East Lynne

At the start of the plot, Isabel has a treasured necklace—a modest jeweled cross on a thin gold chain—that her late mother gave to her. Isabel is wearing the necklace when she meets Francis Levinson for the first time, and he accidentally breaks it. This foreshadows Isabel’s fate: The cross necklace symbolizes Isabel’s innocence and integrity, which Francis’s wily manipulation and seduction will destroy. Indeed, Isabel herself comments on the moment’s symbolism, lamenting, “I am sure it must be an evil omen” (56). The fragility of the delicate necklace adds to the symbolism: It can easily be broken beyond repair, which reflects how quickly a Victorian woman could lose her social position and be ostracized. Isabel isn’t intentionally negligent with the necklace, but she does not carefully safeguard it, which symbolizes her later vulnerability to Francis’s seduction.

Since Isabel inherited the necklace from her mother, it represents her education and connection to her role models; she has been reared to be respectable and refined and to embody Victorian ideals of femininity. However, the necklace’s symbolism also implies that Isabel’s lack of female role models renders her vulnerable. Her mother is dead, and most female characters of similar social standing tend to be jealous or resentful of Isabel when they encounter her.