Narcissus

"Narcissus" by Evelyn Scott is a story from the early 1900's that follows Julia, a main character trying to figure out who she is while dealing with love and what people expect of her. Julia’s journey to find herself is shown through her relationships with her lover, Dudley Allen, and her husband, Laurence Farley, which brings up topics of love, disloyalty, and wanting to be your own person. The book starts by showing Julia as a woman who knows herself but is also unsure. At first, she loves her beauty and freedom as she gets ready to see Dudley, but as they spend time together, it's clear that her feelings for him are complicated. Dudley also has his own doubts and struggles with what their relationship is, which changes between being caring and angry. Their time together shows a difficult situation filled with needing each other emotionally and not understanding each other. As things happen, how Julia sees herself and the men in her life becomes complex, suggesting how deep her character is and the bigger ideas of finding yourself and getting close to others that will be explored in the story.