Is there a central figure in the love triangle or is the focus equal? Do your sympathies and allegiances shift in the course of the story?

In the love triangle here, do you see one of the three principals as the central figure, or does the focus seem equal? Do your sympathies lie with one of the characters more than the others, and do your allegiances shift in the course of the story?

I felt the focus was pretty equal on all three characters. I felt sympathy for Bay. He seemed so alone. And people used him.

I felt the focus was split pretty evenly on Bay and Charlotte. For me Sisi was just a supporting player. I still have a hard time thinking of Bay as a fortune hunter. I really don't think his interest in Charlotte was just for the money as Chicken Harttop's was. If he was interested in the money, he would have gotten whatever he could have out of Sisi. But he really wanted more than that out of life.

To me, the title points to Bay being the central figure iof the triangle. He related to both of women but ther was no real relationship between Charlotte and Sisi. Interestingly enough, I found my own spin on the story was about Charlotte being the central figure. Perhaps. because my radar was bleep bleep - watch ou for him - he is trouble! I found her more interesting. And she seemed ahead of the "times". Call me a feminist - but I saw it as a positive! I cheered her on with a silent "you go girl"! That colored my reaction to the rest of the book.

I felt the story revolved really well around all three main characters. They were all well developed and I was interested no matter who the point of focus was during any given part of the novel. My allegiance did not waiver ever. I immediately gravitated towards Charlotte. I wanted her to find happiness and was saddened that she was an orphan with really no one to advise her. I was intrigued by Bay and what motivated him to go from one woman to the next, and I was annoyed by Sisi who seemed to get whatever it was she wanted, no matter the cost.

Bay is the titular figure although I agree with other contributors he was not really a fortune hunter. The focus was balanced between the three central characters, Bay, Charlotte and the Empress although the novel revolves around Charlotte. She blossomed as she became more confident in her work and as an individual. Her photography mentor was her truest guide and like many Jane Austen characters, she learned by observation. My sympathies were always with Charlotte but I learned to like and respect Bay more. Initially I thought he might be a shallow, self-centered womanizer and was glad he disproved that assumption. I was sorry in real life, he died tragically in a jumping accident.

Bay was the only central figure, but I use that term loosely. He was in each relationship, but still, he doesn't stand out as the central bc he played different roles with each woman. With Charlotte, he was the worldly man, he was in control, she worshipped him, he was her first kiss and he reveled in that. But, with the empress, he was at the mercy of her whims, her desires, and became a terribly meek character bc her power was beyond the normal scope of a submissive relationship, she was royalty.

I feel the story was fairly divided among the three. As for Charlotte, I really felt for her as she had to mature too early. She did not have control of her life until her next birthday. I think Bay truly loved Charlotte but was at Sisi's mercy. It would not have gone well for him to decline her attentions. Sisi was the one I really had mixed feelings about. She seemed a bit spoiled. Her position allowed her to control others and she used that. But she felt unloved by her husband and, like Charlotte, had had to mature at a young age.

It seemed to be a fairly equilateral triangle, but with the most emphasis on Charlotte's eventual breaking out of the mold that Victorian society placed her in. The book began with Charlotte and her pursuit of photography. It ended with hope for her new future in America, with her pursued suitor.

Bay is definitely the central person to the triangle in that he is the one who is desired by both of them. He is the connection, if you will. As bettyt said in one relationship he was the person in charge and in the other relationship he was not. Somehow each relationship gave him something he desired.