In the ancient novel The Golden Ass, the Greek author Apuleius alternates different stories with that of the main, framing tale to create a more general theme for his work. Apuleius' main theme of The Golden Ass is the capricious nature of fate and the unpredictable whims of the gods, along with the secondary themes of the unpredictability of romantic desire. The main narrative thread relates the story of Lucius, a young man whose desires for sex and urge to learn more about magic results in his transformation into a donkey, the ass of the title. The quest for Lucius to become human again results in him overhearing a series of tales, told by other characters, that relate to Lucius' story. Most of these tales are about happy people who suddenly suffer a surprising crisis. Events force these individuals, like Lucius, to suffer a fate they did not deserve. Thus The Golden Ass uses different plots to illuminate the central theme of the capricious nature of fate. Often these contrasting tales involve romantic protagonists who, like Apuleius, are led to suffer strange events in their lives because of their desire for another person.

             Charite, like Lucius, is another character that experiences unexpected turmoil in her life through no fault of her own-through even less of a personal fault than Lucius. However, Charite's turn of fortune is tragic, rather than comic in its inception as well as its end. Charite was born a princess, but bandits steal the young woman from her beloved home. Charite is eventually rescued by her fiance, Tlepolemus. Rather than things ending well as the reader might expect, Tlepolemus's long-time rival Thrasyllus kills Tlepolemus and then tries to seduce Charite. After learning the circumstances of her husband's death, Charite blinds Thrasyllus and commits suicide. Thrasyllus ends up starving himself to death after Charite's suicide, because he genuinely loved and desired Charite, despite the horrific nature of his actions.