A Respectable Woman

Though Devotion Versus Desire is among its central themes, “A Respectable Woman” is not primarily a love story, at least not in the traditional sense. Instead, it concerns a woman’s internal battle to understand and accept her authentic self. The central conflict occurs entirely within Mrs. Baroda’s inner world. Her perceptions, though seldom fully revealed through the narration, are the principal organizing force in the narrative.

More than being torn between which man she will choose, Mrs. Baroda is conflicted over who she will become. The dilemma emerges upon her first impulse of passion for Gouvernail, when she longs to touch and speak to him sensually, “as she might have done if she had not been a respectable woman” (Paragraph 26). This reference to the story’s title indicates the main conflict: whether Mrs. Baroda will give into the desire that has been unconsciously building within her, or make the choice of a dutiful wife and “respectable woman.” Judging by her prompt withdrawal from the interaction and her hasty departure for the city, she seems to choose her longstanding idea of respectability—but her disposition is protean throughout the story, and the narrative does not fully disclose her rationale or intentions.