Quartet in Autumn: Analysis of Major Characters
"Quartet in Autumn" is a poignant exploration of the lives of four elderly clerical workers in London, each navigating the complexities of loneliness, relationships, and the passage of time. The characters include Letty Crowe, a shy and solitary woman who faces the challenges of retirement and reevaluates her life choices; Marcia Ivory, who becomes increasingly reclusive and obsessive following personal losses; Edwin Braithwaite, a widower who clings to familial connections and church traditions; and Norman, a disgruntled man who masks his dissatisfaction with sarcasm and irony.
The narrative weaves together their individual struggles and interactions, highlighting themes of companionship and the search for meaning in later life. Supporting characters like Janice, a young volunteer, and Marjorie, Letty's old friend, add depth to the story by showcasing varying perspectives on aging and community. As the characters confront their pasts and the realities of their current situations, the novel ultimately reflects on the universal human experience of aging, making "Quartet in Autumn" a significant commentary on life’s later stages and the connections that sustain us.
Quartet in Autumn: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Barbara Pym
First published: 1977
Genre: Novel
Locale: London, England
Plot: Psychological realism
Time: The 1970's
Letty Crowe, a clerical worker in a London office. Letty is a shy, lonely woman in her sixties who lives alone in an apartment. She is the typical English “spinster,” a respectable woman with appropriate behaviors and attitudes. Letty survives a move to a different apartment and, after her retirement, adjusts to new routines. Her plans to move to the country and live with an old friend, Marjorie, are disrupted when the latter decides to get married. Later, after Marjorie's plans for marriage are canceled, Marjorie expects Letty to live with her as previously planned, but Letty now realizes that she has choices in life. She does not decide immediately what she will do. When her colleague Marcia dies, Letty is called on again, this time by her two male colleagues, to help resolve details of Marcia's estate.
Marcia Ivory, a clerical worker in the same London office. Unlike Letty, who is careful about her appearance, she takes little care of her appearance or health. An incurably private person in her sixties, she never recovers from the deaths of her mother and her cat. She was never married, and she lives alone in her mother's house, where she hoards cans of food and plastic bags. In a shed in the back yard, she maintains a collection of empty milk bottles, which she meticulously cleans and rearranges periodically. After a recent mastectomy, she has become obsessed with her surgeon, and she even makes surreptitious visits to his house. After her retirement, she becomes reclusive, physically frail, and increasingly demented, and she finally dies of cancer.
Edwin Braithwaite, a clerical worker in the same London office. His thin, graying hair and solemn air are appropriate to this widower in his sixties. Edwin lives alone in his house and is the only one of the four major characters who has normal family ties. He enjoys a role as grandfather, but he is obsessed with observing every special day in the church calendar. He helps Letty to find another apartment when she becomes unhappy with her new landlord, and he makes the funeral arrangements for Marcia after she dies.
Norman, a clerical worker in the same London office. He is an angry old man in his sixties who is dissatisfied with life. His conversation often is laced with sarcasm or irony. He feels most comfortable when he is at work in the office, where he even spends part of his holidays. His only family is a brother-in-law, but he visits him grudgingly. He enjoys teasing Marcia, who does not seem to mind his uncouth and often inappropriate remarks. After Marcia dies, he is surprised to learn that she has willed her house to him.
Janice Brabner, a volunteer for a local senior citizens' center. Janice is an earnest woman in her twenties who visits elderly people in their homes. She visits Marcia several times, but Marcia resents her visits as intrusions and rejects her offers of service.
Marjorie, a widow and an old friend of Letty. Also in her sixties, she has retired to the country, and she hopes that Letty will live with her after retirement. She alters those plans when she meets a new vicar at a local church and they become engaged. Eventually, these plans are dashed when her fiancé chooses to marry a younger woman.
Mrs. Pope, Letty's landlady, an aristocratic woman of age seventy-six. She has certain fixed routines, rigid attitudes about how old people should act, and definite opinions on most subjects.
Father G., the vicar of Edwin's church. He prefers evenings at the pub with parishioners to pastoral visits, which are characterized by awkward conversations and difficult moments when he must face the personal grief of a parishioner. He assists Edwin with funeral arrangements for Marcia.
The Reverend David Lydell, the new vicar at a country church. He is a tall, dark man in his mid-forties who enjoys being a priest but does not appreciate the narrow-minded attitudes of his country parishioners. He rejects Marjorie for a younger woman because the latter is an equally adept cook.
Priscilla and Nigel, Marcia's neighbors. Both are in their thirties, and they are frustrated in their attempts to be good neighbors to her. They invite Marcia to a Christmas dinner, but she is uncomfortable in their presence.