My Dark Romeo

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of sexual content, cursing, graphic violence, child abuse, child death, emotional abuse, and gender discrimination.

“I hadn’t come here to find a husband. Before my birth, Daddy had already promised me to someone, which the diamond ring on my engagement finger reminded me. This always seemed like a problem for the future—up until I discovered the official announcement on the society pages two days ago.”

Dallas Townsend’s internal monologue at the debutante ball establishes the parameters for her storyline. As the daughter of a wealthy and prominent figure in the Chapel Hills community, Dallas doesn’t have control over her fate. In the narrative present, she’s even less free to do as she pleases because she’s now 21, and her engagement to Madison Licht has been formally publicized. Furthermore, Dallas’s reference to attending the ball “to find a husband” foreshadows her betrothal to Romeo Costa.

“It’s just a few kisses. You’ve done this before with plenty of boys. He was so new, so mature, so sophisticated, I didn’t even care that he was downright mean. Let’s get real here—Mr. Darcy wasn’t exactly swoosh-worthy until the last twenty percent of the book.”

Dallas’s decision to flirt with and kiss Romeo during the debutante ball captures her longing for freedom and excitement. Her future has been mapped out for her, and she’s eager to try something new with Romeo. Romeo’s steely exterior intrigues her rather than frightens her. She justifies his bad behavior using a literary allusion to Mr. Darcy, a character in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice—a reference that authenticates her reliance on books to understand people and the world around her.