Mother and Son: Analysis of Major Characters
"Mother and Son: Analysis of Major Characters" explores the complex dynamics within the Hume family, particularly focusing on the pivotal relationships and character traits that define them. At the center is Miranda Hume, a domineering matriarch whose possessiveness towards her eldest son, Rosebery, creates rifts within the family. Miranda's facade of Victorian propriety belies her chaotic passions and ultimately leads to her tragic downfall, leaving her largely unmourned. Rosebery, caught in the web of his mother’s emotional needs, struggles to form his own identity and relationships, finding liberation only after her death. In contrast, Julius Hume, Miranda’s husband, is portrayed as a submissive figure whose own infidelity hints at deeper tensions. The Hume children—Francis, Alice, and Adrien—voice their alienation and critique of parental hypocrisy, while Hester Wolsey, Miranda's companion, embodies manipulative tendencies masked as helpfulness. The narrative also introduces Emma Greatheart and Miss Burke, who represent kinder alternatives to the Hume household, illustrating themes of trust and disillusionment. Through these characters, the text examines the intricacies of familial bonds, societal expectations, and the underlying motivations that shape human behavior.
Mother and Son: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Ivy Compton-Burnett
First published: 1955
Genre: Novel
Locale: An English country house
Plot: Satire
Time: End of the nineteenth century
Miranda Hume, the iron-willed matriarch of the Hume family. She bullies and intimidates her husband and children, all of whom she appears to dislike, except for her son Rosebery, on whom she dotes in a possessive and needy way. She poses as a standard of rectitude and domestic order but is in fact driven by passions of which she appears largely unconscious and over which she has little control. The fact that her eldest son is illegitimate is something she hides beneath a façade of rigid Victorian propriety. Because she has deluded herself into thinking that she possesses a godlike omniscience, when she is confronted with her husband's secret erotic life, her subsequent tantrum precipitates her own death. Although, like a spoiled child, she is used to getting her own way, her autocratic rule is, in reality, barely holding together a divided and discontented family. When she dies, she is virtually unmourned.
Rosebery Hume, the eldest son, who is devoted to his mother, Miranda. Their special relationship creates a rift with the other members of the family, who are resentful of his status. Being her favorite, however, undermines his ability to marry and have children of his own. He is, in fact, a victim of Miranda's intense and devouring emotional needs. His identity is completely determined by his relationship with his mother, and he is more comfortable in a domestic world than in the traditionally masculine world of work outside the home. It is only on Miranda's death that he feels liberated enough to seek any other partner. His period of grief at the passing of his mother is suspiciously short. The past has too strong a hold on him, and his future is as an unmarried man who is happiest looking after the younger children. Fortunately for his younger siblings, he has none of his mother's authoritarian personality traits and passes on only the amusing and pleasant things he has learned under her tutelage.
Julius Hume, Miranda's bullied husband. He appears to be an inoffensive and easily intimidated spouse, but he is not above adultery or making a series of remarks that hint at unconscious but strategic aggression against his tiresome wife. Like Rosebery, his period of grief at the loss of Miranda is suspiciously short, and he seeks a new spouse in short order.
Francis Hume, Alice Hume, and Adrien Hume, the illegitimate children of Julius Hume. Their witty and mordant commentary indicates their alienation from their parents and the older generation's Victorian hypocrisies. Their commentary is less an image of critical intelligence and liberality, however, when they tease their tutor, for it is then that their sense of class prerogatives affords them the upper hand in yet another system of domination. The children are not fleshed out characters. Francis is the oldest, Alice is the only female, and Adrien, as the baby of the family, seems rather more emotional than the other two, but these are the only characteristics that distinguish them. They are, nevertheless, important figures who confirm the divisions and rivalries that permeate this seemingly intact family and see through the pretexts of their elders. The youngest characters in the novel, they are edging toward modernity.
Hester Wolsey, Miranda's companion. Although appearing as a helpful gentlewoman and a domestic figure preferable to the overbearing Miranda, she manipulates family members for her own purposes and looks for every opportunity to advance her position. She can be jealous and envious, and she is not above eavesdropping and using the information gathered for her own ends. Her motives are relentlessly impure.
Emma Greatheart, a neighbor of the Humes. She is a kind and intelligent woman who learns much about the world when her friend Hester stays with the Hume family. Her intelligence allows her to develop a greater understanding of the darkness of the human heart, but this knowledge leaves her dispirited and less trusting.
Miss Burke, Miss Greatheart's housekeeper. Like Miss Greatheart, her trust in her fellow humans is diminished by the doings at the Hume household. She and Emma, however, together create a kinder and happier household than that of the neighboring Humes.
Plautus, Miss Greatheart's cat. He is an important character because his antics serve as a metaphor for the behavior of the other characters. Although seemingly a beloved pet, his stalking, predatory ways are a jarring reminder of the dark side of his animal nature. His behavior with the mouse he captures suggests that systems of domination are part of the natural order of things.