Beloved: Plot Summary (Edexcel A-Level English Literature): Revision Notes

Beloved: Plot Summary

1. In 1873, after the Civil War, Sethe lives in a haunted house numbered 124 on the edge of Cincinnati with her daughter Denver.

2. Sethe has lived in the house with the ghost of a dead child for 18 years since her mother-in-law, Baby Suggs, died eight years ago.

3. Sethe's two sons, Howard and Buglar, ran away from the haunted house just before Baby Suggs' death.

4. Paul D, a former slave from the same plantation called Sweet Home, arrives at 124 and moves in, forming a family with Sethe and Denver.
5. Paul D's presence awakens painful memories for Sethe and makes Denver jealous of the attention her mother gives him.
6. A strange woman named Beloved appears at the house, claiming not to know who she is or where she's from.

7. Beloved asks Sethe many questions about her past and seems to know intimate details only Sethe knows.

8. Denver tells Beloved about her miraculous birth after Sethe escaped from Sweet Home while pregnant.

9. Paul D recalls his experiences on a chain gang and his subsequent wandering before arriving at 124.

10. Sethe, Denver, and Beloved visit the clearing where Baby Suggs used to hold spiritual gatherings, and Sethe feels ghostly fingers massaging and then choking her.

11. Beloved gradually forces Paul D out of the house, eventually seducing him and making him relive painful memories.

12. The novel flashes back to Baby Suggs waiting for Sethe and her husband Halle, who never arrives, while Sethe escapes to 124 with her children.

13. Baby Suggs hosts a grand celebration that offends the community with its display of joy and pride.

14. Shortly after, four horsemen, including Schoolteacher, come to take Sethe and her children back to Sweet Home.

15. Sethe kills one of her children with a saw and is ready to kill the others when the horsemen arrive, leading to her arrest.

16. In the present, Stamp Paid tells Paul D about Sethe's past, causing Paul D to confront Sethe and then leave 124.

17. Stamp Paid hears strange voices from the house and sees Beloved through a window but cannot talk to Sethe.
18. Beloved forces Sethe to remember more of her painful past, and Sethe believes Beloved is the returned spirit of her dead child.
19. Sethe grows weaker under Beloved's influence, and Denver seeks work to provide for the household.
20. The community rallies to support Sethe and Denver, and a group of women perform a kind of exorcism to free Sethe from Beloved.
21. Mr. Bodwin's arrival triggers Sethe to mistake him for Schoolteacher, causing her to attack him before being restrained, and Beloved disappears.
22. After Beloved's departure, 124 becomes more normal. Sethe loses her mind, but Denver begins working and hopes to attend college.
23. Paul D returns and promises to care for Sethe, and the community gradually forgets about Beloved.