Lady Brett Ashley: A Morally Ambiguous Character
"There is a big difference between having your heart broken and being the one responsible for a broken heart.”
― Eveli Acosta, Remembrance
In Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, there is an underlying theme of characters hurting others all to find their own peace and happiness. Lady Brett Ashley is a prime example of this, as Jake and several other characters in the novel quickly found out. Coming out of an abusive marriage, she went with many men to try and find the ultimate joy in the one she "loved".
We first see her thoughtlessness as Jake confesses to her many times that he loves her, but because of his physical condition, she cannot return this love. She says she "loves him", but she does not get past the fact that if she got married to Jake, they would not be able to have that intimacy. This shows that though she does lead Jake to believing that his love is returned, she will not marry a man who cannot fulfill her physical desires. Brett's reasoning behind her reluctance is just that "That's just the way [she's] made." We think that she is being selfish and cruel, but as her backstory unfolds, and we see her abusive previous
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Romero is everything Brett wanted, a beautiful, kind, wealthy, whole man who could love her. Romero was even more desirable to Brett because he did not have any connections to any of Brett's friends. He was completely new, and completely oblivious of all the fights, arguments, and bad blood between Mike, Bill, Robert, and Jake. She could care for him without having him to be worried about offending any of Brett's posse, and Romero could take care of her and know her the way she wanted to be known. Jake and the others all had seen her at her worst and her best, but Romero only knew the Brett that she wanted him to know. She was finally happy, and had someone to be happy with. She found her peace with