“When once sordid interest seizes on the heart, it freezes up the source of every warm and liberal feeling; it is an enemy alike to virtue and to taste − this it perverts, and that it annihilates.”
This phrase directly concerns with Pierre de La Motte. He actually is a kind man, but gambling, longing for money made him dishonorable and heartless. And only in the end of the story the author gives him a chance to change himself and show his true essence.
Let us enjoy the good and forget the evil.
These words show Adeline’s core. She has always been getting into troubles: death of her mother, monastery with wily prioress, angry father, treachery of people whom she trusted. But she always tries not to lose fortitude, to enjoy even the small joys of life: nature, books, people who have helped her even once.
“To discover depravity in those whom we have loved, is one of the most exquisite tortures to a virtuous mind.”
Here the author “inventories” the situation which took place with the protagonists of the story. Adeline, naïve and innocent young woman, having got into the La Motte’s family, was very thankful to her savers, but when they showed her their kindness and good intentions concerning her, she felt true love and devotion to these people. But as much as she loved them, as much she was disappointed with them, when they betrayed her.
