Charlotte Temple

Julia Franklin’s family jewels, which Montraville keeps safe after a fire at the Franklin household, signify just how dazzling and irresistible Montraville finds the idea of cheating on Charlotte with Julia. Because he’s somebody who always prioritizes pleasure and satisfaction, the prospect of taking Julia as his new lover is incredibly hard for him to resist. After somebody hands him the box of jewels in the midst of the chaotic fire, Montraville spends several days looking at them and fantasizing about Julia, whose picture is also in the box. The mere fact that he becomes so enticed by the contents of a stranger’s tiny wooden box is symbolic of his great thirst for any new thing in his life that might bring him happiness. When he first laid eyes on Charlotte in Chichester, for instance, he couldn’t stop thinking about her for three days straight. And yet, he now takes her for granted and seems to spend as little time with her as possible. The box of jewels thus comes to symbolize Montraville’s grass-is-greener mentality, which drives him to covet and lust after beautiful things he doesn’t already have—in this case, the jewels represent Julia and, more specifically, Montraville’s belief that she’ll make him happier than Charlotte does.