Two Stalkers One Girl

O boy here we go. Throughout our reading of Wieland, there were many instances where people in our class had suggested that Clara loves Pleyel and sometimes even Carwin. However, lets look at this situation from Pleyel and Carwin's point of view. Did THEY ever love Clara? As the story keeps on unfolding, the conclusion that Pleyel and Carwin only found Clara an object of fascination became more evident. We hear Pleyel's thoughts about Clara first, and in his own words "I thought you accomplished and wise beyond the rest of women. Not a sentiment you uttered, not a look you assumed, that were not, in my apprehension, fraught with the sublimities of rectitude and the illuminations of genius"(133). Here we clearly see that Pleyel adores Clara as an ideal woman who stands above all other women in terms of virtue and intelligence, yet he never says that he wants to be in a relationship with Clara. In fact, we know from Clara's uncle that the reason Pleyel leaves Clara on a trip is not because he's fed up with her but because he is traveling to Boston to meet his love, Theresa, who was still alive(209). On the next page, Clara herself recognizes that she had mistaken Pleyel's friendship for love. Long story short Clara had an unrequited love for Pleyel.

But what of Carwin you say? Since the entrance of Carwin as a character, little had been revealed about his true character. From past readings we've know him to be a secretive and mysterious man who was apparently a criminal wanted for theft and murder. These qualities, however, were from the observations of everyone but Carwin. We finally hear from Carwin himself regarding his past and his special abilities as a Biloquist in Wednesday's reading. From Carwin's confessions we find him to be a mischievous man using his Biloquist abilities for pranks on the Wieland community. There is one passage that was quite interesting where Carwin goes on to say, "I had seen much of the world, but your character exhibited a specimen of human powers that was wholly new to me. My intercourse with your servant furnished me with curious details of your domestic management. I was of a different sex: I was not your husband; I was not even your friend; yet my knowledge of you was of that kind, which conjugal intimacies can give, and, in some respects, more accurate"(234). Does this sound familiar? It should! Like Pleyel, Carwin found an unnatural fascination in Clara who was a mysterious being that lived outside of his knowledge of the world. I also think that Clara felt the same when she first heard Carwin's voice and declared that "the words uttered by the person without, affected me as somewhat singular, but what chiefly rendered them remarkable, was the tone that accompanied them. It was wholly new. My brother's voice and Pleyel's were musical and energetic. I had fondly imagined, that, in this respect, they were surpassed by none. Now my mistake was detected. I cannot pretend to communicate the impression that was made upon me by these accents, or to depict the degree in which force and sweetness were blended in them"(59). Both Clara and Carwin found something extraordinary in each other. I think this explains why these two are drawn to each other but not due to love. So uh if Clara was as boring as Catharine, there would be no murder(Catharine, kids), no broken friendships(Pleyel), and No lost family(Theodore). You could just say there would be no story at all. In fact if we really wanted to push it, why not say that the force of Clara's Virtue, Intelligence, etc dragged everything in the quiet little community into oblivion.