Character Analysis
Violet Robinson
No modest violet, Octavius' attractive sister is womanly enough, but in the sense made clear by Ann Whitefield. In reply to Ann's statement that Violet is "hard as nails," Octavius insists that she is "thoroughly womanly at heart." Ann then asks: "Is it unwomanly to be thoughtful and businesslike and sensible? Do you want Violet to be an idiot — or something worse like me?" She certainly is no idiot; she is a young lady who knows exactly what she wants and who gets it. Ann admires her especially because she does so "without coaxing — without having to make people sentimental about her." She is much too practical to defy convention, thus her dislike of Jack Tanner and her expression of outrage when the well-meaning self-styled revolutionist rushes to her defense. Whereas Ann wants a father for her children and is concerned with the future of the race, Violet is interested in getting an affluent husband who will provide nourishment and creature comforts on the grand scale and who will not be so romantic as to want to work for them if he does not have to. One may be sure that she married the son of an American millionaire confident that she would be able to win over the father who is dead-set on having his son marry an aristocrat. The skill with which she does exactly that and the firmness with which she schools Hector add appreciably to the comedy. Malone, who first angrily declared that Violet had married a beggar, is soon begging her to accept a thousand dollar bill and pleading with her to bring Hector to his senses.