Husbands & Lovers

Content warning: This section of the guide discusses child loss.

The cobra bracelet Lucien gives to Hannah is a symbol which highlights The Power of Maternal Love. Hannah gives the bracelet to their daughter, Lucile, upon the baby’s adoption. Then Lucile passes the bracelet down to Mallory who, as Lucile writes in her will, “always wanted to try it on when she was a little girl, and I told her the bracelet could be removed only after my death” (62). Whether or not Lucile knew that she was adopted is uncertain, but—given her unwillingness to remove the bracelet even for a moment—it clearly felt deeply important to her and even significant to her identity.

The bracelet also highlights The Deceptiveness of Appearances. Although the narrative never shows Lucien revealing the cobra’s secret compartment, it is hinted at when he “close[s] his hand over the bracelet on [Hannah’s] wrist” and says, “I need to show you something” (411), just before the Chapter 19 ends. Hannah is obviously aware of the secret compartment because she uses it to convey a message about Lucile’s real identity and parentage. It may look like a beautifully wrought Egyptian cobra, but the bracelet’s beauty hides its real purpose: to conceal and convey private messages.