Melanie

I knew he had his eye on me when he said, 'Hi.' His name was David Lurie, my Romantics professor. I've had no previous conversations with him until he approached me in the gardens on a Friday evening. Right away, he invited me to his home for a drink. I was hesitant at first but accepted his invitation. We talked a little of literature when he invited me to stay for supper. Again I was hesitant, unsure of his intentions, but again I accepted. Instead of desert, he offered a dance. I was not enthused at all and walked away as soon as we were done. He asked me to stay the night with him. I was charmed. I already had a boyfriend, but I had not been courted for some time and Professor Lurie was quite good at seducing women. I almost stayed, until he said, 'From fairest creatures we desire increase, that thereby beauty's rose might never die.' I left. Sunday he called. He asked me to join him for lunch. I could've denied his offer but was lost in confusion. I was not hungry, so he took me to his home and used my body for his pleasure.

Because of his relationship with Melanie, David Lurie gets fired from the college and thus starts his life on the farm and his "Disgrace." Melanie was just another woman that David imagined having a romantic relationship with. She wasn't at all interested in the relationship they had, but she wasn't exactly forced into it. Melanie let David do what he pleased. She had many opportunities to turn him down but she didn't have the willpower to say no. David could've recognized that she didn't really want any of this and could've stopped at any time. But his desire and her passiveness led to David's fall. When she decides to stay the night with him and to seem like she wants him, it is merely a trap. Melanie wants to recover on the work she missed and get David caught.