周瘦鵑自稱其作品多半與他初戀情人「紫羅蘭」有關，雖語屬誇張，卻是理解作者生平與文學的一把鑰匙。自民國初年至1940年代，紫羅蘭指符貫穿於他的小說和《紫羅蘭》雜誌中，既有真實自述，也有文學虛構，然而「紫羅蘭」的真名周吟萍要到他身後方才揭曉。本文對真實與虛構文本加以比勘辨析，可發見周的理想愛情與文學自我的追求與超越之旅，而紫羅蘭文本中其真實身份的缺席始終受到現實中婚姻法律、家庭倫理與社會習俗的制約，這不僅有助於理解民國文人的愛情、婚姻與家庭的觀念及實踐，而缺席中的真實紫羅蘭，儘管其綽約身姿由碎片拼湊，卻映現了一個民國女子不簡單的情感歷程。

Although Zhou Shoujuan’s 周痩鵑 claim that most of his literary works expressed an endless longing for his first lover “Violet” sounds exaggerated, it provides us with a key to understanding Zhou’s life and literary world. Indeed, several decades after the establishment of the Republican state, allusions to Violet appeared regularly in his fiction and the magazine The Violet, in both autobiographical references and literary stories. Through an analysis of texts that depict a complex of violets and Violet, this article reveals the predicament Zhou experienced with regards to love, marriage, and family. The absence of Violet’s real name in Zhou’s narratives tells how his desire was restrained by law, social norms, and his own personality. In addition, the fragments about Violet can help us piece together the portrait of a woman who bravely pursued her independent Self through an emotional journey.