How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
None of this showed on his face. Like Clara, Thomas Wintermute could make his countenance a mask. He regarded Miss Cameron with a look of courteous interest. "What is the matter, Miss Cameron?" (6.3)
Clara and Dr. Wintermute have both gotten really good at transforming their faces so that they reveal none of their inner emotions. After living in a house of mourning for so long, sometimes it's necessary to hide what they're thinking, especially if they're tired of all the grief and crying.
Quote #2
Clara slept. Never in her life had she known so dense a sleep, a sleep without dreaming without the slightest twitch of finger or eyelid. She was as lifeless as a pressed flower. If she had been awake, she could not have said whether her eyes were open or shut. Her mind was empty, freed from guilt and terror and grief. (9.44)
Clara doesn't yet know what has happened to her—she doesn't even know where she is. That's a good thing because there will be plenty of time for freaking out when she wakes up and realizes that she's now an inanimate puppet.
Quote #3
Her anguish over Clara's disappearance had been so great that he had feared for her reason. Then the letter arrived. The dazzling, improbable hope that Clara might be ransomed had changed Ada into a woman he had never seen. Her eyes were tearless; she was charged with energy and decision. There was only one thing to do, she stated: get the money and pay the ransom. (12.8)
For years now, Mrs. Wintermute has been a hysterical, crying mess. But when the ransom note about Clara comes, she somehow gets stronger, perhaps because she has something to focus on now. She has a task that needs to be completed.
Quote #4
Grisini's regular clothes were grimy and torn, but they had once been elegant; his tattered frock coat had been cut by a master tailor, and his hat was genuine beaver. The clothes he wore now made him look like a pauper. An overcoat woven of some heavy wool covered him from throat to knee. His boots were clumsy, and his trousers were frayed. The torn brim of a slouch hat cast his face into shadow. (15.25)
This isn't Grisini's first time at the rodeo when it comes to evading the police. He has a whole outfit that he uses in order to slip into the shadows and become unrecognizable. What a devious dude.
Quote #5
The puppet in her hand was beautifully made and entirely suitable for a dancer. She had black ringlets and a snow-white frock. Her complexion was delicately pink and white; her Cupid's bow mouth wore an enigmatic simper. Around her neck was a locket smaller than a pea. The jewel in the center flashed blue fire.
"Parsefall," whispered Lizzie Rose. "It's Clara." (17.63-64)
Right away, Lizzie Rose and Parsefall recognize the puppet and are horrified to see that it's Clara. Lizzie Rose doesn't believe that it's the real girl right away, but Parsefall knows deep down inside that Grisini has turned Clara into a puppet. After all, it's happened to him, too.
Quote #6
"I don't know," Lizzie Rose said faintly. "She feels like wax—or soft leather—and oh, Parsefall, I think she's warm—"
I'm not wax, Clara thought. I'm myself. Only I can't move. (18.34-35)
Clara is starting to see that being a puppet comes with certain disadvantages, like not being able to move or speak. This is going to be a really tough situation to get herself out of—and she'll need help.
Quote #7
They did not take the dogs. As they strolled side by side, it dawned on Lizzie Rose that her hands were empty; there was no caravan to push and no dogs straining at the leash. She said in wonder, "I haven't even a market basket," and Parsefall, following her thoughts, favored her with one of his lopsided smiles. (21.2)
Their lives are usually so hard that not having to carry or push something down the street is a treat and transforms the walk into an outing. Lizzie Rose and Parsefall can't wait to go to their first show as audience members.
Quote #8
A thrill of joy ran through Clara. She was moving with such lightness and sureness that she almost fancied that she moved by herself. The drunken man jerked his thumb at her and said, "Look at that!" and she wanted to smile at him. Why, he was—she searched for the right word and found it—innocent. (23.13)
After days and days of lying still and not being able to speak, it's a relief to be moved with the puppet strings, even though she's not the one in control. Thankfully, Clara trusts Parsefall completely. He may be rough around the edges, but he's a good kid.
Quote #9
The coat was loose and warm and deliciously heavy; it hid her nightdress, reaching to the tops of her boots. Lizzie Rose cast a glance over her shoulder. Across the room, the looking glass reflected a stranger: a princess with loose red hair and startled eyes.
The transformation was so arresting that Lizzie Rose would have liked to look at herself a little longer, but she dared not. (30.11-12)
Lizzie Rose has always seen herself as an unremarkable little pauper, but when she tries on the clothes at Strachan's Ghyll, she realizes that she can be striking—she can look like a real princess.
Quote #10
You need only wish for the stone, and you will be yourself again. If your wish is strong enough, your strings will snap and Grisini's spell will be broken. If Clara wished, she might save Parsefall; she could save him if she stole the stone herself. The curse would fall upon her. Clara shut her eyes in terror. (46.4)
Clara doesn't need a magical stone or a watch to turn herself back into a little girl—she just needs courage and the determination to save Parsefall from a horrible fate. She sacrifices herself for his sake out of love, which is stronger than any magic.