The Sun Also Rises Lady Brett Ashley Quotes

I told the driver to go to the Parc Montsouris, and got in, and slammed the door. Brett was leaning back in the corner, her eyes closed. I sat beside her. The cab started with a jerk.

"Oh, darling, I’ve been so miserable," Brett said. (3.40)

Despite Brett’s earlier show of high spirits, she can admit her misery to Jake; their intimate relationship allows her to let down her guard and reveal her feelings to him.

"Oh darling," Brett said, "I’m so miserable."

I had that feeling of going through something that has all happened before. "You were happy a minute ago." (7.30)

Brett’s misery is never too far beneath the surface. Every time she’s with Jake, his mere presence seems to remind her of her feelings for him, and the impossibility of their situation.

"Come on," she whispered throatily. "Let’s get out of here. Makes me damned nervous."

Outside in the hot brightness of the street Brett looked up at the treetops in the wind. The praying had not been much of a success.

"Don’t know why I get so nervy in church," Brett said. "Never does me any good." We walked along.

"I’m damned bad for a religious atmosphere," Brett said. "I’ve the wrong type of face." (18.14)

Brett can’t take the contemplative atmosphere of the church—her own demons make her too nervous in such a setting. The "nervy" feeling she gets in church probably has more to do with her denial of her own unhappiness than with anything else.