Isabelle Borgé Character Analysis in This Side of Paradise

Isabelle Borgé is Amory’s first love. Isabelle is beautiful, sophisticated, and charming, and she has a reputation for being flirtatious and kissing men. Isabelle and Amory are mutually infatuated when they first meet, and they exchange letters during the spring of Amory’s sophomore year. Though Amory’s letters are passionate, he finds Isabelle’s lacking and “unsentimental.” When Amory visits Isabelle’s family in Long Island, they kiss for the first time and argue afterward. Amory realizes that he does not love Isabelle but instead is attracted by her “coldness.” Isabelle, meanwhile, accuses Amory of being self-centered, “conceited,” and excessively harsh. Throughout the rest of the novel, Amory compares the other women he loves to Isabelle, and he insists that Isabelle meant nothing to him “except what [he] read into her.” Amory’s treatment of Isabelle reveals his cruelty toward others and his obsession with chasing beauty.

Isabelle Borgé Quotes in This Side of Paradise

The This Side of Paradise quotes below are all either spoken by Isabelle Borgé or refer to Isabelle Borgé. 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:

Youth, Innocence, and Coming of Age Theme Icon

“He knows you’re—you’re considered beautiful and all that”—she paused—“and I guess he knows you’ve been kissed.”

At this Isabelle’s little fist had clinched suddenly under the fur robe. She was accustomed to be thus followed by her desperate past, and it never failed to rouse in her the same feeling of resentment; yet—in a strange town it was an advantageous reputation. She was a “Speed,” was she? Well—let them find out.

Related Characters: Sally Weatherby (speaker), Isabelle Borgé

Page Number and Citation: 57

Explanation and Analysis:

He became aware that he had not an ounce of real affection for Isabelle, but her coldness piqued him. He wanted to kiss her, kiss her a lot, because then he knew he could leave in the morning and not care. On the contrary, if he didn’t kiss her, it would worry him… It would interfere vaguely with his idea of himself as a conqueror.

Related Characters: Amory Blaine, Isabelle Borgé

Related Literary Devices:

Page Number and Citation: 84

Explanation and Analysis:

She was immemorial…. Amory wasn’t good enough for Clara, Clara of ripply golden hair, but then no man was. Her goodness was above the prosy morals of the husband-seeker, apart from the dull literature of female virtue.

Related Characters: Amory Blaine, Rosalind Connage, Isabelle Borgé, Eleanor Savage, Clara Page

Page Number and Citation: 126

Explanation and Analysis:

Eleanor was, say, the last time that evil crept close to Amory under the mask of beauty.

Related Characters: Amory Blaine, Rosalind Connage, Isabelle Borgé, Eleanor Savage, Clara Page

Page Number and Citation: 204

Explanation and Analysis:

Isabelle Borgé Character Timeline in This Side of Paradise

The timeline below shows where the character Isabelle Borgé appears in This Side of Paradise. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Now 18, Amory returns to Minneapolis after the Triangle trip in order to meet Isabelle Borgé, a cousin of his friend and former crush Sally Weatherby. Sally has told Amory... (full context)

...though a year ago he was considered pretentious and unpopular. Amory maintains a correspondence with Isabelle, to whom he writes long letters. He tells Alec that he is tired of college... (full context)

...car. Amory is upset by the grotesque tragedy and considers it “unaristocratic.” The next day, Isabelle and her mother visit him at Princeton for the prom. Amory and Isabelle drive to ... (full context)

Amory’s shirt stud bruises Isabelle’s neck, and she becomes angry at him when he laughs. He realizes that he does... (full context)

...enough to admit that he does not understand. After the end of his affair with Isabelle, Amory feels disinterested in academic success, even if it means being removed from The Princetonian... (full context)

...leads men on and breaks their hearts. Rosalind is beautiful, sophisticated, and self-absorbed, somewhat like Isabelle. Amory comes into Rosalind’s room to greet her, and they connect instantly. They kiss after... (full context)