Self-Delusion

Several of the characters, Charles being the most notable, suffer from false images of who they are, what their relationships are, and what their goals are meant to bring into their lives. They have also created a collection of beliefs about their past, about how their past affects their present, and how the future will either fulfill or transform those beliefs. In many cases, these self-delusions eventually disappear - Lizzie's ideas about the rightness of a relationship with Charles, Rosina's desire to marry him, Gilbert's devotion, and Hartley's presumed and only occasional interest in fleeing. In these cases, delusions resolve into a kind of acceptance of reality. In other cases, the characters' self delusions linger, but are masked or hidden. These include Peregrine's hatred, Titus' resentment of his parents and his belief that a relationship with Charles will provide him with the love he's always sought, and Fitch's...