Chapters XIII and XIV Summary

As Chapter XIII opens, Stoner and Katherine are joyously continuing their affair. It shocks Stoner—and Katherine—to find that the joys of the intellectual life could find such a complement in the joys of the flesh. Conventional wisdom said that the two opposed one another, but they rejoice in proving the conventional wisdom wrong. Conventional wisdom also said that an adulterous affair should hurt Stoner's marriage, but he finds that it strangely makes domestic life more comfortable for him; he and Edith are even friendlier. For awhile, he thinks Edith is unaware of Katherine but she had found out, somehow, from nearly the beginning. Her reaction surprises him: She does not seem to really care; perhaps, at most, she is a little annoyed. As the fall semester begins, his affair continues on, but whereas...