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In Alfred Noyes's poem, The Highwayman, Bess is the young, spirited daughter of a landlord. She is very beautiful ("the landlord's red-lipped daughter") and has flowing "sweet black waves" of hair, into which she plaits a love-knot to symbolize her commitment and love to the Highwayman. She is incredibly brave, which we can infer from how she dared to see and have a relationship with the Highwayman, despite the dangers, and the fact that her father had probably forbidden it. This is reinforced by how she had the courage to sacrifice her own life for the life of her love. She is also determined, which is shown by how she "writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood!" Even in extreme danger, she did not dissolve into despair and self-pity; rather, she did the only thing that she could to save her love from certain death. However, in my mind at least, her most important characteristic is her devotion and unconditional love for the Highwayman, shown in how she gave everything she had in an attempt to keep him alive.

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13y ago

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