Dominique Francon Character Analysis

In The Fountainhead, Dominique is a powerful woman that has fortune by way of her father, Mr. Francon. However, Dominique is completely different from her father. She finds beauty in many things including destruction whereas her father, being an architect cannot imagine greatness unless it is comprised in  his own office. Dominique has set her life in her own values and much like Roark, she does not compromise her values. However, Dominique is a woman and during the 1920s women were expected to get along with society. Dominique is a cold hearted woman until she meets Roark. Roark breaks down her control of her world simply by knowing her. When Roark moves away, Dominique is cold again and she and Keating agree to court publicly but in reality Dominique constantly snubs Keating. Dominique punishes herself constantly because she always believes that she has done something wrong to the world or the world has done something wrong to her. When Roark returns, she meets him at a party and they do not discuss the rape because she is still not sure what to think of it. Roark instills emotion in her that she cannot understand because she has been such a cold hearted woman for so long. Eventually, Dominique punishes herself as a substitute for punishing the world because the world does not understand Roark. She does this punishment by agreeing to marry Keating. Now, Dominique is showing her ability to not care about society and the expectations in it. Keating and her do not get along and their marriage is somewhat of a joke. However, society is entranced with their marriage and Roark has become “the other man” in Dominique’s life. She does not have a problem with going against society like this. Roark and Dominique continue to meet at nights and Roark and Dominique admit their love to each other. This is significant because up until meeting each other, both characters were freezing out the rest of the world and showing little to no emotion. Dominique has shown a powerful emotion by loving Roark and they both understand the need to push each other’s limits. Dominique pushes Roark by talking out against him in her column. That is, until she is fired. Dominique is just like Roark in her lack of ability to compromise her own values. This makes her and Roark quite alike.