ophelia st. clare is perhaps the most complicated female character in the novel. st. clare calls her, "...desperately ... good; it tires me to death to think of it." she does not like slavery. however, she does not like to be touched or come close to any black person as a human being. when she first saw eva "...shaking hands and kissing" with the blacks, she declared that it had "...fairly turned her stomach (made her feel sick)." she adds, "i want to be kind to everybody, and i wouldn't have anything hurt; but as to kissing...how can she?"