54 pages 1 hour read

Helen Oyeyemi

Mr. Fox

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2011

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Chapters 9-10Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 9 Summary: “31 Rules for Lovers (Circa 1186)”

The chapter begins with 31 adages about love from The Art of Courtly Love by Andreas Capellanus, followed by short remarks from Mary Foxe, Mr. Fox, and Daphne.

Daphne stays in bed all day to see if Mr. Fox notices, but he does not. He is working, and Daphne says it must be hard to kill so many people. He plays a symphony loudly, but she enjoys the song and is not bothered. Daphne spends the day avoiding housework, and at night, Mary comes to her. Mary is nude and thinks Mr. Fox took away her clothes to punish her. Daphne gives her favorite shirtwaist. She is glad they are the same size.

Mary says Daphne has a good face and asks her what she is thinking. Daphne laughs because Mary doesn’t have a British accent like Mr. Fox said she did. Mary thinks she and Daphne are very similar. Thinking Mary might be magical, Daphne asks if she is pregnant, but Mary cannot tell if Daphne is pregnant. Mary says she loves and believes in Mr. Fox. She touches Daphne, sending a strange, staticky feeling through both of them.

Mary asks if Daphne will take her to a nice dinner, and Daphne agrees.