The Lifted Veil

Latimer’s experiences with double consciousness and his powers of insight allow him to perceive the thoughts and emotions of those around him. Throughout The Lifted Veil, Latimer struggles to reconcile the public personas, actions, and behaviors of his family and companions with the often cruel, narrow-minded, and vapid thoughts he perceives them to have. The discrepancy and dishonesty ultimately force Latimer to withdraw from public life and pursue an isolated and distrustful existence.

Latimer's power for insight makes him realize the gap between a person’s public actions and spoken words, which often reflect culturally codified manners, and their true thoughts and emotions (14). Latimer in effect sees an individual’s private and public life in the same moment, giving him unique insight into the hypocrisies of Victorian society in a way reminiscent of the novelist herself. Latimer’s initial inability to perceive Bertha’s thoughts and emotions provides a lens through which to examine this theme. In accordance with Victorian etiquette surrounding courting, their relationship exists solely in the public sphere before their marriage; similarly, Latimer at this point can’t discern Bertha’s thoughts and can therefore appreciate the mystery of Bertha’s public persona. However, their marriage brings each character’s private life into the other’s awareness, and Latimer’s power of insight extends to Bertha.