As someone who has read the novel numerous times, I realized that a lot of the main characters are victims to their social class. For Matthias, he's a victim of a society that expects him to be perfect in everything he does, his feelings for Leyla are viewed as a moment of folly even by him in the initial stages. He's from a social class where love is frowned upon and viewed as a weakness and as such, he himself was never really taught that type of emotional love between lovers which breeds his own twisted sense of love for Leya in the early parts of their relationship.
For Leyla, she's a victim of her past where her fears of abandonment drives her to cling to them even if it's not what she wants. Case in point, her engagement to Kyle, she loves him as a friend and didn't want to lose his friendship if she rejected his proposal so even tho her heart wasn't in it, she accepted it because she feared losing him as a friend and for her that would feel like being abandoned. And we see this in the choices she makes when it comes to Bill. She's also trapped by the choices of her mother in the past which has led to her struggle in agreeing and maintaining a relationship with Matthias.
For Claudine, she is a victim of a society that deems her not a suitable heir because she is a woman and as such she resolves to strengthen herself even if it means using someone to do it.
As someone who has read the novel numerous times, I realized that a lot of the main characters are victims to their social class. For Matthias, he's a victim of a society that expects him to be perfect in everything he does, his feelings for Leyla are viewed as a moment of folly even by him in the initial stages. He's from a social class where love is frowned upon and viewed as a weakness and as such, he himself was never really taught that type of emotional love between lovers which breeds his own twisted sense of love for Leya in the early parts of their relationship.
For Leyla, she's a victim of her past where her fears of abandonment drives her to cling to them even if it's not what she wants. Case in point, her engagement to Kyle, she loves him as a friend and didn't want to lose his friendship if she rejected his proposal so even tho her heart wasn't in it, she accepted it because she feared losing him as a friend and for her that would feel like being abandoned. And we see this in the choices she makes when it comes to Bill. She's also trapped by the choices of her mother in the past which has led to her struggle in agreeing and maintaining a relationship with Matthias.
For Claudine, she is a victim of a society that deems her not a suitable heir because she is a woman and as such she resolves to strengthen herself even if it means using someone to do it.