One of the key ways in which the character of Sylvia and
her traits are developed in this excellent short story is through the arrival of the
handsome young hunter, who awakens within Sylvia yearnings for things that she had never
known existed before, thanks to her secluded life and the way that she had more of a
relationship with the natural world than she did with the human one. Note how her
impressions of the hunter change after their first day
together:
But
as the day waned, Sylvia still watched the young man with loving admiration. She had
never seen anybody so charming and delightful; the woman's heart, asleep in the child,
was vaguely thrilled by a dream of
love.
Note the way in which
Sylvia is shown to be maturing and growing up, feeling the first awakenings of the
"woman's heart" that was and had been "asleep" within her for so long. The impact of the
tangible possibility of the "dream of love" is of course one that forces Sylvia into
making a very difficult decision, as she must choose between these new stirrings in her
heart for love and companionship and her close relationship with
nature.
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