The Secret Garden Chapter 2 Summary

Summary

Mary continues to be self-absorbed and indifferent to her parents’ deaths; she is used to being waited on and has little sense of belonging. After being placed briefly with a poor English clergyman’s family, she is teased and nicknamed “Mistress Mary Quite Contrary,” which stokes her temper and reinforces her isolation. A boy named Basil leads the teasing, inventing stories about the uncle she is to go to, and Mary rejects their company and curiosity.

Mrs. Crawford and others discuss Mary’s plainness compared to her pretty mother and recall how neglected she was after her Ayah and other servants fled. Mary makes the sea voyage to England under the supervision of an officer’s wife and is met in London by Mrs. Medlock, the Misselthwaite Manor housekeeper, whose brisk, unsentimental manner annoys Mary. On the train to Yorkshire Mrs. Medlock tells Mary about Misselthwaite Manor — a very old house on the moor with many locked rooms — and about Mr. Archibald Craven, a withdrawn man with a crooked back who keeps to himself; she warns Mary not to expect company or much attention. Mary listens but pretends indifference, sometimes feeling curiosity or fleeting sympathy, then turning away and falling asleep as the rain beats the carriage windows.

Key events

1. Mary plays alone and is teased by Basil and other clergyman’s children, earning the nickname “Mistress Mary Quite Contrary.”
2. Mrs. Crawford and others remark on Mary’s plainness and neglect after her servants left.
3. Mary travels to England under an officer’s wife and is handed over to Mrs. Medlock in London.
4. Mrs. Medlock describes Misselthwaite Manor and Mr. Archibald Craven during the train journey.
5. Mary reacts with a mixture of curiosity, indifference, and brief sympathy before falling asleep as rain streaks the carriage window.

Analysis

This chapter develops Mary’s emotional state and social isolation while setting up the novel’s central location and mood. We see Mary’s self-centeredness and lack of attachment: she does not mourn her parents and expects to be waited on. The children’s mocking nursery rhyme both reinforces Mary’s reputation and provides an early ironic contrast between childish play and adult loneliness. Mrs. Medlock functions as an expository mouthpiece: through her blunt storytelling the text supplies essential background about Misselthwaite Manor and Mr. Craven without direct narration. The descriptions of the house — ancient, mostly shut up, on the edge of the moor — introduce the novel’s gothic, melancholy atmosphere and foreshadow the themes of confinement and secrecy. The mention of Mr. Craven’s “crooked back” and his withdrawal hints at loss and emotional damage that will shape the household’s life. Narrative technique here alternates between free indirect characterization of Mary (we see her thoughts and defenses) and dialogue-driven exposition; this keeps the focus on Mary while moving the plot toward the new setting. Symbolically, the rain and the gray train journey underscore transition and emotional dampening; Mary’s falling asleep suggests both physical exhaustion and a pause before major change. Overall, the chapter primes readers for Mary’s relocation and frames her temperament against the starkness of Misselthwaite Manor.

Important quotes

““Mistress Mary, quite contrary, How does your garden grow? With silver bells, and cockle shells, And marigolds all in a row.””

Basil (children singing)The nursery rhyme the children taunt Mary with; it gives her the nickname and highlights her alienation.

““You are going to a queer place.””

Mrs. MedlockMrs. Medlock bluntly warns Mary that Misselthwaite Manor is strange and gloomy, establishing the novel’s setting and mood.

““The house is six hundred years old and it’s on the edge of the moor, and there’s near a hundred rooms in it, though most of them’s shut up and locked.””

Mrs. MedlockA descriptive line that introduces Misselthwaite Manor’s size and mystery, foreshadowing locked rooms and secrets.

Characters in Chapter 2

• Mary Lennox
• Basil
• Mrs. Crawford
• Mr. Crawford
• Mrs. Medlock
• Mr. Archibald Craven
• Colonel McGrew
• Captain Lennox
• Mrs. Lennox
• Pitcher
• Ayah