"His visit was not long, but before he went he fixed a scorpion in the heart of Charlotte, whose venom embittered every future hour of her life."
— Rowson, Susanna (1762-1828)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for William Lane, at the Minerva
Date
1791, 1794
Metaphor
"His visit was not long, but before he went he fixed a scorpion in the heart of Charlotte, whose venom embittered every future hour of her life."
Metaphor in Context
Just as she had by this manner of reasoning brought her mind to some tolerable degree of composure, she was surprised by a visit from Belcour. The dejection visible in Charlotte's countenance, her swoln eyes and neglected attire, at once told him she was unhappy: he made no doubt but Montraville had, by his coldness, alarmed her suspicions, and was resolved, if possible, to rouse her to jealousy, urge her to reproach him, and by that means occasion a breach between them. "If I can once convince her that she has a rival," said he, "she will listen to my passion if it is only to revenge his slights." Belcour knew but little of the female heart; and what he did know was only of those of loose and dissolute lives. He had no idea that a woman might fall a victim to imprudence, and yet retain so strong a sense of honour, as to reject with horror and contempt every solicitation to a second fault. He never imagined that a gentle, generous female heart, once tenderly attached, when treated with unkindness might break, but would never harbour a thought of revenge.
His visit was not long, but before he went he fixed a scorpion in the heart of Charlotte, whose venom embittered every future hour of her life.
(II.xx, pp. 20-2; p. 76 in Penguin edition)
His visit was not long, but before he went he fixed a scorpion in the heart of Charlotte, whose venom embittered every future hour of her life.
(II.xx, pp. 20-2; p. 76 in Penguin edition)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Susanna Rowson, Charlotte: A Tale of Truth (London: Minerva Press, 1791). Republished in America: Charlotte: A Tale of Truth (Philadelphia: M. Carey, 1794). <Link to UVA Special Collections> <Link to UVA E-Text Center>
Text from U.Va. edition. Reading in Charlotte Temple and Lucy Temple, ed. Ann Douglas (New York: Penguin, 1991).
Text from U.Va. edition. Reading in Charlotte Temple and Lucy Temple, ed. Ann Douglas (New York: Penguin, 1991).
Date of Entry
05/29/2013
