You think too much of your "toilette", Adele; but you may have a flower." I took a rose from a vase and fastened it in her sash. She sighed a sign of ineffable satisfaction, as if her cup of happiness were now full. I turned my face away to conceal a smile I could not suppress; there was something ludicrous as well as painful in the little Parisienne's earnest and innate devotion to matters of dress. Anonymous
About This Quote

In "A Rose for Adele" by George Eliot, a young girl named Adele falls in love with the dashing Count Felix Arkel. Felix is a man of wealth and position, handsome and aristocratic. After a time, however, he begins to have second thoughts about his feelings for the girl. He begins to doubt that he loves her as much as he once thought.

In response to this shift in his feelings, Adele becomes determined to do everything she can to make him love her again. The young woman becomes consumed with making herself look more appealing to the man she loves. She goes out of her way to make herself more appealing to him, trying to make herself more lovely and desirable.

In order to do this, she starts to learn about fashion and beauty from a Parisian hairdresser. She begins wearing less makeup and cutting her hair short. She even goes so far as to wear a flower in her hair…it is another twist on the idea of doing wrong in order to achieve right.

By using a flower as a symbol of adorability and devotion, Adele is not only putting on airs for the Count but putting on airs that are completely out of character for her.

Source: Jane Eyre

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