Corrine is not a bad woman, of course; she is merely dishonest and weak. In Letter 10, when she first met Celie, she lied about her reason for calling the baby Olivia. She even confesses, eventually, that she was afraid that "she'd [Celie would] want her [Olivia] back. So I forgot her as soon as I could." Being a good Christian by nature, Nettie loves and forgives Corrine for her selfish, possessive love of the children.
In Letter 49, Celie gave Shug a detailed account of Nettie; she shared this painful, precious information about Nettie with Shug because they were close, deep friends. In a similar way, Nettie now tells Samuel about Celie. Samuel and Shug are fortunate that they have been offered a chance to share in the two sisters' enormous love for one another, despite the fact that for the present, "Only the sky above us do we [Nettie and Celie] hold in common."
The bonding of women, extending even to shared sexual pleasure, has been noted earlier. Here again, in Letter 72, in a parallel to Celie and Shug's earlier intimacy, Olivia and Tashi also seem to be involved in a physical relationship. Significantly, Nettie does not think that it is morally wrong because she is sophisticated enough to realize that everyone needs intimacy, and when men are incapable of fulfilling a woman's emotional needs, there is nothing wrong in a woman turning to another woman for love and friendship.
