“Every thing is progressive in the human mind. When there is leisure to reflect, ideas will succeed each other in a long train, before the ultimate point be gained. The attention must shift from one side to the other of a given question many times before it settles. Constantia did not form her resolutions in haste, but when once formed, they were exempt from fluctuation.”
The narrator of this novel is a close friend of Constantia. This description of her friend is indicative of the closeness between the two, a closeness which allows her to narrate the life of another person with confidence. The quote here cements early on the basic foundation of her friend’s personality. Constantia is intelligent, not given to impulse, but somewhat stubborn in sticking to her opinions once intellectually formed. There is more going on in this quote than mere character description. The narrator here is addressing the secret witness: the reader. She is encouraging readers to take in everything on the surface level, while also encouraging them to refrain from making any impulsive and snap judgments before all the evidence has been encountered.
“Constance, however, was permitted to take no share in the general festivity. Such was the colour of her fate, that the yellow fever, by affording her a respite from toil, supplying leisure for the acquisition of a useful branch of knowledge, and leading her to the discovery of a cheaper, more simple, and more wholesome method of subsistence, had been friendly, instead of adverse, to her happiness. Its disappearance, instead of relieving her from suffering, was the signal for the approach of new cares.”
The protagonist, Constantia, is sometimes referred to, as here, with the name Constance. This quote alludes to the how the story is set against the backdrop of an epidemic of Yellow Fever. The point being made here is that while thousands succumbed to the contagion and died, regardless of social or economic status, others, like Constantia, actually benefitted. In this sense, Yellow Fever becomes a metaphor for democratic equality. Constantia grasps the opportunity that fate had delivered her to take advantage of the democratic ideal of bettering herself. It is directly as a result of the epidemic—thematically speaking, the result of democratic equality—that offers a pathway to empowerment. Since the heart of the story pits Constantia against a villainous man who is a metaphor for patriarchal power and control, this empowerment is essential to her ultimate destiny.
“In his intercourse with women, he deemed himself superior to the allurements of what is called love. His inferences were drawn from a consideration of the physical propensities of an human being. In his scale of enjoyments the gratifications which belonged to these, were placed at the bottom. Yet he did not entirely disdain them, and when they could be purchased without the sacrifice of superior advantages, they were sufficiently acceptable. His mistake on this head was the result of his ignorance. He had not hitherto met with a female worthy of his confidence. Their views were limited and superficial, or their understandings were betrayed by the tenderness of their hearts.”
This is the narrator’s description of the mindset of Ormond. It is important to keep in mind, however, that the narrator is a woman and intimate friend of Constantia. The description of Ormond in this passage can, therefore, color the reader’s impressions of Ormond and perhaps create a bias which cannot be overcome. The part of this passage in which she suggests that Ormond’s opinion of women being naturally inferior to men being due to his never having confronted a woman he finds worthy is a direct reference to Constantia, whom she holds in the highest regard. This quote serves to foreshadow the central conflict of the narrative in which Ormond must confront this type of woman and how he will handle having his viewpoint challenged.
