the frenchman leon verdier almost drools in his letter about the charms of "ces demoiselles" among the boarders, and focuses primarily on their appearance. the rather threatening german professor is the only character both cynical and intelligent enough to realize how disdainful all the english speakers are of each other. however, he's also the least sympathetic character in the story. (james disliked germany and its culture.) while the other characters despise each other mostly on personal grounds, or from cultural misunderstanding, herr professor despises them all based on their national traits and general sub-human status (he calls the frenchman "simian"). in a letter to his german friend, he simultaneously brags of his erudition and predicts that the weakness of these other nationalities augurs a bright future "for the deep-lunged children of the fatherland!"