The Danish Girl Chapter 2 Summary

How It All Goes Down

  • This chapter is about how Greta and Einar met at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts on the first of September, 1914.
  • Greta never though she would marry but she falls for Einar, her art teacher—she thinks he's "a pretty man" (2.18).
  • She invites him to a party, but the party never happens. As war is breaking out, Greta's father returns to California, where they are from, dragging Greta with her.
  • Now we're back in 1925, a few weeks after Einar slipped on Anna's dress.
  • Einar has been thinking about "Little Lili," his female alter ego, and Greta wants to see her again.
  • One day soon after, Greta comes home and there's a girl sitting in a chair.
  • It's Lili.
  • Greta leaves, and when she returns, Einar is painting.
  • Greta asks if Lili will return, and Einar says, "Only if you want her to" (2.45), to which Greta says it's up to Lili to decide.
  • The Artists' Ball is in June, and Einar doesn't want to go—but Lili does.
  • Einar and Greta start telling their friends about Lili, saying she is Einar's cousin.
  • Weirdly, Einar often seems to forget who this mysterious "cousin" is.