Young and inexperienced, Sylvia’s chief flaw is that she is ruled by her moods. All her life decisions are made on the impulse of the moment without a care to propriety or prudence. She is the bane of her sister’s existence who feels that she will never learn, and always be ruled by a whim.
Beautiful and endearing to those around her, it isn’t a surprise when love quickly comes her way. Her childish and impetuous nature give her a vivid and colorful personality that is hard to dislike. She is one of those people who always manage to get their own way. As always, Louisa May Alcott put a moral in her novel, and Sylvia must learn a hard lesson before she can find the happiness of love.
I liked Sylvia, but at times I found it hard to believe how anyone so charming and beautiful could be absolutely unconscious of it. I understand there are people with charm who are unconscious of it, but for someone with that mixture of beauty, charm, spirit and personality to be absolutely unaware of it, seemed doubtful. Especially with the fact that not one, but two men fall in love with her! The only explanation is that Sylvia is still a child, and she has many things to learn before she can make a success of her life. Her turbulent emotions and mood swings cause her, and others, a lot of heartache. She is forever fluctuating between ecstasy and despair.Moods shows the serious side of love and how it is not always just pure joy and ecstasy. Sylvia finds true love the hard way, and she has to give up a lot before she sees it. The novel made me root for one character, then another till I didn’t know what I wanted, so how could Sylvia?! But, through all the haze, she at last finds herself and the peace she had always wanted.
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