“Quite simply, Saffy knew that the things for which she had superior talent were those that did not matter. She wrote well, she was a fine dressmaker, she could cook (passably) and lately even clean; but what use were such skills when she remained enslaved? Worse, a willing slave. Because for the most part, it shamed her to admit, Saffy didn’t mind the role. There was an ease after all, that came with being subordinate, a release of burden.”
This quote illuminates the conflicting roles that the twins, Saffy and Percy, play in each other’s lives. They have both consigned themselves to these roles, with Percy being the dominant twin and Saffy the submissive one. Although Saffy resents being cast in this role at times, she also finds a safety in it, feeling that she doesn’t have to shoulder all the responsibilities of life. Later it is revealed that there is a reason for Saffy’s timidity and that she might have turned out differently if her father had acted less selfishly.
“I saw in her pained expression a lifetime of entrapment. They were twins, two halves of a whole, but where one had longed for escape, to lead a single existence, the other had refused to be left alone. And Saffy, whose softness made her weak, whose compassion made her kind, had been unable ever to wrest herself free”.
This quote depicts the reticent life Saffy has led due to the trauma she witnessed as a child and the power imbalance in her relationship with her twin, Percy. As twins, she and Percy have a strong and loving bond, yet they have also suffered from this relationship. By taking on the protector role, Percy has also shielded Saffy from facing her fears and going out into the world, thus assigning her to a sheltered and often unfulfilling life at the castle.
“Her father had told her she was a creature of the castle, that she belonged there and it was safest not to leave, but he’d been wrong. She knew that now. The opposite was true: away from the castle, away from the world of Raymond Blythe, the terrible things he’d told her, his seeping guilt and sadness, she was free."
This quote refers to Juniper, shortly after she leaves the castle as a young woman and experiences life on her own in London for the first time. Away from the castle and her father’s controlling rules and expectations, she can thrive and develop into an independent woman with her own dreams and desires.
“I saw in her pained expression a lifetime of entrapment. They were twins, two halves of a whole, but where one had longed for escape, to lead a single existence, the other had refused to be left alone. And Saffy, whose softness made her weak, whose compassion made her kind, had been unable ever to wrest herself free."
This quote depicts the reticent life Saffy has led due to the trauma she witnessed as a child and the power imbalance in her relationship with her twin, Percy. As twins, her and Percy have a strong and loving bond, yet they have also suffered from this relationship. By taking on the protector role, Percy has also shielded Saffy from facing her fears and going out into the world, thus assigning her to a sheltered and often unfulfilling life at the castle.
“I sometimes think she’d be happy for we three sisters to remain together here at Milderhurst forever. Can you imagine? All of us old ladies with hair so long and white we could sit on it?”
This quote is a clear demonstration of foreshadowing within the novel. Saffy is speaking to her friend and former housekeeper Lucy about what it would be like if all three of the sisters ended up never leaving the castle and growing old together. She and Lucy speak of it as an outlandish scenario, with neither knowing that it would prove to be a completely accurate depiction of the sisters’ futures.
