“…that the wild will not have its way within our gates…”

Jenny is reflecting on how Baldry Court might appear to an outsider as she brings Margaret there for the first time. Baldry Court is a very pristine place and the grounds are carefully designed and landscaped. Jenny realizes that there is no sign of “the wild” anywhere on the property. “The wild” could be interpreted as anything that differs from the highly regulated, socially conforming upper-class standard that Jenny, Kitty, and Chris are accustomed to. Maren Linett writes, “The clear implication of this is that Chris’s wild mind will be similarly suppressed, controlled into the type of beauty—sanity—that is esteemed within their gates” (Linett). Linett is implying that nature is not the only thing that is controlled in Baldry Court. Chris’s imaginative, youthful self could be considered “wild,” as well as the love he shared with Margaret. That sort of wild, impassioned love is not tolerated in Baldry Court. Everything within Baldry Court’s boundaries is proper and neat and needs to conform to society’s standards for upper-class families; the lack of wildness within Baldry Court’s grounds could be interpreted as its residents conforming to society. The amnesiac Chris is seen as “wild,” and as having lost his sanity, which contrasts with the expectations of controlled beauty and “sanity” that are upheld at Baldry Court. Chris was forced into this proper, high society lifestyle rather suddenly. Unwillingly, he has had to suppress his true self within the bounds of Baldry Court to fit the mold of the ideal British man. This has had an incredibly negative impact on his mental health to the point where he develops amnesia as a way to cope with his unhappiness.