The passage appears at the end of volume 1 of Villette, immediately following Lucy Snowe's paralyzing episode in which she questions her future, those who loved her, and even her life. It is this moment of doubt that pushes Snowe into a dizzying torment of anguish and despair as she struggles with herself and the outside world. Her language and diction used in these final thoughts of the first volume emphasize both the essences of internal and external turmoil as she remains caught in the force of the storm: If the storm had abated little by sunset, now it has made up for lost time. The wind current thundered loudly and horizontally from north-west to south-east; it brought rain like spray, and sometimes hail as sharp as a shot; it was cold and it stabbed me to the core. I bent my head to meet him, but he pushed me away. My heart did not fail at all in this conflict, I only wanted to have wings and be able to ride up the storm, to spread and rest my wings on its strength, the career in its course, to sweep where it swept. As I longed for it, I suddenly felt colder before feeling cold, and more helpless where I had been weak before. (163-164 Villette, Charlotte Bronte) At this moment it is evident that Lucy Snowe has undergone a sea change reflected in the diction, which portrays the passage of a violent and tumultuous storm. Indeed, Snowe's conflict mirrors that of the Storm as she finds herself at odds not only with the world around her, but is also conflicted internally. Doubting his own self-worth and his “deepest spirit” (160), as he attests to shortly before, he questions his life and begins to question death as well. This moment of doubt undermines her usually unshakable character, pushing her towards a stranger, and host...... middle of paper......typical of her character. Rather, his true character is something that partially exists only within the scope of his mind, an identity never fully realized or conveyed to any other character, and is visible only through his internal dialogue. Even the reader is provided only with shadows of the inner thoughts of this intangible heroine. For Snowe, just as her name might indicate, she is a mix of lightness and darkness, of fire and ice: she can be reserved and stormy, shy and bold, just like the nature of a passing storm. Snowe's character is at best an impalpable entity as within the scope of Villette we are given only glimpses of an elusive heroine who chooses what she reveals to her reader. Yet, he is nothing if not strong and resilient, just like the storm he alludes to and so fiercely tries to fight: the same storm that is ultimately at the core of his very being..