Memoirs of Hadrian: Analysis of Major Characters
"Memoirs of Hadrian" offers a profound exploration of the major characters surrounding Emperor Hadrian, presenting a rich tapestry of historical and personal narratives. At the center is Hadrian himself, a complex figure who balances his duties as a ruler with deep personal reflections on love, mortality, and the nature of civilization. His relationship with Antinous, a youthful companion, highlights themes of beauty and sacrifice, as Antinous, driven by loyalty and a desire for immortality, ultimately takes his own life, leaving Hadrian in a state of melancholy.
The character of Trajan, Hadrian's predecessor, illustrates the challenges of leadership, marked by indecision and a fraught relationship with Hadrian that culminates in a reluctant succession. Plotina, Trajan's wife, emerges as a supportive figure who champions Hadrian's rise, while Sabina, Hadrian's wife, represents the personal strains of his public life, as she becomes increasingly resentful of her husband's neglect. Lastly, Antoninus, Hadrian's chosen successor, embodies the potential for continuity in governance, reflecting Hadrian's aspirations for the future of the Roman Empire. Collectively, these characters enrich the narrative, allowing readers to explore the intricacies of power, love, and the human experience within the context of Roman history.
Memoirs of Hadrian: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Marguerite Yourcenar
First published: Mémoires d'Hadrien, 1951 (English translation, 1954)
Genre: Novel
Locale: Rome and the Roman Empire
Plot: Historical realism
Time: Second century c.e.
Hadrian (HAY-dree-uhn), formally known as Publius Aelius Hadrianus, the Roman emperor. Knowing that his death is fast approaching, Hadrian sets down in the most truthful manner possible the important events of his sixty years, along with his meditations on politics, the arts, and the world. Beginning with his Roman schooling, he sees the beauty of philosophy, grammar, and poetry, and their applicability to human affairs. In Rome, he learns Greek and is thus opened to another world and what he sees as an almost perfect mode of thinking and being. He climbs the judicial and military ladder, always learning from even the most mediocre tasks and duties the reasons why and the manner in which people act and behave, as well as developing his own commanding and governing style. The diversity of his aptitudes, an intuitive touch during difficult negotiations, his battlefield skill, personal self-discipline, and interest in barbarian cultures and religions all bring him to the attention of his cousin, Emperor Trajan. Hadrian supremely believes in life and, therefore, in change and movement; open to all situations and human possibilities, he is always ready to react. Following Trajan's death and his accession to the throne at the age of forty, he desires to establish or maintain the Roman order in the world by means of a mix of intelligent compromises, commercial treaties and nonaggression pacts, all-out war, and negotiated peace. His only passion has been for Antinous, a handsome Greco-Asian youth who makes him completely happy, perhaps for the first time. Feeling constricted in this relationship, however, he seeks ways to leave Antinous. When the young man commits suicide, the emperor creates an almost megalomaniacal cult by building cities, temples, and statues in his favorite's memory. No longer charmed by easy pleasures, he also falls into long lapses of melancholy as he turns to thoughts of immortality, interrupted by fits of exasperation, impatience, and anger. During the four-year Jewish rebellion against the Romans in Judaea, Hadrian is confronted with the unsettling discovery that not all countries regard the civilizing influences of Greece and Rome as necessary or even as useful. He is further astonished to realize that other modes of living exist and that there are other relationships with God that reject his conception of the perfect society, even if this rejection means annihilation and dispersal. It is during the Middle Eastern campaign that he suffers his first heart seizure. The rapid deterioration of his health renders the selection of his successor highly pressing. Having settled on Antoninus, he can live his final days in appeasement.
Antinous (an-TIHN-uh-wuhs), a Bythinian adolescent. Naïve in his innocence and attractive to Hadrian because of his beauty and accented speech, he instills in Hadrian a renewed vitality as both participate in the pursuit of arts and letters. Seeing in the emperor a god and a master, he is concerned with the notion of sacrifice and suicide. When he senses Hadrian's interest waning, he kills himself in a ritual, even religious, act, one in which he finds a secret satisfaction and perhaps a hidden pride. Through his own death, he hopes to prolong Hadrian's life by having the remainder of his earthly years added to the emperor's.
Trajan (TRAY-juhn), formally known as Marcus Ulpius Traianus, the previous Roman emperor. Indecisive and bearing a grudge against Hadrian, he waits literally until his dying breath to adopt him and thereby make him the new ruler of an empire threatened on all sides and on the verge of economic collapse after ten years of useless wars.
Plotina, Trajan's wife and an ally of Hadrian. Even before she may have forged her husband's testament naming Hadrian his heir, she is a close, devoted friend of Hadrian, with whom she shares a love for literature, philosophy, and the arts. She also willingly offered support during his professional rise, including his marriage to Sabina, the emperor's grandniece.
Antoninus (an-tuh-NI-nuhs), a virtuous senator and administrator. He is adopted by Hadrian in order to make him emperor, with the order that he, in turn, take Marcus Aurelius as his adopted son.
Sabina, Hadrian's long-suffering wife. Married to a neglectful man, she quickly becomes bitter and shrewish, preferring to live at her country home rather than in the imperial palace. That she often tries to encourage his enemies shows her obvious hatred for him.