LieslRobertson Davies' colorful novel “Fifth Business” outlines and describes the development of a lost and emotionally empty man, Dunstan Ramsay. This is a man who carries the weight of Paul Dempster's premature birth on his shoulders his entire life. It describes his quest for self-knowledge, happiness, and ultimately fulfillment of his role as the "Fifth Deal." This would not have been possible without Liesl, an extremely graceful and intelligent woman imprisoned in a deformed and gigantic body. Liesl plays a vital role in Dunstan's psychological development and rebirth, as she helps him rediscover his body, his emotions, and himself. Dunstan literally loses a part of himself during the war, when he wakes up six months after falling into a coma. the awareness of having lost a leg. This event played a huge role in Dunstan's loss of self, as anyone losing a limb would. He first experiences discomfort over his wound when he and Diana become lovers, the woman who brought him back to life after the war, as she compares his "scarred and mutilated body to her unblemished beauty" (82). Dunstan has a few sexual encounters after Diana, but they all end with the women leaving quite frustrated and annoyed, as he uses his sense of humor in the bedroom to hide his feelings of physical inadequacy. “I couldn't forget my brownish-red lump where a leg should have been, and a left side that looked like the crackle of a roast” (117). This feeling of lack is perhaps why Dunstan does not completely abandon himself to a woman to be loved, or perhaps why he does not take women very seriously; not until he meets Liesl, of course. Dunstan initially falls in love with the beautiful Faustina, and is overwhelmed by this childish and inexplicable obsession with her, until he unexpectedly finds Faustina and Liesl trapped in a passionate and shocking embrace. This was what started Dunstan's character development as he begins to feel what he saw. Liesl confronts him that night, trying to seduce him, and after arguing, and then talking, they make love, as equals. This act reconnects Dunstan to his body and Liesl becomes the first woman with whom he truly experiences intimacy, as a great cloud lifts from his spirit. “With such a gargoyle! Yet I have never known such profound pleasure or such a consequence of healing tenderness!” (231).