How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I went away wondering why the green toe of her left slipper was dark and damp with something that could have been blood. (1.38)
Mrs. Willsson seems to be hiding something important from the Op, but she dismisses him too quickly for him to know for sure. Is Mrs. Willsson a potential femme fatale figure? Why are women so often depicted as sinful and deceptive?
Quote #2
"Was she jealous?"
"She was," he said, not yelling now, "and domineering, and spoiled, and suspicious, and greedy, and mean, and unscrupulous, and deceitful, and selfish, and damned band – altogether damned bad!" (2.35)
This isn't exactly a flattering portrayal of Dinah Brand. She sounds like a spoiled brat crossed with a domineering matriarch. Dinah exercises a strong hold over many of the men in the novel, despite (or perhaps because of) her selfishness. Does this initial portrait of Dinah accurately reflect the way she develops over the course of the novel?
Quote #3
"You'll be disappointed at first. Then, without being able to say how or when it happened, you'll find you've forgotten your disappointment, and the first thing you know you'll be telling her your life's history, and all your troubles and hopes. […] And then you're caught, absolutely caught." (3.93)
Albury explains to the Op how mysterious Dinah's power is over men. How she's able to lure them in without them even knowing it. She's like a black widow spider catching her prey in her silky web. But Dinah isn't a completely black-and-white character: she's neither purely evil nor an innocent victim of circumstances.