Study Guide

The Danish Girl Chapter 22

By David Ebershoff

Chapter 22

With Lili gone, Greta is no longer interested in art—her muse has disappeared.
Her lack of enthusiasm shows in her work, and her paintings are no longer selling.
Carlisle, who walked in on Greta and Hans, thinks it would be a good idea for her to move on with Hans and leave Einar/Lili behind.
But she can't abandon her husband, or Lili—she wants to wait to hear news from her.
When news doesn't arrive, Greta goes to Dresden to find her. You go, girl.
She arrives right after Lili's surgery and waits by her bedside for her to awake.
Greta learns the operation to remove Einar's testicles was successful, and she is glad it worked, but she is also sad: "Once again Greta Waud was a widow" (22.73). She no longer has a husband.
Bolk tells Greta that Einar was right: He is part woman.
See, Einar had ovaries inside his abdomen, which might explain the mysterious bleeding.
Bolk wants to try another surgery to graft tissue from healthy ovaries onto Lili's.
Conveniently, there's a girl with a tumor who is about to die. Well, it's convenient for Lili, not for the girl, because Lili can take the tissue.