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Tue 9 Jul, 2013 10:27 pm
“We met at Grindelwald, you know. He always calls me his Ice Maiden because we first got to know each other on the skating rink. Quite romantic, wasn’t it? Then we asked him to tea one day, and we got to be quite friendly. Then he proposed.”
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“My marriage with Egbert will, of course, enlarge the sphere of my life enormously,” pursued Suzette.
“Yes,” said Elaine; her eyes were rather remorselessly taking in the details of her cousin’s toilette. It is said that nothing is sadder than victory except defeat. Suzette began to feel that the tragedy of both was concentrated in the creation which had given her such unalloyed gratification, till Elaine had come on the scene.
first of all, why victory is sad? and does "the creation" mean Egbert? Thank you.
I cannot say why the quoted aphorism says that victory is sad, unless it's the realization of the cost one pays in becoming the victor. It is not apparent in the context.
"The creation" refers to Suzette's toilette, which is to say, the style of clothing she is wearing. It comes from French, where it has the meaning of everything a woman does to make herself attractive--washing, fixing her hair, putting on her make-up, dressing herself--and the implication is that the woman dresses herself with care to create an effect. Elaine is playing the bitch, looking at her disdainfully, as though her toilette, her complete appearance, is not a success. Suzette is saddened both by the simple pleasure that making herself up and dressing carefully had given her (victory), and by the scornful way Elaine views her appearance (defeat).
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