“The Lady of the Camellias”
Using the form of inversion in structure, this book, written by Alexandre Dumas, tells a story of Marguerite Gautier who is a young kept woman in Paris in the middle of 1800's, and how she falls in love with a young man named Armand Duval, and then tries to escape from her past. Unfortunately, she returns to her former life because of complicated reasons and dies wretched. As I see it, she is actually a charming and noble woman.
I was deeply moved when I finished reading and lost in thought. The diaries written by Marguerite Gautier convinced me that she sacrificed a lot in order to get the true love. “If I looked after myself properly， I'd die. What keeps me going is the pace of the life I lead. In any case， taking care of yourself is all well and good for society ladies who have a family and friends. But women like me are abandoned the moment we're no more use for feeding the vanity or pleasure of our lovers， and then long， empty evenings follow long empty days. I know， believe me. I was in bed for two months； after the first three weeks， no one came to see me any more.” At first I thought she was wasting her life in drinking and dancing. But later I realized that her attitude towards life was used to hide the lonely woman who she really was.
Marguerite was used and she felt unloved until Armand Duval came into her life and showed her that he really loved her not for what he could get from her. “From the moment I first saw you， I don't know how or why，you have occupied a place in my life. Though I've tried to drive your image out of my mind， it has always come back. Today， when I met you after two years without seeing you， you took an even stronger hold on my heart and my thoughts. Now you have received me here， now I know you and can see everything that is strange in you， the truth is that you've become indispensable to me， and I shall go out of my mind， not simply if you do not love me， but if you do not let me love you.”
It must have taken great courage for Marguerite to leave the life she had lived for so long, though she knew it would not last for long. On the other hand, it also showed that Marguerite really loved Armand Duval, for she could even change herself for him.
However, their happiness did not last for long. When Armand's father came to ask Marguerite to leave Armand because of Armand's reputation and that of his younger innocent sister, Marguerite was afraid and heart broken but she did so even though it meant giving up her own happiness and hurting Armand，for she loved Armand so much. She reluctantly returned to her former life, hoping that Armand would forgive her someday. But Armand thought she betrayed him so he used words as follow to retaliate her: “he sent 500-franc notes and a note together to her .the notes said: This morning, you hurried away. I forgot to pay it to you. This is money I am paying you.” What a great difference between his kindness and concern for Marguerite at the beginning and indifference to her now! Marguerite died and she got only one friend Julie who helped her a lot during her illness.
Armand got to know everything when the diaries sent to him after Marguerite’s death. Can we imagine how sad and regret Armand was at that moment? Things are not always like what we assume. Marguerite is not the same type of women who are cold and heartless.
We often do something wrong and try to do it right but sometimes it is very hard. There is a saying: “Women are like the flowers”. Marguerite is just like the camellia, she could never escape from the destiny. However, I do not believe that we each have a destiny or maybe we are just floating around accidentally –like on a breeze. But it is the society that makes a great influence on us. Marguerite is just a typical example.
