The Three Sisters Flashcards
by W. W. Jacobs — tap or click to flip
Flashcard Review
Flashcards: The Three Sisters
Where do the three Mallow sisters live?
At Mallett's Lodge, an isolated old house on the desolate English marshes near the sea.
What promise does Ursula make on her deathbed?
She vows to come back from the dead to lead each sister away when their time comes.
What does Ursula request be done with her bedroom after she dies?
She insists the room be locked up and never opened again.
How does Eunice plan to use the inheritance Ursula left her?
She intends to donate the income to support beds in a children's hospital, keeping the principal intact.
What strange events occur in the house after Ursula's death?
Unexplained noises are heard on the stairs, Martha sees a dark figure on the landing, and scuffling sounds come from inside Ursula's locked room.
How does Tabitha kill Eunice?
She disguises herself as the dead Ursula -- wearing a cloak and napkin-bound face -- and enters Eunice's bedroom, frightening her to death due to her weak heart.
What happens to Tabitha after Eunice's death?
She sees a spectral figure on the stairs that she identifies as Ursula, confesses to Martha that she murdered Eunice, and collapses dead in terror.
How are Tabitha and Ursula described as physically similar but different in temperament?
They bear a striking physical likeness, but Tabitha's expression is "harder and colder" while Ursula is gentle and concerned for her sisters' welfare.
What is Tabitha's dominant character trait?
Avarice -- she is consumed by greed, hoarding coins in secret nighttime vigils and resenting Eunice's charitable plans.
Why is Eunice particularly vulnerable to a ghostly fright?
She suffers from a heart complaint, and she deeply fears that Ursula's deathbed promise to return is real.
What is Martha's relationship to the sisters?
She is the old family servant, deeply loyal to Eunice and increasingly afraid of Tabitha's strange behavior.
How does Tabitha react when Eunice says she heard someone in the house?
She grasps Eunice's arm with a horrible look and confirms she heard it too -- scuffling inside Ursula's locked room.
How does the story contrast selfishness and selflessness through the sisters?
Eunice plans to donate Ursula's inheritance to sick children, while Tabitha hoards every coin and ultimately kills for money -- greed destroys where generosity heals.
What does Ursula's dying speech reveal about the sisters' lives?
She laments that they have had no husbands, no children, no aspirations -- "a lonely woman's life is scarce worth living" -- highlighting the theme of wasted, isolated lives.
How does the story suggest that guilt is its own punishment?
After murdering Eunice, Tabitha immediately sees a ghostly figure she cannot dismiss and dies of the same terror she inflicted -- her guilt may have created the very apparition that kills her.
What does Tabitha's death suggest about supernatural justice in the story?
It fulfills Ursula's prophecy exactly -- she promised to come for each sister when their "lease of life runs out" -- suggesting a moral order that punishes murder even when human law cannot reach it.
What is ironic about Tabitha's method of killing Eunice?
Tabitha, who claims she has "no faith in such things" as ghosts, uses a supernatural disguise to commit murder -- then dies herself when confronted by what may be a real ghost.
How does the weather on the final night serve as pathetic fallacy?
The shrieking wind, moaning sea, slamming doors, and rocking bell-buoy mirror the violence and terror unfolding inside the house.
What is foreshadowed by the lamp going out at the moment of Ursula's death?
The sudden extinguishing "as though by a rapid hand" foreshadows a supernatural presence that will act with physical force later in the story.
How does Jacobs use ambiguity at the climax?
Martha senses a third presence in the room but sees nothing, while Tabitha sees Ursula clearly -- leaving readers unsure whether the ghost is real or a projection of Tabitha's guilt.
What does "taciturn" mean, as used to describe Tabitha after Ursula's death?
Reserved or uncommunicative in speech -- Tabitha becomes increasingly silent and withdrawn as her obsession with money grows.
What is a "cortege" in the context of Ursula's funeral?
A solemn funeral procession -- the story describes a "slow and melancholy cortege" of four bearers crossing the marshes to the church vault.
What does "remonstrate" mean when Eunice ventures to do so with Tabitha?
To protest or argue against something -- Eunice gently objects to Tabitha keeping large sums of money unsafely in the house.
Who says "I will come back. Come back to watch over you both and see that no harm befalls you"?
Ursula, on her deathbed -- her promise drives the entire plot, as both Tabitha and Eunice interpret it with dread rather than comfort.
What is the significance of Martha's reply "Or for yours?" to Tabitha?
When Tabitha asks if the figure on the stairs is Ursula come for Eunice's soul, Martha's words come "despite herself" -- as though spoken by a force beyond her, foreshadowing Tabitha's own death.
What does Tabitha confess in her final moments?
"I murdered her. I killed her with fright. Why did she not give me the money?" -- revealing both her crime and her complete moral corruption.