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Charles Macauley
Camilla Macauley is the twin sister of Charles Macauley, as well as one of Julian’s students. Richard is infatuated with her beauty, although the two of them never end up in a relationship. Like the other Greek students, Camilla plays a role in Bunny’s death. However, unlike the other members of the group, she handles herself quite well in the aftermath. Unfortunately for her, Charles begins to lose control of his drinking and his temper, which leads to him physically abusing her. As a result, Camilla moves out of their shared apartment and into a room at an inn, which Henry pays for. Around the same time, Richard discovers that Camilla and Charles were in an incestuous relationship. Now Charles is jealous because he thinks that Henry and Camilla are sleeping together. At the end of the novel, Camilla and Richard meet up one last time after Francis’s suicide attempt. During their meeting, Richard asks Camilla to marry him, but she declines, citing her enduring love for Henry as the reason.
Camilla Macauley Quotes in The Secret History
The The Secret History quotes below are all either spoken by Camilla Macauley or refer to Camilla Macauley . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 2
Quotes
It was like a painting too vivid to be real—every pebble, every blade of grass sharply defined, the sky so blue it hurt me to look at it. Camilla was limp in Henry’s arms, her head thrown back like a dead girl’s, and the curve of her throat beautiful and lifeless.
Related Characters:
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4
Quotes
And the horrible thing was, somehow, that I did know. “You killed somebody,” I said, “didn’t you?”
“Good for you,” he said. “You’re just as smart as I thought you were. I knew you’d figure it out, sooner or later, that’s what I’ve told the others all along.”
Chapter 8
Quotes
Do you know how hard that was? Do you think Henry would lower himself to do something like that? No. It was all right, of course, for me to do it but he couldn’t be bothered. Those people had never seen anything like Henry in their lives. I’ll tell you the sort of thing he worried about. Like if he was carrying around the right book, if Homer would make a better impression than Thomas Aquinas.
Related Characters:
Explanation and Analysis:
“I can’t marry you [. . .] because I love Henry.”
“Henry’s dead.”
“I can’t help it. I still love him.”
I loved him, too,” I said.
For a moment, I thought I felt her waver. But then she looked away.
“I know you did,” she said. “But it’s not enough.”
Get the entire The Secret History LitChart as a printable PDF.
Camilla Macauley Quotes in The Secret History
The The Secret History quotes below are all either spoken by Camilla Macauley or refer to Camilla Macauley . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 2
Quotes
It was like a painting too vivid to be real—every pebble, every blade of grass sharply defined, the sky so blue it hurt me to look at it. Camilla was limp in Henry’s arms, her head thrown back like a dead girl’s, and the curve of her throat beautiful and lifeless.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4
Quotes
And the horrible thing was, somehow, that I did know. “You killed somebody,” I said, “didn’t you?”
“Good for you,” he said. “You’re just as smart as I thought you were. I knew you’d figure it out, sooner or later, that’s what I’ve told the others all along.”
Chapter 8
Quotes
Do you know how hard that was? Do you think Henry would lower himself to do something like that? No. It was all right, of course, for me to do it but he couldn’t be bothered. Those people had never seen anything like Henry in their lives. I’ll tell you the sort of thing he worried about. Like if he was carrying around the right book, if Homer would make a better impression than Thomas Aquinas.
Related Characters:
Explanation and Analysis:
“I can’t marry you [. . .] because I love Henry.”
“Henry’s dead.”
“I can’t help it. I still love him.”
I loved him, too,” I said.
For a moment, I thought I felt her waver. But then she looked away.
“I know you did,” she said. “But it’s not enough.”
