History Literature / TheRomanceOfCertainOldClothes

-->Narrator: [[spoiler:Rosalind]] had fallen backward from a kneeling posture, with one hand supporting her on the floor and the other pressed to her heart. On her limbs was the stiffness of death, and on her face, in the fading light of the sun, the terror of someting more than death. Her lips were parted in entreaty, in dismay, in agony; and on her blanced brow and hceeks there glowed the marks of ten hideous wounds from two vengeful ghostly hands.

* SiblingTriangle: The LoveTriangle between Rosalind and Perdita for Arthur Lloyd is intensified by the fact that the two women are ''sisters.'' They literally sleep in the same bed and dress in the same room together, which means they can see each other's preparations to impress Mr. Lloyd.
* WidowWoman: Mrs. Veronica Wingrave, the "gentlewoman" mother of Bernard, Rosalind and Perdita. She doesn't get much characterization beyond being a good woman and caring mother, which puts her implicitly in the "Wonderful Widow" category.

** "Rosland" means "beautiful rose," and Rosalind is an ornamental sort of woman who most desires to be beautiful in fine clothing, which [[spoiler:leads to her [[SiblingMurder murder by Perdita's ghost]]]]

* FlatCharacter: Arthur Lloyd doesn't really get much characterization beyond being the love interest over whom Rosalind and Perdita compete. He makes three important decisons in the story: to marry Perdita; then to marry Rosalind; finally to break his promise to Perdita regarding the titular chest of Perdita's old lothes. We never learn why he favored Perdita over Rosalind; it's Rosalind's effort which leads to his taking Rosalind as his second wife; and Rosalind flat-out ''nags'' him into letting her have Perdita's old clothes. Arthur comes off as rather passive, even weak-willed, in all this.

Published by Creator/HenryJames in 1868, this tale is set in Massachusetts "towards the middle of the eighteenth century," and concerns the rivalry of two sisters, Rosalind and Perditra Wingrave, for the affections of their brother Bernard's friend Arthur Lloyd -- and its tragic outcome.

* WidowWoman: Mrs. Veronica Wingrove, the "gentlewoman" mother of Bernard, Rosalind and Perdita. She doesn't get much characterization beyond being a good woman and caring mother, which puts her implicitly in the "Wonderful Widow" category.

* DisappearedDad: Mr. Bernard Wingrove, the elder, died soon after fathering his three children, leaving his wife Veronica to raise them on her own. It is possible that the absence of a strong father figure may have left Rosalind and Perdita too unrestrained by authority, causing their rivalry to grow out of control.

* GentlemanAndAScholar: The elder Bernard Wingrove is described as a gentleman, and it is mentioned that he had a strong love of literature and of Creator/WilliamShakespeare in particular, which is why his two daughters were named Rosalind and Perdita.

* NiceGuy: Bernard Wingrove (the younger) is described as a good honest fellow who is generally liked, and does absolutely nothing mean to anyone in the tale.

** "Perdita" means "lost." Perdita [[spoiler:is the first of the sisters to die]] and her fate as a [[spoiler:vengeful ghost]] implies that she [[spoiler:is ''not'' having a happy afterlife.

* NiceGuy: Bernard Wingrove is described as a good honest fellow who is generally liked, and does absolutely nothing mean to anyone in the tale.

* CainAndAbel: InvertedTrope, in that it is the [[spoiler:''younger'' sibling, Perdita]] who [[spoiler:murders the ''older'' sibling, Rosalind]] -- and does so from [[spoiler:beyond the grave]].

* GoldDigger: Perdita accuses (the absent) Rosalind of this [[spoiler:on her own deathbed]]. This is

* ((Hypocrite}}: Perdita accuses Rosalind of being a GoldDigger who only wants to marry Arthur Lloyd to live in luxury, but plainly enjoys her husband's wealth herself in much the same ways she imagines her sister desires.

* WidowWoman: Mrs. Veronica Wingrove, the mother of Bernard, Rosalind and Perdita. She doesn't get much characterization beyond being a good woman and caring mother, which puts her implicitly in the "Wonderful Widow" category.

* PunnyTitle: The story is a "romance" both in the old sense of being an interesting emotionally-intense tale, and in the more recent sense of a love story. Also, "old clothes" can be seen as referring to ''both'' sisters, in different senses; Rosalind finds herself at one point an OldMaid, and Perdita is after her death the emotional "old clothes" which Arthur Lloyd abandons to wed Rosalind.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Perdita[[spoier:'s ghost ''kills'' Rosalind for touching her old clothes]]. Of course, it's really more about their rivalry over Arthur Lloyd than it is about the clothes.

* DeadGuyJunior:

* TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry: The early part of the story is much concerned with the contest between Rosalind and her younger sister Perdita to win the hand of Arthur Lloyd. This is a very mannered competition, including subtle turns of phrase, and (notably) attractive clothing. There's reason to think neither of the sisters are really as calm about this as they pretend.