Zofloya

Victoria is the protagonist of the novel; her goals and desires, particularly her pursuit of first Berenza and then Henriquez, drive the plot forward. Victoria is an innately willful, stubborn, and tempestuous individual who feels her desires acutely and will stop at nothing to pursue them. She is described repeatedly as wild and ungovernable: “the wildest passions predominated in her bosom; to gratify them she possessed an unshrinking relentless soul, that would not startle at the darkest crime” (97). Her external appearance reflects her inner nature: she is beautiful and seductive but does not satisfy the traditional nineteenth-century ideals of feminine beauty, possessing instead “a beautiful fierceness—dark, noble, strongly expressive” (96).

Interestingly, Victoria’s character develops due to a combination of innate tendencies and external influences. She is by nature rebellious and lustful, but these tendencies are exacerbated when she loses the important moral influence of her mother, leaving her susceptible to temptation from Zofloya. Victoria is capable of violence, for example, but she does not think to initiate a plot to kill Berenza until Zofloya suggests this course of action. Her taste for bloodshed and vengeance increases as the plot goes on, and she seems to actively take pleasure in torturing Lilla.