It is evident, from the
emphasis given by the chapter-title, that this subject is very deeply
related to the theme of the romance; and no theory can explain Miriam's
passionate utterances about the copy of Guido's portrait, except that
which supposes her own situation to be that of Beatrice. This chapter is
full of the strongest hints of the fact. Miriam's sudden resemblance to
the picture, at the instant when she so yearns to grasp the secret of
Beatrice's view of her own guilt or innocence; her ardent defence of
Beatrice's course, as "the best virtue possible under the
circumstances," when Hilda condemns it; her suggestion that, after all,
only a woman could have painted the poor girl's thoughts upon her face,
and that _she herself_ has "a great mind to undertake a copy,"
giving it "what it lacks";--all these things point clearly. But there is
a mass of inferential evidence, besides; many veiled allusions and
approaches to a revelation, as well as that very marked description of
the sketches in which Miriam has portrayed in various moods a "woman
acting the part of a revengeful mischief towards man," and the hint, in
the description of her portrait of herself, that "she might ripen to be
what Judith was, when she vanquished Holofernes with her beauty, and
slew him for too much adoring it." There is no need to pursue the proof
further: readers will easily find it on re-examining the book. But what
is most interesting, is to observe how Hawthorne has imagined two women
of natures so widely opposed as Hilda and Miriam under a similar
pressure of questionable blood-guiltiness.
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