How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
It brought back to the child's recollection how she sometimes couldn't repeat on Friday the sentence that had been glib on Wednesday, and she dealt all feebly and ruefully with the present tough passage. Sir Claude and Mrs. Beale stood there like visitors at an "exam." (XXXI.80)
How great is this? At the climactic moment of Maisie's decision, James compares her to a student completing school exercises and then taking a test. This is a way of emphasizing the contrast between Maisie's school-of-hard-knocks education and the kind that other schoolchildren receive. Maisie's lessons have been learned the hard way.