Santiago In Mary Shelley's Twelfth Night '

In the beginning of the story, Santiago describes a merchant’s daughter he met the year before, and her name is Fatima. He explains how pretty she is, and how infatuated he is with her. Flash-forwarding to present day, Santiago visits the town again, and goes to a Gypsy to have a dream interpreted. He is told to go to Egypt for a certain treasure, but gets distracted along the way because of Fatima. At one moment in the book, Santiago almost decides to stay with her rather than looking for the treasure. “And I am a part of your dream, a part of your destiny, as you call it. [...] If I am really a part of your dream, you 'll come back one day," are two very powerful quotes said by Fatima. As Santiago calls it, Fatima suggests that she is part of his destiny, and he will come back for her. When she says this, she is urging Santiago to go follow his dreams, and he does listen to her.

Upon meeting each other, the Englishman gives Santiago a couple of his books to read, but Santiago is very disinterested. When the Englishman learns that Santiago, too, has omens, he tells him something very important. The Englishman says that omens are not just used for one to follow his dreams, but to help him understand the language of the universe. According to the Englishman, the language of the universe is knowledge that has been lost through history. He hopes to learn this knowledge from the Alchemist himself. This is very important to the text because it pushes Santiago to seek knowledge rather than just follow his