The story takes place during the American Civil War. In the southern outskirts far away from the gunfire, there stands a white western-style building, with mottled walls and a barren and messy courtyard, revealing the same message. Smoke from the past.
The hostess, Ms. Martha, runs a girls' school here, and is in charge of the education and daily life of several girls together with Miss Edwina, who is about the same age as her. The story begins when one of the students, Emily, stumbles upon Corporal McBurney, a Northern soldier with a broken leg in the woods.
The girls were both panicked and curious about the sudden arrival of this strange man, and the teenage adolescent's spirit of exploration for men began to sprout. The two adult women, Ms. Martha and Miss Edwina, appeared calm on the outside, and their own secret thoughts also appeared in their hearts.
The awakened McBurney quickly recognized his situation, the soft bed, the separate room, the ample food, and a group of seemingly inoffensive women. Could there be a more coveted place in a time of brutal war?
As a result, McBurney stayed on the grounds of recuperation, and everyone showed unusual enthusiasm for him. But because of Ms. Martha's strict discipline, the girls can only express their affection for McBurney in a vague way.
This building, which was originally lifeless and isolated from the world, was gradually filled with all kinds of delicate thoughts raised by the girls. Everyone put on the most beautiful clothes and dressed up carefully, competing to be the only one in McBurney's eyes. The room he lived in became the center of the building, where different secrets met.
The proud and rebellious Alicia, the sensitive and inferior Miss Edwina, and the ruthless and delicate Ms. Martha have all established an elusive relationship with this uninvited guest. Lost in the gentle township, McBurney started a dangerous emotional game and planted a terrifying fire without knowing it.
On a night of different hearts, the black secrets pervading the white mansion reached its peak, and an irreversible accident happened. Blood, crying, anger, fear, and deception poured out like an opened Pandora's box. The pure space that Ms. Martha so desperately wanted to maintain was utterly defiled.
The seemingly peaceful and harmonious mask was torn off fiercely, revealing the unbearable inside. Ms. Martha realized that it was time to end this mess. The kind Emily once again returned to the forest where the soldiers were rescued, with everyone's terrifying expectations.
The Last Supper was no different from the welcome dinner that McBurney had when he first arrived. The girls were still in full costumes, with carefully baked biscuits, shiny prosciutto, fresh mushrooms wrapped in butter aroma, in the gentle flickering of candlelight, everything came to an end.
All of this is like a mirror. Beneath the calm faces are the broken hearts that have long been swept away by the turmoil of the chaotic world.
They believe that they have built a world that is flawless and free from competition, but they don't know how peace can come in a chaotic world, and trying to erase the most instinctive desires of human nature is futile.
In this world, too many evils originate from the original desire of human nature. There is also too much goodness, rooted in the depths of human nature. The reason why humans have become the top creatures after the evolution of species is precisely because of their complex human nature. Desire is a poisonous snake, and it bewitched Eve to eat the apple that was as bright red as blood, and it reproduced endlessly.
It is far wiser to confront desire than to hide it.
[The article was first published on the public account DING (DING0612_), please refuse to reprint]
View more about The Beguiled reviews
