“‘Now, you see, Tom,’ said Mr. Harthouse in conclusion, himself tossing over a rose or two, as if it wanted to become a part of the mainland; ‘every man is selfish in everything he does, and I am exactly like the rest of my fellow-creatures. I am desperately intent; the languor of his desperation"

One of James Harthouse’s most prominent characteristics is his selfish nature. He admits to Tom in this passage that, “every man is selfish in everything he does, and I am exactly like the rest of my fellow-creatures”. Harthouse’s interest in Louisa is not based off of  true feelings, he is only interested in himself and this challenge of having a married woman fall for him. In this passage it almost seems as if Harthouse does have Louisa’s best interests at heart because he is manipulating Tom to be kinder to Louisa. Harthouse knows that Tom is the only person Louisa cares for and it would make her unbelievably happy if Tom treated her with more respect and care. However, Harthouse’s motivation is not to make Louisa happy, it is to make her enamored with him. His actions are for his own self interest: “So much the less is the whelp the only creature that she cares for”. The relationship between Louisa and James Harthouse is doomed to spiral down Mrs. Sparsit’s staircase from the beginning because James and Louisa do not actually care for each other. Louisa cares only for her brother Tom, and Harthouse cares only for himself.

Megan Bogolia