Mary is the same as Ada or Ardor. Both rely on the way our memories gold-tint our pasts. However, Mary is rather eager to spoil, disprove... etc, this wonderful quirk of ours. On the other hand, Ada never exists in the present - aside from the notes, where a correct translation dirties the gold - and therefore tries painfully hard to ward off the reality shown by Mary.
Therefore, if we discount Look at the Harlequins as below par, Transparent Things as a long-short story and The Original of Laura as a mockery of an authors wishes, we are able to garner for our greedy selves, a pleasant, if crude, symmetry.
