic phone call introduces a new thread of suspense, hinting at trouble ahead.
Study Questions and Answers
1. Why does Denise's fairy tale resonate so strongly with Margaret?
Margaret recognizes Charlotte in the story's protagonist, but she also notes that the writing's intimacy allows the reader to insert anyone—including herself. The tale's themes of thwarted plans and slow destruction speak to the broader experience of women whose ambitions are overridden, which is a concern Margaret shares.
2. What does Denise's account of her family reveal about the limits of love and loyalty?
Denise loves her mother deeply, yet she also admits that Charlotte has sometimes been the messenger of the same harmful messages about uniqueness and normalcy. Denise's loyalty is real but complicated: she stays to protect Charlotte, yet she knows she must leave to save herself. The chapter suggests that love and self-preservation can pull in different directions.
3. Why does Margaret agree to look after Charlotte, and what does this decision cost her?
Margaret agrees because Charlotte is her friend and because Denise deserves her chance. But the chapter notes that Denise cannot fathom the reality that no one can guarantee another's welfare. Margaret's “I'll try” is an honest acknowledgment of that limitation, and it signals her willingness to take on a burden she knows she cannot fully control.
Continue Reading
-
Book Hub: The Book Club for Troublesome Women