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“He had money enough to settle down on; it was not that. But the family would look down on her… He had a notion that he was being had.”
Mr. Doran thinks the above as he contemplates whether he should marry Polly. This line reveals a few pieces of information. To begin, it confirms Mrs. Mooney’s earlier assumption that Mr. Doran has enough money to start a family which is one of the reasons why Mrs. Mooney wants him to marry her daughter. The quote also reveals that he is partially hesitant to marry Polly because he fears his family’s rejection. This implies that Mr. Doran is from a family that is better off than the Mooneys. Finally, this line reveals that Mr. Doran feels that he is being taken advantage of—a belief that he will continue to fixate on for the rest of the text.
“It was not altogether his fault that it had happened. He remembered well, with the curious patient memory of the celibate, the first casual caresses her dress, her breath, her fingers had given him. Then late one night as he was undressing for bed she had tapped at his door, timidly. She wanted to relight her candle at his for hers had been blown out by a gust. It was her bath night. She wore a loose open combing-jacket of printed flannel. Her white instep shone in the opening of her furry slippers and the blood glowed warmly behind her perfumed skin. From her hands and wrists too as she lit and steadied her candle a faint perfume arose.”
The “it” in question is the extramarital affair between Mr. Doran and Polly. Here, Mr. Doran firmly expresses his belief that Polly is also culpable in their sexual relationship and he feels victimized that the brunt of the blame is being placed on him. He goes on to list all of Polly’s flirtations as proof that the situation is not his fault. However, at no point (either here or in a later moment in the text) does he take accountability for the fact that he is an older, sexually experienced man and that Polly is a teenaged girl who likely did not know any better.
