The subsequent alteration
of the situation, by which he makes her the half-sister of his hero, is
owing, as Mr. Higginson has pointed out, to the fact "that a heroine
must be supplied who corresponds to the idea in the lover's soul; like
Helena in the second part of Faust." [Footnote: A phase of character
rich in interest, but which I can only mention, in passing, is presented
in the person of Sybil Dacy, who here occupies very much the same place,
in some regards, as Roger Chillingworth in "The Scarlet Letter." The
movement of the story largely depends on a subtle scheme of revenge
undertaken by her, as that of "The Scarlet Letter" hangs upon the mode
of retribution sought by the physician; but her malice is directed,
characteristically, against the slayer of the young officer who had
despoiled her of her honor, and, again characteristically, she is unable
to consummate her plan, from the very tenderness of her feminine heart,
which leads her first to half sympathize with his dreams, then pity him
for the deceit she practised on him, and at last to rather love than
hate him.]
But there is a suitable difference between the working of the womanly
element in "Faust" and in Hawthorne's romance. In the former instance it
is through the gratification of his infernal desire that the hero is
awakened from his trance of error and restored to remorse; while
Septimius's failure to accomplish his intended destiny appears to be
owing to the inability of his aspiring nature to accommodate itself to
that code of "moral dietetics" which is to assist his strange project.
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