How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Book.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #10
Mr. Harthouse drew a long breath; and, if ever man found himself in the position of not knowing what to say, made the discovery beyond all question that he was so circumstanced. The childlike ingenuousness with which his visitor spoke, [Sissy's] modest fearlessness, her truthfulness which put all artifice aside, her entire forgetfulness of herself in her earnest quiet holding to the object with which she had come; all this, together with her reliance on his easily given promise — which in itself shamed him — presented something in which he was so inexperienced, and against which he knew any of his usual weapons would fall so powerless, that not a word could he rally to his relief. (3.2.38)
This kind of woman, and this kind of female power, is a recurring favorite for Dickens – and actually the way that the Victorian age liked to see its women. Sissy is so morally pure that she somehow can muster power over a man who is socio-economically her superior. The problem, of course, is that this kind of moral purity is only attainable for a character in a novel. For real women, Sissy is not a realistic example, nor a fair goal.