What shall we ever do?

The section ends with a feeling of ennui, as the man and woman contemplate the comfortable tedium of their days: nothing between a bath in the morning and an afternoon car trip. They will continue their symbolic chess games until the ominous "knock upon the door" - signifying the arrival (and relief) of death?

There is speculation that the woman in A Game of Chess was based on Eliot's first wife, Vivienne. The Eliots had a difficult relationship, exacerbated by their mental health issues.

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