The book’s central theme is revealed in the epigraph by Lord Byron: “This is to be alone; this, this is solitude!” (1). Ourika’s complex experience with alienation begins when she overhears Mme de B. and the marquise discussing her situation. Mme de B. says, “I see the poor girl alone, always alone in the world” (12). This refrain is repeated in Ourika’s narrative during moments of extreme emotional distress.

Ourika was raised to conform to the ideals of the French aristocracy; however, her dark skin prevents her from ever actualizing these ideals. Rather than benefitting her, her education separates Ourika from other black people typically denied education either by policy or circumstance. Therefore, it would be nearly impossible for Ourika to find an educated black man, a peer, to marry. And, due to the racist nature of society, she could neither hope to marry an educated white man. Ourika is a character divided between two equally untenable futures. The grief of alienation literally causes her to waste away.