In Chapter 4 of “Goodbye, Mr. Chips,” the protagonist, Mr. Chipping (Chips), reflects on a spring day in 1896 when he was forty-eight years old. At this point in his life, he had recently been appointed as a housemaster, creating a warm and busy corner for himself. During the summer vacation, Chips went on a walking and climbing trip to the Lake District with a colleague named Rowden. However, Rowden had to leave suddenly due to family matters, leaving Chips to continue his stay alone in Wasdale Head.
While climbing Great Gable, Chips encountered a girl on a dangerous ledge, waving excitedly. Concerned for her safety, he hurried towards her but ended up slipping and injuring his ankle. To his surprise, the girl was an expert climber signaling to a friend. Chips, who was not accustomed to being rescued, found himself in an unfamiliar role.
The narrative delves into Chips’s discomfort with women and his aversion to the idea of the “New Woman” of the nineties—a term referring to independent and unconventional women. Chips, a quiet and conventional person, was uneasy with the changing social dynamics, including the ideas of playwrights like Bernard Shaw and Ibsen, as well as the emerging trend of women participating in activities like bicycling.
He held traditional views about the roles of men and women, believing in a polite but somewhat distant chivalry toward “nice” women, whom he perceived as weak and delicate. This chapter provides insight into Chips’s conservative mindset and his struggle to adapt to the evolving world around him.