Kindred Soul

The kindred soul is the main character’s soul mate. When they meet for the first time in heaven, the reader can immediately sense the connection between them.

“She looked up and saw that a man stood near whose soul (for in that unwonted light she seemed to see his soul more clearly than his face) drew her toward him with an invincible force.” (Lewis 17)

They share the same interests and taste, and furthermore, understand each other even with few words. He loves art, literature, architecture and nature. He is a sophisticated and poetic person to daydream with, which becomes clear in the way he imagines his home with the woman.

“It seems to me that I can see our home already. Have I not always seem it in my dreams? It is white, love, is it not, with polished columns, and a sculptured cornice against the blue? Groves of laurel and oleander and thickets of roses surround it; but from the terrace where we walk at sunset, the eye looks out over woodlands and cool meadows where, deep-bowered under ancient boughs, a stream goes delicately toward the river. Indoors our favorite pictures hang upon the walls and the rooms are lined with books. Think, dear, at last we shall have time to read them all.” (18)

He is ready to spend eternity with her since he has no one else to think about.

In addition, one could claim that he and the woman have alike personalities, with the exception that he does not worry about social pressure and commitments.

Bibliographie:

Kornetta, Reiner. Das Korsett im Kopf: Ehe und Ökonomie in den Kurzgeschichten Edith Whartons. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1996. Print. Düsseldorfer Beiträge aus Anglistik und Amerikanistik Bd. 4.

Lewis, R.W.B, ed. The Collected Short Stories of Edith Wharton. Volume 1. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1968. Print.