Splendors and Glooms

Clara is one of the protagonists of Splendors and Glooms. She is the only surviving child of the Wintermute family, having lost her four siblings to cholera seven years ago. In appearance, Clara is delicate with dark hair and pale skin, features that stand out even more once she is turned into a puppet. Internally, Clara is strong but feels fragile because of all she has lost—both her siblings and the affection of her parents. For seven years, Clara has lived with her self-assigned guilt for her siblings’ deaths. She didn’t eat the watercress believed to hold the cholera, and she both wishes she had and hates herself for being grateful she didn’t. This self-blame is one of many secrets Clara holds deep inside. She wishes to be happy and to dance, and she has kept these things bottled up for so long that now “her secrecy was chronic and instinctive” (4).

Clara’s character arc is ironic because becoming an inanimate object makes her feel more like herself than she ever has. Clara’s transformation is an important one within the theme of Managing Grief Through Love, exemplifying how human connection is key to stepping into the present and out of the trap that is unchecked grief.