looks to a melodramatic struggle-to-the-death to resolve their conflict, thus substituting
a simply physical resolution for one that might embody ethical or psychological justice.
Once again, one may read here a female author's sense of the conventions of masculinist
fictions, whether those of art or real life. (For other instances where Victor similarly
falls back on physical competitiveness, see II:2:5, II:2:6, III:3:16 and III:3:17).