Possession: A Romance: Analysis of Major Characters
"Possession: A Romance" explores the intertwining lives of several characters, primarily through the lens of literature and the quest for knowledge and love. Randolph Henry Ash, a celebrated Victorian poet, represents a complex figure whose intellectual pursuits overshadow his emotional connections, revealing hidden narratives when correspondence with Christabel LaMotte, a contemporary poet, comes to light. Christabel’s life is marked by the constraints of Victorian gender roles, which diminish her artistic recognition and complicate her relationships, especially with her companion, Blanche Glover, whose death prompts deeper reflections on love and gender dynamics.
The protagonist, Roland Mitchell, is a disillusioned research assistant whose mundane life is transformed when he uncovers the Ash-LaMotte correspondence, prompting him to embark on a journey of self-discovery. His path intersects with Maud Bailey, a modern scholar and descendant of LaMotte, whose stoic demeanor masks her deeper emotional struggles. Other significant characters, such as the ambitious scholar James Blackadder and the diligent Beatrice Nest, contribute to the exploration of buried histories and the evolution of personal identity. The narrative weaves a rich tapestry of relationships, scholarly endeavors, and the enduring impact of the past on the present, inviting readers to reflect on how love, art, and gender intersect across time.
Possession: A Romance: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: A. S. Byatt
First published: 1990
Genre: Novel
Locale: London, Lincolnshire, and North Yorkshire in England and the Breton coast in France
Plot: Love
Time: The 1980's, alternating with the 1870's and 1880's
Randolph Henry Ash, a famous Victorian poet. Both his art and his life reveal a man who discovers the life of the mind first and the love of his life much later. He has hidden stories to tell to whomever can enter into correspondence with him.
Christabel LaMotte, who lives a sheltered life as a single Victorian woman, first with her friend Blanche Glover and later in the attic of her sister's home. Her art is not widely appreciated, suggesting gender attitudes that survive the Victorians and divide the modern researchers, who study them.
Ellen Ash, Randolph's wife, whose Victorian values demand that she hide the truth even in her grave.
Blanche Glover, Christabel's companion, whose death raises questions about love and gender.
Roland Mitchell, the protagonist. He has a doctorate in literature but has found only a bleak position as a research assistant. His live-in relationship with Val is equally bleak. They met as students; inertia and failure have kept them together. Roland's research keeps him buried in the London Library until he discovers evidence of a correspondence between Ash and LaMotte. His ensuing quest carries him back in touch with life and reveals him to be Ash's spiritual descendant.
Maud Bailey, a lecturer at the University of Lincoln. She is an expert on, as well as a direct descendant of, Christabel LaMotte. An icy but beautiful exterior attests her ordered single life before Roland involves her in his quest. She too will discover that the journey into the living past is a journey home to the buried self.
James Blackadder, the scholar who employs Roland in his “Ash Factory.” He grows by joining the quest and sharing it with Leonora Stern.
Beatrice Nest, a diligent worker in the Ash Factory, preserving the story of Ash's wife, Ellen. She learns what happens when the buried past and the buried self are both exposed to the open air.
Leonora Stern, an American scholar who shares with Maud Bailey more than an interest in LaMotte's poetry. She learns much about British and American, and male and female, correspondences on her quest.
Mortimer Cropper, an American who deals in death. He provides an apt antagonist for the living and the dead who confront him on the quest.