Splendors and Glooms

“At the thought of seeing him again, her heartbeat quickened, and she felt a tug in her belly that she recognized as hunger—not hunger for food but for something far more shameful and dangerous: love.

She recoiled at the thought. Love Grisini? She hated him. She had cursed him, and she was glad of it. Rather than ask for his help, she would burn alive.”

These lines come as Cassandra tries to decide how to deal with the phoenix-stone’s effects on her. Years ago, Grisini started to tell her something about the stone’s power, but she didn’t let him finish, something she now regrets. Her thoughts here reflect her complex relationship with Grisini, as well as her own flaws. Cassandra loved Grisini years ago, and she wanted to believe he loved her back. In truth, he only loved the power she offered him, yet Cassandra’s thoughts suggest, despite this betrayal, she still loves him. Her protests and justifications about hatred and being glad she cursed him are directly at odds with the hunger she feels for love, showing how we rationalize things we don’t want to feel.

“Dr. Wintermute refused. Professor Grisini was a foreigner; foreigners were invariably dirty and often ill. Clara pleaded. Dr. Wintermute said that the whole thing was out of the question. Clara, accepting defeat, did not argue, but she wept. That settled matters. Spoiled or not, Clara did not cry often. When she did, she generally got her way.”

This passage introduces the complicated relationship between Clara and her father, as well as the dark situation in the Wintermute house. Despite the heavy atmosphere of grief, Clara has never wanted for anything, which means she knows how to get her way. Dr. Wintermute’s rejection of Grisini calls to the culture of Victorian London and how foreigners were viewed as dirty and unwanted by upper class Londoners. As the center of prosperity at the time, London became a destination for people from poor parts of Europe, including Italy (Grisini’s home country).