Prue Sarn

Prue Sarn is a poor girl whose dream of marriage offers a small but powerful vision of security and belonging. In her imagining, a cottage, a lit window, a cradle, and the neighbors gathered around a baby would make her “queen in your own skep”; the image reveals both the comfort marriage promises and the narrowness of the future available to her in the passage.

Identity and Introduction

Prue appears as an example of a girl for whom marriage is not chiefly a romantic ideal but a route into a recognized place in the world. Her poverty distinguishes her dream from the comfortable country life described nearby: she does not imagine servants, a busy kitchen, or a farm household. Instead, she longs for the modest signs of a home shared with a husband.

The Future She Imagines

To Prue, never marrying seems terrible because marriage appears to be what all girls do. She pictures a cottage and a lamp—or, just as readily, candles—waiting in the window when her man comes home. The light would tell him that his wife is there, turning an ordinary domestic gesture into a sign of mutual recognition and a settled life.

Her vision moves forward from the returning husband to a cradle made of rushes and, eventually, a solemn baby. Neighbors would come to the child’s christening and gather around its mother “like bees round the queen.” Motherhood, community, and marriage join in this imagined scene: together they promise Prue an importance and welcome she does not otherwise describe herself as possessing.

Hope Amid Hardship

The fantasy becomes most revealing when Prue recalls it as consolation during times when things went wrong. She tells herself that a day will come when she will be queen in her own skep, turning present difficulty toward a hoped-for future. The image does not promise escape through independence; its assurance rests on marriage, domestic life, and the social place of a mother.

Narrative Significance

Prue’s dream gives particular form to the broader account of girls increasingly preoccupied with winning a husband or, at minimum, a serious lover. Unlike the rich girl’s elaborate picture of a country household, Prue’s hope is defined by scarcity and a few intimate particulars: a cottage, a light in the window, a rush cradle, a baby, and neighbors at a christening. The contrast shows how the desire for marriage can be shaped by class while still directing girls toward the same prescribed destination.