Edith is ceaselessly presented as the embodiment of remarkable goodness, noble self-sacrifice, infinite patience.
Besides her charitable deeds, she immerses herself in moral bondage to her host family. She effaces herself before Lady Ida, even agreeing to the woman's demand not to join the group's activities.
But Amy will not let Edith enter into seclusion. Thus Edith continues to participate, to discourage Lord Percy, and to yield before Lady Ida's verbal barbs which grow ever more hateful as the desirable nobleman increasingly, and despite himself, reveals where his affections lie.
For much of the novel it seems that Edith must find the identity and inner peace she hopes for through the self-sacrifice she practices fully. The reader might conclude for a time that virtue is its own reward, even though this virtue saddens.....
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