Charles Weston

Uncompromising. *One of the main "rules of C.V." that Miranda follows is to not compromise one's conscience or sacrifice one's principles for the sake of convenience, social approval, or profit.

• Value of inner freedom. *C.V. prefers freedom of expression and thought to any form of coercion or external control. In this, he contrasts with Clegg, who literally tries to deprive Miranda of her freedom.
• Depth over superficiality. He values ​​people's capacity for reflection, for serious consideration of life and art, and rejects banality and empty talk.

Antipathy to the bourgeoisie, vulgarity, and conformism. *C. V., as an artist and nonconformist, despises the ordinary and blind adherence to social norms. This is in direct opposition to the world of Frederick Clegg, who embodies the bourgeois consciousness: his home, tastes, and logic are what C. V. would consider wretched and soulless.

• Rejection of "dead" art and the recording of life. *The novel contains an idea that Miranda associates with C. V.: "When you draw something, it lives. And when you photograph it, it dies." This expresses a dislike of the passive copying of reality, the substitution of creativity for mechanical recording. This is a blow to Clegg's passion for photography and his collecting of butterflies (he does not create, but appropriates and kills).
• Rejection of compromises in creativity and life. *Miranda's "Rules of C.V." require uncompromising behavior. Compromising principles for the sake of convenience or social success is unacceptable to him.
• Intolerance of empty talk and falsehood. Miranda tries to avoid empty words and trivial judgments because that's what C.V. taught her. Falsehood and insincerity are what he opposes.

Living creativity instead of mechanical copying. *C.V. values ​​the process of creation, in which the object "comes to life." Hence his famous quote to Miranda: "When you draw something, it lives. When you photograph it, it dies." For him, photography and collecting (like Clegg's butterfly collection) are appropriation and mortification, not art.

• Spontaneity and authenticity. *He prefers the sincere, albeit imperfect, expression of genuine feelings and observations, rather than polished, but empty or borrowed forms. This is due to his rejection of falsehood.
• Rejection of "dead" canons. C.V. is not inclined to follow established rules for the sake of rules. His approach to art and life is to find his own path, not to follow templates.

A man with a somewhat casual, even edgy appearance: dark, slightly tousled hair, a worn corduroy jacket or a chunky knit sweater, and paint stains on his clothes. This image suggests a conscious disregard for convention and a focus on work rather than on outward appearances.

The artist's hands. This is perhaps the most important detail: C.V. must have expressive, "working" hands—perhaps with bitten nails, calloused skin, and paint ingrained in the pores. It is precisely such hands that are associated with genuine labor, as opposed to Clegg's sterile precision.
Casualness as a manifesto. Any detail that highlights imperfection (a stain on a shirt, a loose thread, a slightly wrinkled collar) would work to portray a person for whom substance is more important than form.
Gaze. Since C.V. influences Miranda primarily through words and example, his gaze must be direct, attentive, and slightly demanding—the gaze of a mentor who expects sincerity and courage from his student.

A rebel and nonconformist, *C.V. rejects generally accepted norms, bourgeois values, and conformism. He finds it unacceptable to adapt to society for the sake of comfort or success. This is precisely why he stands in contrast to Frederick Clegg, who strives to conform to a certain image of a "normal" person.

• A proponent of authenticity and uncompromisingness. *His life and creative approach are based on a rejection of falsehood and compromise. He demands honesty from himself and others—first and foremost, to himself. Miranda strives to follow this principle: not to utter empty words, not to accept banal judgments.
• A free creator. *For C.V., creativity is a living process in which the artist does not copy, but creates. Hence his fundamental rejection of the mechanical recording of reality (photography) and collecting (the mortification of beauty for the sake of possession). He values ​​spontaneity, energy, and inner freedom over control and order.
• A mentor, not an authoritarian teacher. *C.V. doesn't dictate rules, but sets the direction, encouraging independent exploration. His influence on Miranda is one of example and formulated principles that she herself decides to follow.
• An intellectual with a demanding outlook. He values ​​depth, reflection, and the ability to understand life and art. For him, it's not external attributes that matter, but the inner work of a person.

Misogyny. C.V. outright calls women a "disease." Miranda's aunt warned her against him for this very reason, but Miranda was too distracted to listen.
Louchario is a womanizer. He's known for his numerous affairs, and this aspect of his life is a source of internal conflict for Miranda, who simultaneously admires him and suffers from his promiscuity.
Pretentiousness. What Miranda took for artistic principles turns out to be posturing. Only away from him, in Clegg's basement, does she begin to see the difference between genuine courage and posturing.
Emotional exploitation. He keeps Miranda at a distance, but doesn't let her go—his positions as mentor and secret object of desire give him power over the young, insecure girl. This isn't a healthy asymmetry, but a form of control, albeit more subtle than Clegg's.
Hypocrisy. He preaches freedom and authenticity, but his own creativity is secondary, and his "courage" is largely a pose calculated to appeal to young female students.
The key irony, which Miranda only realizes in captivity, is that C.W. is neither a god nor the infallible genius she idolized. He is talented but limited, whose influence on her was more blinding than enlightening. In this sense, Clegg and C.W. are two mirrors: one controls the body, the other the imagination, and both deprive Miranda of true freedom.

Artistic passion and dedication. C.V. is no amateur, but a man for whom creativity is a way of life. His studio is a space of absolute authenticity, where every object reflects his inner world.
Sincerity and directness. He says what he thinks, even if it shocks others. Unlike Clegg, who constantly lies to himself and others, C.V. doesn't hide behind a façade.
A revealing role for Miranda. It was through her relationship with C.V. that Miranda began to discern who she truly was and who society expected her to be. He became a catalyst for self-discovery.
Inner freedom. He consciously isolates himself from the outside world to maintain creative independence—a trait Fowles explores in his portrayals of mature artists in several of his novels.
Weaknesses
Dogmatism in art. C.V. judges creativity by intellect, not emotion. When Miranda obtains one of his paintings through Clegg, she discovers to her horror that his own is derivative—an imitation of Paul Nash. He is not the innovator she thought him to be, but a dogmatist who substitutes pretentiousness for principle.
Condescension and mentoring. He criticizes Miranda's work as "derivative"—derivative, unoriginal. This sets a bar for her to reach, but simultaneously makes her dependent on his judgment.
Emotional immaturity in the relationship. There's unresolved sexual tension between him and Miranda, but he displays a restraint that hurts her more than it brings them closer. Miranda resents him for not crossing the line, even though they both want to.

C.V. is a man of a dogmatic, authoritarian mind. He doesn't debate—he proclaims. Miranda notes that she adopts his views almost without filtering, and only in captivity, alone, does she begin to critically examine what she had accepted on faith. His thinking is binary: there is "true art" and then there is everything else, there are "creators" and then there are imitators. He judges quickly and decisively.

C.V. is a forty-year-old artist, twice Miranda's age, a temperamental, straightforward, and categorical man. He is convinced that a true artist must dedicate himself entirely to art—"if you don't give your all, you're not an artist, not what he calls a 'creator.'" His studio is a world in which everything expresses his personality alone, without the slightest trace of fashionable decor or conformism.
He is cynical and nihilistic in everyday life, often asserting that one shouldn't take life too seriously. However, in art, he is dogmatic: he condemns everything he doesn't consider worthy, rejects abstract painting, and judges creativity solely by intellectual criteria, ignoring its emotional resonance.