| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Lady Susan by Jane Austen: week it was insufferably dull. Now, however, we begin to mend, our party is
enlarged by Mrs. Vernon's brother, a handsome young man, who promises me
some amusement. There is something about him which rather interests me, a
sort of sauciness and familiarity which I shall teach him to correct. He is
lively, and seems clever, and when I have inspired him with greater respect
for me than his sister's kind offices have implanted, he may be an
agreeable flirt. There is exquisite pleasure in subduing an insolent
spirit, in making a person predetermined to dislike acknowledge one's
superiority. I have disconcerted him already by my calm reserve, and it
shall be my endeavour to humble the pride of these self important De
Courcys still lower, to convince Mrs. Vernon that her sisterly cautions
Lady Susan |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Another Study of Woman by Honore de Balzac: I have made you jealous!'--Oh! I only wish I could be!' said I,
admiring the pliancy of her quick intelligence, and these acrobatic
feats which can only be successful in the eyes of the blind. 'But by
dint of going to church I have become very incredulous. On the day of
my first cold, and your first treachery, when you thought I was in
bed, you received the Duke, and you told me you had seen no one.'--'Do
you know that your conduct is infamous?'--'In what respect? I consider
your marriage to the Duke an excellent arrangement; he gives you a
great name, the only rank that suits you, a brilliant and
distinguished position. You will be one of the queens of Paris. I
should be doing you a wrong if I placed any obstacle in the way of
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Les Miserables by Victor Hugo: and you must have pity on such a being, my good Monsieur Javert.
If she were older, she might earn her living; but it cannot be done
at that age. I am not a bad woman at bottom. It is not cowardliness
and gluttony that have made me what I am. If I have drunk brandy,
it was out of misery. I do not love it; but it benumbs the senses.
When I was happy, it was only necessary to glance into my closets,
and it would have been evident that I was not a coquettish and
untidy woman. I had linen, a great deal of linen. Have pity on me,
Monsieur Javert!"
She spoke thus, rent in twain, shaken with sobs, blinded with tears,
her neck bare, wringing her hands, and coughing with a dry,
Les Miserables |
