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with Dr. Alport. Her feelings toward Alport can only be described as unfailing and captivating; it seems as though she never loves another man like she loves Alport. The finale of the affair is punctuated with Mrs. Alport's entrance to the tune of a Rasumovsky quartet. The encounter with the wife reflects the same enhanced degree of emotional sensitivity and drama that the Rasumovsky Quartets imparted on the String Quartet period of Beethoven.

Sasha then returns to her Italian venture, when Willy Burke approaches her on the ship taking her back to New York and Frank, after their separation in Munich. Words were exchanged to promise they would try again, but their hearts were void of the emotion necessary to start over. Soon after, Frank presents her with a party invitation from a "William Burke." The couple ventures to the East Side party, accessorizing with their "matrimonial dead end" (214). Old jazz and blues soulfully mingle with the reintroduction of Sasha and Will, clearly emblematic of the dramatic feelings tugging at the woman who is ready to leave her husband again. The sounds of Jimmy Witherspoon crooning, "Soothe me with your caress, sweet lotus blossom" impeccably represent the situation. The graceful and regal lotus flower emerges from chaotic, dark, confusing waters; symbolic of Will's pursuit of Sasha amidst her turbulent marriage with Frank. Lotus Blossom, the pet name Will begins to call Sasha, is evocative of a peculiar and particular beauty, just like his American Beauty rose left on her desk at the beginning of their courtship. The courtship blooms into relationship, after she leaves Frank and Will symbolically gives her quince, announcing "they would spring to life before [her] eyes if [she] only had faith" (229).

Flowers and music subliminally work as the pathos-engaging mode of persuasion within the text. As reproductive organs of plants, flowers are easily symbolic of character development; music is an artistic representation of the composer's feelings and emotions. Thus, the presence of both lend to the symbolic meaning behind each particular event, summing up its emotion and character development with one specific petal or note. This rhetorical device serves as an additional layer of explanatory symbolism when analyzing the characters.

Works Cited
Flower Shop Network, Inc. "The Symbolic Meaning of Flowers." Flowershopnetwork.com. June 2003. Flower Shop Network. 13 Dec 2007. .

Shulman, Alix Kates. Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen. New York: Bantam Books, 1973.

Tokenz. "Meaning of Flowers." Tokenz: the gift shop. 9 Aug 2007. Tokenz. 13 Dec 2007. .

Wikipedia. "Symphony No. 3 (Beethoven)." Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 3 Dec 2007. GNU Free Documentation License. 13 Dec 2007. .

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