--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is something indefinably keen and…" description: "\"There is something indefinably keen and wan about her anatomy, and she has a watchful way of looking out of the corners of her eyes without turning her..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2d/charles-dickens-34_adornment_there-is-something-indefinably-keen-and_2624925.jpg" --- # There is something indefinably keen and wan about her… ![“There is something indefinably keen and wan about her anatomy, and she has a watchful way of looking out of the corners of her eyes without turning her head which could be pleasantly dispensed with, especially when she is in an ill humour and near knives. Through all the good taste of her dress…” quote by Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2d/charles-dickens-34_adornment_there-is-something-indefinably-keen-and_2624925.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2d/charles-dickens-34_adornment_there-is-something-indefinably-keen-and_2624925.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2d/charles-dickens-34_adornment_there-is-something-indefinably-keen-and_2624925.jpg) > “There is something indefinably keen and wan about her anatomy, and she has a watchful way of looking out of the corners of her eyes without turning her head which could be pleasantly dispensed with, especially when she is in an ill humour and near knives. Through all the good taste of her dress and little adornments, these objections so express themselves that she seems to go about like a very neat she-wolf imperfectly tamed.” [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She is portrayed as both alluring and dangerous, with a watchful, predatory gaze that hints at hidden aggression. **In simple terms:** She is attractive yet potentially harmful. Key Takeaway Beware of charm that masks threat. Themes character danger beauty predation Mood cautious observant Type literary character analysis When to use this quote - social interactions - romantic pursuits - dangerous relationships Key Concepts animal metaphor dual nature Questions to Reflect On - What signs reveal a person’s true nature? - How does appearance affect trust? A Different Perspective Charm can conceal harmful intentions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adornment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adornment/) [Anatomy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anatomy/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Good taste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-taste/) [Humour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humour/) [Ill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ill/) [Interesting characters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interesting-characters/) [Objections](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/objections/) ## Related quotes > [“There is something indefinably keen and wan about her anatomy, and she has a watchful way of looking out of the corners of her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/there-is-something-indefinably-keen-and-wan-about-her-anatomy-and-she/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [A gentleman's taste in dress is upon principle, the avoidance of all things extravagant. It consists in the quiet simplicity of exquisite neatness; but,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/a-gentleman-s-taste-in-dress-is-upon-principle-the-avoidance-of-all/) [Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/) > [Surely it is one of the simplest laws of taste in dress, that it shall not attract undue attention from the wearer to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/surely-it-is-one-of-the-simplest-laws-of-taste-in-dress-that-it-shall/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Beyond domestic animals and our response to their fealty and affection, we have a peculiar charge concerning the wild animals which supply our clothes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-parkes-cadman/beyond-domestic-animals-and-our-response-to-their-fealty-and/) [S. Parkes Cadman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-parkes-cadman/) > [Such is our impatience, such our hatred of procrastination, to everything but the amendment of our practices and the adornment of our nature, one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/such-is-our-impatience-such-our-hatred-of-procrastination-to/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [By the care she lavishes on her toilet, by the concern she has for her beauty set off by her adornment, a woman regards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/by-the-care-she-lavishes-on-her-toilet-by-the-concern-she-has-for-her/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [It's a toss-up whether the scenery or the adornment of Marilyn Monroe is the feature of greater attraction in River of No Return. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bosley-crowther/it-s-a-toss-up-whether-the-scenery-or-the-adornment-of-marilyn-monroe/) Bosley Crowther > [Valor is the soldier's adornment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/valor-is-the-soldier-s-adornment/) [Livy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/) > [Tis Lilith. Who? Adam's first wife is she. Beware the lure within her lovely tresses, The splendid sole adornment of her hair; When she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/tis-lilith-who-adam-s-first-wife-is-she-beware-the-lure-within-her/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Adornment, what a science! Beauty, what a weapon! Modesty, what elegance!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coco-chanel/adornment-what-a-science-beauty-what-a-weapon-modesty-what-elegance/) [Coco Chanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coco-chanel/) > [Personal adornment is the only cultural form that everybody in the world takes part in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-a-gill/personal-adornment-is-the-only-cultural-form-that-everybody-in-the/) [A. A. Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-a-gill/) > [There's more to clothing than just adornment. It does more than merely change how the world perceives us. It changes how we perceive ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-carey/there-s-more-to-clothing-than-just-adornment-it-does-more-than-merely/) [Jacqueline Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-carey/) > [A crown is more discomfort than adornment. If you have learned that, you have already learned much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-alexander/a-crown-is-more-discomfort-than-adornment-if-you-have-learned-that/) [Lloyd Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-alexander/) > [The member of a culture ... purposely avoids the relationship of intimacy; he wants the object somehow depicted and fictionalized. ... He is embarrassed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-weaver/the-member-of-a-culture-purposely-avoids-the-relationship-of-intimacy/) [Richard M. Weaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-weaver/) > [Love in modern times has been the tailor's best friend. Every suitor of the nineteenth century spends more than his spare cash on personal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-augustus-henry-sala/love-in-modern-times-has-been-the-tailor-s-best-friend-every-suitor/) [George Augustus Henry Sala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-augustus-henry-sala/) ## More by Charles Dickens > [“All other swindlers upon earth are nothing to the self-swindlers, and with such pretences did I cheat myself. Surely a curious thing. That I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/all-other-swindlers-upon-earth-are-nothing-to-the-self-swindlers-and/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [... Arthur Gride, whose bleared eyes gloated only over the outward beauties, and were blind to the spirit which reigned within, evinced - a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/arthur-gride-whose-bleared-eyes-gloated-only-over-the-outward/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [There can be no disparity in marriage like unsuitability of mind and purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/there-can-be-no-disparity-in-marriage-like-unsuitability-of-mind-and/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [I have tried to resign myself, and to console myself; and that, I hope, I may have done imperfectly; but what I cannot firmly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-have-tried-to-resign-myself-and-to-console-myself-and-that-i-hope-i/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [A new heart for a New Year, always!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/a-new-heart-for-a-new-year-always/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“The suspense: the fearful, acute suspense: of standing idly by while the life of one we dearly love, is trembling in the balance; the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-suspense-the-fearful-acute-suspense-of-standing-idly-by-while-the/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“Mrs. Joe was a very clean housekeeper, but had an exquisite art of making her cleanliness more uncomfortable and unacceptable than dirt itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/mrs-joe-was-a-very-clean-housekeeper-but-had-an-exquisite-art-of/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [There seems a magic in the very name of Christmas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/there-seems-a-magic-in-the-very-name-of-christmas/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“evening, they began to think that although he could never hope to be an Englishman, still it would be hard to visit that affliction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/evening-they-began-to-think-that-although-he-could-never-hope-to-be/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“Besides which, all that I could have said of the Story to any purpose, I had endeavoured to say in it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/besides-which-all-that-i-could-have-said-of-the-story-to-any-purpose/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“The wheels rolled on, and rolled down by the Monument, and by the Tower; and by the Docks; down by Ratcliffe, and by Rotherhithe;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-wheels-rolled-on-and-rolled-down-by-the-monument-and-by-the-tower/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“The three customers pulled off their hats to Madame Defarge, with three flourishes. She acknowledged their homage by bending her head, and giving them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-three-customers-pulled-off-their-hats-to-madame-defarge-with/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“What a situation!' cried Miss Squeers; '...What is the reason that men fall in love with me, whether I like it or not, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/what-a-situation-cried-miss-squeers-what-is-the-reason-that-men-fall/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [I admire machinery as much is any man, and am as thankful to it as any man can be for what it does for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-admire-machinery-as-much-is-any-man-and-am-as-thankful-to-it-as-any/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“Mr. Pickwick was a philosopher, but philosophers are only men in armour, after all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/mr-pickwick-was-a-philosopher-but-philosophers-are-only-men-in-armour/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) [Explore all 2,309 Charles Dickens quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) ## More Adornment quotes > [Love in modern times has been the tailor's best friend. Every suitor of the nineteenth century spends more than his spare cash on personal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-augustus-henry-sala/love-in-modern-times-has-been-the-tailor-s-best-friend-every-suitor/) [George Augustus Henry Sala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-augustus-henry-sala/) > [The member of a culture ... purposely avoids the relationship of intimacy; he wants the object somehow depicted and fictionalized. ... He is embarrassed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-weaver/the-member-of-a-culture-purposely-avoids-the-relationship-of-intimacy/) [Richard M. Weaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-weaver/) > [A crown is more discomfort than adornment. If you have learned that, you have already learned much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-alexander/a-crown-is-more-discomfort-than-adornment-if-you-have-learned-that/) [Lloyd Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-alexander/) > [There's more to clothing than just adornment. It does more than merely change how the world perceives us. It changes how we perceive ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-carey/there-s-more-to-clothing-than-just-adornment-it-does-more-than-merely/) [Jacqueline Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-carey/) > [Personal adornment is the only cultural form that everybody in the world takes part in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-a-gill/personal-adornment-is-the-only-cultural-form-that-everybody-in-the/) [A. A. Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-a-gill/) > [Adornment, what a science! Beauty, what a weapon! Modesty, what elegance!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coco-chanel/adornment-what-a-science-beauty-what-a-weapon-modesty-what-elegance/) [Coco Chanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coco-chanel/) > [Tis Lilith. Who? Adam's first wife is she. Beware the lure within her lovely tresses, The splendid sole adornment of her hair; When she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/tis-lilith-who-adam-s-first-wife-is-she-beware-the-lure-within-her/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Valor is the soldier's adornment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/valor-is-the-soldier-s-adornment/) [Livy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/) > [It's a toss-up whether the scenery or the adornment of Marilyn Monroe is the feature of greater attraction in River of No Return. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bosley-crowther/it-s-a-toss-up-whether-the-scenery-or-the-adornment-of-marilyn-monroe/) Bosley Crowther > [By the care she lavishes on her toilet, by the concern she has for her beauty set off by her adornment, a woman regards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/by-the-care-she-lavishes-on-her-toilet-by-the-concern-she-has-for-her/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [Such is our impatience, such our hatred of procrastination, to everything but the amendment of our practices and the adornment of our nature, one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/such-is-our-impatience-such-our-hatred-of-procrastination-to/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [Beyond domestic animals and our response to their fealty and affection, we have a peculiar charge concerning the wild animals which supply our clothes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-parkes-cadman/beyond-domestic-animals-and-our-response-to-their-fealty-and/) [S. Parkes Cadman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-parkes-cadman/) > [ But the best argument of all \[for evangelism\] is to be found in the wounds of Jesus. You want to honor Him, you desire… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/but-the-best-argument-of-all-for-evangelism-is-to-be-found-in-the/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Where fashion in clothes, bodily adornment, and music are concerned, it is the underclass that increasingly sets the pace. Never before has there been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-daniels/where-fashion-in-clothes-bodily-adornment-and-music-are-concerned-it/) [Anthony Daniels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-daniels/) > [Positions and titles mean absolutely nothing. They're just adornments; they don't represent the substance of anybody. Every person and every job is worth as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herb-kelleher/positions-and-titles-mean-absolutely-nothing-they-re-just-adornments/) [Herb Kelleher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herb-kelleher/) [Browse all 57 Adornment quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adornment/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is something indefinably keen and wan about her anatomy, and she has a watchful way of looking out of the corners of her eyes without turning her head which could be pleasantly dispensed with, especially when she is in an ill humour and near knives. 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