Question

As a reader do you sympathise with Matilda? Give reasons from the text to support your answer.

Answer 1

I think Matilda is one of the finest human characters that has ever been written. Matilda's pride in her stunning appearance was her one shortcoming. But with humans, this is quite natural. Matilda was from a lower middle class household and chose to assume a position of deference even after marriage. She may not have allowed herself to wed a clerk if she had been very ambitious. It is tragic that her attractiveness was the root of all of her problems. She became firstly sad and dissatisfied because she was a materialistic woman. Second, she gave up her generally healthy existence for a life of struggle and hardship. She was proud, but not arrogant, because of her beauty. Finally, Matilda overcame all of her weaknesses, showed no remorse for her lost beauty, and emerged as the definition of a character.