English & Literature

Who is Anais de Themines from Ourika: An English Translation and what is their importance?

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Anais de Themines is a rich heiress in a distressing situation. Her entire family was killed beneath the guillotine, except for an old great-aunt who became her guardian and wanted to marry her off for fear of leaving her niece without family or protection. Anais had birth, fortune and upbringing. She was sixteen years old, modest and pretty without coquettishness. A friend of Mme. de B proposed that Charles should marry Anais de Themines, and Charles fell in love with her quickly after they met. Anais treated Ourika kindly, asking many questions about Charles, which Ourika answered with pleasure. After she married Charles and bore a son, Ourika was jealous of Anais since she had what Ourika never would have: a husband and a child.