Rosanna Spearman Character Analysis

As often as it is preached to “not judge a book by its cover,” this is often what happens. This is no different in The Moonstone. Throughout the text many characters are viewed upon through a very narrow lens. Franklin Blake is perceived to be the character that takes most of the blame and as a result is often suspiciously watched within the novel. Thomas argues that because of this, Franklin is the most highly investigated character in The Moonstone. However, this is not the case. There are many examples of other characters that deal with just as much, if not more scrutiny than Franklin. The best example of a character that suits that profile would be Rosanna Spearman. From the very introduction, to the ultimate demise and death, Rosanna was often being suspiciously watched with just about any move that she could have made. While Franklin Blake

This is the mindset that the characters in The Moonstone developed. Rosanna Spearman unfortunately fell victim to this prejudgment. The first we hear of Rosanna she is already on people’s bad side, as she is late for dinner once again. This is when Betteredge starts to provide some background describing her situation. “Rosanna Spearman had been a thief, and not being of the sort that get up Companies in the City, and rob from thousands, instead only robbing from one” (Collins 21). While Betteredge attempted to try and look past this, other characters did not. Even though it was never even certain if Rosanna was truly guilty, the fact that she served time in prison immediately created a prejudgment among her peers. Thus going back to the original idea of judgment, and how most of those who she worked with never gave her the opportunity to allow her to show her true colors like Betteredge had. It is proclaimed that nobody was told of Rosanna’s “story,” but those who she worked or associated with always found a way to make assumptions about her. Her physical appearance had a large deal to do with