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Hosna bint Mahmoud
Isabella Seymour is one of the English women whom Mustafa Sa’eed seduces in England, after meeting her one summer’s day in a London park. Sa’eed encourages her interest in him by referring to, and exaggerating, his “exotic” background and his roots in the east, likening himself to Shakespeare’s Othello. A married woman with two children, and a church-goer, Seymour is completely captivated by Sa’eed, going so far as to refer to him as a “god.” However, she commits suicide after commencing a relationship with him. In Sa’eed’s trial for Jean Morris’s murder, the prosecution suggests that Seymour committed suicide because of Sa’eed’s emotional manipulation and abuse of her. However, Seymour’s husband acknowledges in court that she had been suffering from cancer before her death, and that this may have been one of the reasons why she committed suicide. In her suicide note, Seymour wrote that she wished that Sa’eed would find as much happiness as he had given her.
Isabella Seymour Quotes in Season of Migration to the North
The Season of Migration to the North quotes below are all either spoken by Isabella Seymour or refer to Isabella Seymour. 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
“As we drank tea, she asked me about my home. I related to her fabricated stories about deserts of golden sands and jungles where non-existent animals called out to one another. I told her that the streets of my country teemed with elephants and lions and that during siesta time crocodiles crawled through it […]There came a moment when I felt I had been transformed in her eyes into a naked, primitive creature, a spear in one hand and arrows in the other, hunting elephants and lions in the jungles.”
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“For a moment I imagined to myself the Arab soldiers’ first meeting with Spain; like me at this instant sitting opposite Isabella Seymour.”
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Isabella Seymour Quotes in Season of Migration to the North
The Season of Migration to the North quotes below are all either spoken by Isabella Seymour or refer to Isabella Seymour. 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
“As we drank tea, she asked me about my home. I related to her fabricated stories about deserts of golden sands and jungles where non-existent animals called out to one another. I told her that the streets of my country teemed with elephants and lions and that during siesta time crocodiles crawled through it […]There came a moment when I felt I had been transformed in her eyes into a naked, primitive creature, a spear in one hand and arrows in the other, hunting elephants and lions in the jungles.”
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Explanation and Analysis:
“For a moment I imagined to myself the Arab soldiers’ first meeting with Spain; like me at this instant sitting opposite Isabella Seymour.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
