Cometh Up as a Flower Literary Elements

Novel of Sensation

Victorian England

First person narration by the protagonist Nell

At the beginning, the tone is naive and romantic but quickly turns tragic in the second half.

Nell Lestrange and her sister Dolly Lestrange

The Lestrange family is impoverished but of noble standing, and they are resting their hopes on the daughters marrying wealthy aristocrats. However, Nell, who has found a suitable suitor in Sir Hugh, falls in love with the handsome soldier Dick.

Nell confronts her sister Dolly for forging a letter in her name in order to keep Dick from reaching out to her, therefore pushing Nell into a loveless marriage with Sir Hugh.

Most of Nell’s reading material is served as foreshadowing throughout the novel. She stops reading a religious text, to go meet up with her lover. This suggests that the protagonist is not truly learning the moral values, or is blinded by desire, which is a sign she will learn her lesson the hard way.

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There are many allusions to fairytales, like Cinderella. This is done to dismantle the ideas of fairytales and the expectations put on women during the Victorian Era.

Lestrange Hall is often described as paradise, which makes the reader liken it to be a version of the garden of Eden.

While both sister follow the trope of the light and dark sisters, their characters seems to have been switched up, even though their ending follows the tradition. Nell who is the dark sister, is shown to be far kinder and sympathetic than her cold sister Dolly.

The structure of the novel initially follows the same structure as romantic fairytales such as Cinderella.

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The final scene provides some catharsis for the reader, after the heavy climax of Nell confronting Dolly. Nell, who is on her deathbed, has forgiven her sister, has lost her lover, and has now turned to God. The reader feels that, perhaps, Nell’s suffering is finally over and she may rest in peace.