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burnt-bliss-novel · 4 years ago

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Part I: Meet the Characters!

This blog is dedicated to analyzing historical romance novel Burnt Bliss. But before we jump into our first analysis, we have to meet our vibrant cast of characters and see what their initial appearances were like.

William Garnett: Will lives with his rich family in England's countryside. He's intelligent, he loves to read and often writes in his new journal. At 15, he's now slated for both an arranged marriage and an Accounting position in his parents Merchanting business, but neither of those prospects suit him, especially after he develops feelings for Augustus.

Augustus Black: Will's passionate, affable best friend of the same age he met as a child through their fathers working together. After his youngest sister dies of Plague, he and his other sister move in with Will's family. He is uneducated but very intelligent & is inspired to become a doctor. He and Will soon develop from a friendship to romance. He cares a lot about the poor and working class, and is uncomfortable with the Garnetts' litany of servants.

Lillian Garnett: Will's spirited younger sister. She is gifted with extraordinary abilities in mathematics and wants to have a career one day. Her parents want to ready her for a proper marriage, even at 13. While she resents her expectations as an upper-class young lady, she willingly dresses femininely and isn't a tomboy. She's just extremely sensible and pragmatic.

Margaret Garnett: Will & Lily's mother who enjoys her privileged life and the latest fashion. She's very image-conscious and expects her children to care about what others think as much as she does. She does love her children, but is controlling and manipulative towards them to accomplish her own goals.

Francis Garnett: Will and Lily's father who's unemotional and very sexist. He pushes Will's future career and gives Lily no credit despite her obvious talent. He's much harsher than his wife, who tries to placate everyone. He does actually love his wife, but doesn't show it often or have a warm relationship with his children.

Amadeus ("Uncle Deus") Garnett: Francis's freethinking scientist brother. He's open-minded, quirky and very devoted to Will and Lily. He's a matchmaker on the side. He's the total opposite of Francis and Margaret. He is the lone adult supporting Will and Augustus's relationship.

Sarah Brighton: A wealthy girl about Will's age. Her parents have done business with Will's, and they've set up an arranged marriage for them, but she currently has eyes for her parents' stable boy. She's intelligent and extremely creative, often designing and wearing original dresses. While she appreciates her carefree lifestyle and her parents love and respect her, she eventually longs for more freedom.

Color Symbolism In First Impressions

When we first meet our characters, I use color symbolism via their clothing to denote something important to know about each of them.

Will is first, and he wears a sky-blue jacket. This specific color makes me think "head in the clouds", Will is someone who daydreams, or analyzes and ponders the world around him. He can be sensitive, and a little shy around new people.

Will is also wearing an opposite color to Augustus, who's wearing a similar coat, but in a scarlet red with gold embroidery. This evoking the Red/Blue Oni trope, fire and ice, & the concept of "opposites attract".

Augustus’s coat being red makes us think of passion, energy, fire, or courage. The specific hue of scarlet may hint at rebelliousness or impropriety. (After all, The Scarlet Letter was set only twenty years before this story) Augustus is someone who has strong morals, and a certain type of bravery that may include acting rash, even if doing what he sees as the right thing puts himself at risk. He’s emotional and unapologetically so. The gold embroidery could symbolize having a ‘heart of gold’ or being ‘bright’ as in clever.

When we meet Will’s mother Margaret, she’s technically wearing the same color as her son, blue. But she wears a very different shade with a very different meaning. She wears a royal blue and black gown of velvet and a string of pearls. She wears pearls here as they're both in vogue for the time period and prove how rich and classy she is. Plus, the name "Margaret" in fact, means "pearl".

So, royal blue, of course immediately makes us think of kings and queens: powerful, important, rich and in an absolute, unquestioned position of authority. This blue paired with black can also denote elegance, mystery and maybe a 'cold' personality.

When we first met Will’s sister Lily, she's wearing a gold dress with a brocade fabric. The color gold and the fashionable, expensive material shows she's rich and able to keep up with the latest trends, much like teenagers do today. The gold color can also be seen as someone with high aspirations, like the term "going for the gold". It's described as a "brilliant" color to signifying her exceptional intellect.

The last important color symbolism is with Augustus’s mother Caroline. She wears a forest green wool dress, which is described to be “as comforting and familiar as her voice.” This tells us several things: if it’s as familiar as her voice, she probably wears it often, implying she can’t afford to have dozens of dresses to chose from. The wool fabric, while good for the winter weather, isn’t nearly as fancy or expensive as Margaret’s velvet. The color symbolism of forest green shows us Caroline is grounded, “down to earth” and has a healthy, natural way of viewing the world, not needing anything flashy to show off to others.

If you're curious about the story after reading this post, here's the Wattpad link!

https://www.wattpad.com/story/11544455?utm_source=android&utm_medium=link&utm_content=share_reading&

Now that we’ve learned vital information about our characters, our next post will delve into the relationships between them. Stay tuned!

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