[H]e initially conceived of Olivier as a man of the greatest promise destroyed by a fatal flaw, the unreasoning passion for a woman dissolving into violence, desperately weakening everything he tried to do. For how could learning and poetry be defended when it produced such dreadful results and was advanced by such imperfect creatures? At least Julien did not see the desperate fate of the ruined lover as a nineteenth-century novelist or a poet might have done, recasting the tale to create some appealing romantic hero, dashed to pieces against the unyielding society that produced him. Rather, his initial opinion -- held almost to the last -- was of Olivier as a failure, ruined by a terible weakness. Iain Pears
About This Quote

A contemporary of the playwright, Oscar Wilde wrote of the tragic aspects of the story. He believed that the character of Olivier had been destroyed by passion for a woman. Wilde felt that he was doomed to fail at everything he attempted because his strength had been sapped by his weakness for this woman. However, Oscar Wilde is often credited with being one of the first people to create a protagonist who is also a victim. He suggests that Olivier is not simply a tragic figure but also a victim.

Source: The Dream Of Scipio

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