Roman Catholic restrictions on divorce

Roman Catholic restrictions on divorce are presented as a religious impediment with direct consequences for family life: Paul McGill remains married to Constance McGill despite their separation, leaving him unable to marry Emma Harte. The obstacle persists alongside Paul and Emma’s shared household, his adoption of Daisy, and his desire to make their relationship formally secure. In contrast with Emma’s eventual divorce from Arthur Ainsley, Paul’s hope of gaining his freedom remains frustrated by Constance’s refusal.

The restriction in practice

The novel gives the restriction through Paul’s account of his marriage rather than through a detailed explanation of church law. Constance is Roman Catholic, Paul explains, and her religion is another impediment to divorce. She has been in a nursing home, where she has been dried out, but is too weak to care for herself or function normally; Paul expects she will need permanent institutional care. Even so, he has not abandoned hope that he might one day be free of the marriage. The account holds together two distinct barriers: Constance’s condition and the religious obstacle associated with her Catholicism, without treating either as a completed resolution.

Paul’s situation affects the shape of his relationship with Emma. They live together discreetly, and Paul wants to marry her and put their lives in order. He has legally adopted Daisy and provided for both child and mother, but those acts do not dissolve his existing marriage. Constance continues to oppose divorce, leaving the couple’s domestic commitment and their formal marital status at odds. As time passes, Emma becomes secure in their relationship and tries to ease Paul’s anxiety, but reassurance cannot remove the unresolved legal and religious constraint.

A contrast with Emma’s divorce

Emma’s own divorce from Arthur Ainsley supplies a pointed contrast. After Arthur inherits following the deaths of his parents, he allows Emma to divorce him on the grounds of adultery. His apparent gallantry has a price: Emma has bought it for ten thousand pounds. The divorce proceeds, and she brings Robin and Elizabeth to live with her in Belgrave Square. In this case, a marriage ends through a negotiated route; Paul, by contrast, remains bound to Constance despite his wish to marry Emma.

The contrast makes divorce more than an abstract matter of doctrine. Marital freedom in the novel depends on the circumstances and choices of the people involved: Emma can arrange the end of her marriage through money and Arthur’s consent, while Paul’s effort meets Constance’s persistent opposition and the religious impediment he identifies. The different outcomes shape the households the characters can establish and the degree to which their private commitments can be recognized publicly.

Religious practice and personal consequence

Elsewhere, Catholic practice appears in intimate family circumstances rather than only as a limit on marital choice. When Laura O’Neill is dying, she asks Emma to ensure that her son Bryan is raised as a good Roman Catholic. A priest arrives to administer Extreme Unction, and Emma, remembering her earlier rejection of God after her mother’s death, experiences the rite as a painful presence at Laura’s bedside. These episodes do not explain the rules governing divorce, but they show religion as a lived force within family relationships, shaped by ritual, care, grief, and disagreement.

The divorce impediment therefore belongs to a broader pattern in which religious commitments have practical consequences for intimacy and family arrangements. For Paul and Emma, affection and a shared life do not by themselves settle the status of Paul’s marriage. The unresolved bond to Constance remains the condition that keeps the couple from the marriage Paul wants, even as Emma learns to live with their relationship as it stands.