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Rosa Dartle is a haughty, bitter spinster who is described as being “all edge.” She is initially introduced to the reader as Mrs. Steerforth’s ward and confidante. However, it quickly becomes apparent that Rosa is more complex and more intelligent than her benefactor. Whereas Mrs. Steerforth is blunt and open about her thoughts and opinions, Rosa is clever and conniving and generates the maximum amount of drama while revealing very little about herself. When David first meets Rosa, he observes that she never says what she wants to say “outright” but “hint[s]” at it instead. She also peppers her nosy inquiries with self-deprecating comments such as “you know how ignorant I am” or “I want to be put right, if I am wrong.” This behavioral pattern benefits Rosa because she is able to stir up trouble while maintaining an air of false innocence, which keeps her from being implicated.
As the novel progresses, the reader learns that Steerforth is largely to blame for Rosa’s bitterness. Steerforth and Rosa have a romantic past, but it is obvious to the reader that Steerforth did not take Rosa seriously and flirted with her simply for his own amusement. However, his disinterest is not obvious to Rosa, who maintains until the very end that she was Steerforth’s “truest” love. Steerforth’s repeated rejections appear to have hardened Rosa and turned her into the cruel, vindictive young woman that the reader first meets in Chapter 20. Rosa has a striking scar on her face from when Steerforth hit her with a hammer when they were young. Her scar, which was a direct result of Steerforth’s cruelty, symbolizes the corrupting influence that Steerforth has had on Rosa’s life.
