Question

There are a few other characters mentioned in the story. Discuss the way their reactions help us to understand the inferiority complex of Mabel.

Answer 1

1. Mrs. Barnet:
   As soon as Mabel takes off her cloak, Mrs. Barnet tries to draw her attention towards the various appliances needed to tidy one’s hair, clothes, etc., Mabel panics and the first thought that comes to her mind is that her dress is awful, just as she suspected.
2. Rose Shaw:
   She compliments Mabel by telling her that her dress looked perfectly charming. However, Mabel’s low self-worth makes her think that Rose is simply trying to mock her by sarcastically complimenting her dress.
3. Robert Haydon:
   As Mabel thinks out loud that she looks like a dowdy, decrepit, dingy old fly, Robert stops to hear her. He thinks that Mabel is trying to reassure herself by saying this, so that she can feel that she is detached, witty and did not feel out of anything. He, therefore, says something quite polite to Mabel, which she misinterprets as insincere. She cannot comprehend that someone can actually say something genuinely nice to her and therefore she thinks of it as a lie.
4. Miss Milan:
   Mabel’s low regard of self can be witnessed when one small comment from Miss Milan overwhelms her to the extent that she is moved to tears thinking about the patient and enduring side of the nature of humans.
5. Charles Burt:
   Mabel is already vulnerable when she tells Charles that her dress is old-fashioned. Though she tries to cover up by saying that she was talking about the picture, Charles is already annoyed and announces that “Mabel’s got a new dress”. But to Mabel, who is already vulnerable, this feels as though she has been humiliated in front of everyone; as if she is the fly again and has been pushed back into the saucer. She depicts Charles in a negative light, almost as a villain, though that is not the case. Mabel’s insecurities have made her feel that everyone around her dislikes her and her dress.