You seem to me, Miss Archer, a person possessed of a large potential; do be careful not to under-spend your resource.
-- Miss Janeway (chapter 4)

Importance: Isabel recalls her first meeting with Miss Janeway in which she had uttered these words in private to Isabel before they parted. It is evident that Isabel did not heed Miss Janeway’s warning as the novel follows her struggle to free herself from her husband after learning of his deceitful and long-standing affair with one of her good friends. Before her marriage to Mr. Osmond, Isabel’s friends had seen great potential in her and wished her an adventuresome life. Rather than meet their expectations, Isabel had settled down with a much older, egotistical man.

And one of the ways of old Europe he had mastered is the subjugation of Woman?
-- Miss Janeway (chapter 6)

Importance: As Isabel converses with Miss Janeway, she eventually admits that she wishes to be free of her...