In reminiscing about past affairs, the narrator shares his/her belief that love had existed with a woman named Bathsheba. Sadly, Bathsheba broke the narrator's heart. As a way to avoid being hurt again, the narrator enters a relationship with a single woman who is not exciting, but steady, setting a precedent for future affairs and emotional disengagement. When the narrator meets Louise, however, everything changes, foreshadowing an affair that potentially could end like the one with Bathsheba. Louise's insistence on not allowing the narrator express love, on the other hand, suggests that this affair will be different.
Written on the Body