19 pages • 38 minutes read
Mary HowittThe Spider And The Fly
Fiction | Poem | Middle Grade | Published in 2002A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Spider’s Winding Stair
The “winding stair” (Lines 3, 6, 39), in an entomological sense, refers to the stabilimentum the spider has created down the center of the web; it forms a zig zag, or winding, pattern. Spiders often rest on or near the stabilimentum so as not to be seen by their prey until it is caught. Orb-weaving spiders will sometimes hide the bodies of their dead prey in this thicker area until they can remove them at night. Metaphorically, Spider’s staircase leads to his apartment, or den, which contains his sitting room, kitchen, and bedroom, the location of his previous crimes. Its meandering path suggests either a journey of several flights, or that it, like the Spider’s intent, is crooked.
Spider’s Pretty Bed
One way that Spider lures Fly is by promising to “snugly tuck her in” (Line 10) his bed. This is an allusion to the way spiders swath their prey but also to the physical payment a man like Spider might extract from Fly. Respite in Spider’s rich abode might be appealing to Fly, especially if she’s a shopgirl, maid, or cook’s assistant, but the cost is high. In Howitt’s era, an unwed girl having an affair with a man would be considered fallen from virtue. The notation of the bed solidifies that Spider’s intentions are not pure. While he suggests that there are “pretty curtains” (Line 9) that would shut out prying eyes, Fly’s status in society would drop if she were to have an intimate liaison with Spider. This would essentially kill her future since wealthy men rarely married women below their social station.
The Looking-Glass
The symbol of Spider’s looking-glass serves double duty. First, it symbolically shows Spider’s wealth and privilege. Few households could afford a looking-glass in 1829, and its purchase would be seen as expensive or frivolous. By claiming it, Spider shows he possesses a significant amount of wealth, or at least portrays himself as such. The looking-glass also symbolizes Fly’s interest in seeing herself—a novelty. This reveals her vanity and a need to examine her own self-identity—to look within for self-worth, rather than outside for flattery. As a young female, Fly’s sense of self is not fully formed and she lacks definition. Part of her attraction to Spider is the idea he will do this for her, through the aid of the glass. The novelty and the promise of this specialness leaves her open to his wiles.
