Nicholas Gaudio

“In the drawing-room of which mansion, there presently entered to them the most remarkable girl Mr. James Harthouse had ever seen. She was so constrained, and yet so careless; so reserved, and yet so watchful; so cold and proud, and yet so sensitively ashamed of her husband’s braggart humility—from which she shrunk as if every example of it were a cut or a blow; that it was quite a new sensation to observe her. In face she was no less remarkable than in manner. Her features were handsome; but their natural play was so locked up, that it seemed impossible to guess at their genuine expression. Utterly indifferent, perfectly self-reliant, never at a loss, and yet never at her ease, with her figure in company with them there, and her mind apparently quite alone—it was of no use ‘going in’ yet awhile to comprehend this girl, for she baffled all penetration.”

p. 127

This passage was brought up just after James Harthouse got introduced to Mr. Bounderby (Louisa’s husband). While in the Bounderby residence, James sees the jaw dropping Louisa for the first time. Although told in third person, the whole paragraph refers to the enamored James who essentially reflects on his crystalline moment when confronted with the positively mysterious Louisa. Past the initial hyperbolization of Louisa’s facade, Dickens then juxtaposes contrasting polar emotions, such as “so constrained yet so careless” and “so cold and proud, yet so sensitively ashamed”, essentially saying that Loo not only encompases emotions but is emotions, as she cannot be deduced to a one dimensional character in Harthouse’s mind. Noting Loo’s confined nature, James sees it as is opportunity -- his duty -- to express his open, curious attitude, liberating Louisa from her factual upbringings, sprouting James’ curiosity and their eventual, intimate relationship to come.

Nicholas Gaudio