Senso

           Livia presents her self as being very confident in her beauty. She admits to this, “with overconfidence in my beauty, leaving me no other comfort but this: my mirror” (17). Livia believes that she is very attractive and it is purely her looks that make her beautiful. Livia presses how gorgeous she looks and believes that everyone looks at her when she walks into a room. “I would sense a murmur running all around me. A blush of satisfaction would colour my cheeks. I would take a few slow, solemn steps, without looking at anybody, and as the hostess came towards me and invited me to sit next to her, I would wave my fan in front of my face as if to hide modestly from the eyes of the astonished” (21). She continues her thought on her beauty and sees herself as being modest by pretending to not notice people looking at her, but not acknowledging others around her and the hostess is arrogance. The quality of too much self-confidence and arrogance leads to the reason as to why she is not in love with her husband but finds Remigio to be more attracting.

            Livia wanted to be married and felt it was a missing part in her life. She said, “I had taken him of my own free will. Indeed, I had actually wanted him” (19). She wanted to be married for all the wrong reasons. She was simply “bored with my position as an unmarried woman” (19). She wanted the finer things in life, “I wanted to have my own carriages, jewels, velvet gowns, a tittle, and above all my freedom” (19). Her marriage was a way for her to live the lavish life style. Her 62 year old husband was able to provide that lifestyle for her. Her wants for freedom were quickly answered when she met Remigio. She was given to do what ever she wanted with him, they took walks together and meet up. Soon they became close friends and he began asking her for financial help, which she gladly complied to. Of course this came with the help of her husband as he would happily give money to Livia and she would pass it on to Remigio. She had called him her “lover” (29) as a bond grew between them. She was so captivated by hat they had that one day it came to her attention that she “realized then that Lieutenant Remigio was my life” (27). She was so caught up in this other love in her life besides her husband that it “Everything thus far had favoured my (her) blind passion” (29). It was her over self-confidence and arrogance that led her into this life between her husband and a lover. The confidence provided her a sense of freedom, that she could do what she pleased, only to realize that it was a “blind passion” (29) between her and Remigio.