Mrs. (Lottie) Wilkins

Each of the four women who experience journeys of transformation as the result of their vacation in Italy can be regarded as a protagonist, even though there are differences in the context, content, distance and result of those journeys. The transformation of Mrs. Wilkins, for example, might be seen as somewhat less complex than that of the other characters, in that it doesn't seem to take too much to get her to the point of realizing her true self. Her sense of freedom, her awareness of self truth, and her ability to act that truth all seem to manifest as soon as she sets foot in the villa. Her generosity of spirit, her impulsive nature, her insight, and her connection with both her inner nature and the outer nature of the world seem to have been only thinly veneered over by the expectations of society in...