The Robber Bridegroom: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Robber Bridegroom" is a tale rich with complex characters whose motivations and relationships drive the narrative. Central to the story is Clement Musgrove, an innocent backwoods planter devastated by the loss of his family. He marries Salome, his second wife, whose jealousy and greed lead to tragic outcomes. Salome's ambition results in her dangerous actions against Clement's daughter, Rosamond, a beautiful yet troubled young woman who grapples with her self-image and relationships. Jamie Lockhart, the gentleman bandit, becomes entwined in the lives of both Clement and Rosamond, as his past actions haunt him and ultimately lead to a series of misunderstandings and reconciliations. Other notable characters include Mike Fink, a legendary riverboatman whose comic villainy adds depth to the narrative, and Goat, a neighbor who navigates his own desires amidst the chaos. Together, these characters explore themes of love, jealousy, and the consequences of ambition, creating a vivid tapestry of human emotions and conflicts. This analysis of major characters provides insight into their individual arcs and their contributions to the overarching story.
The Robber Bridegroom: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Eudora Welty
First published: 1942
Genre: Novel
Locale: Along the Natchez Trace in Mississippi
Plot: Satire
Time: Pioneer days
Clement Musgrove, an innocent backwoods planter. After his son and wife are killed by Indians, Clement escapes with Salome and his daughter. He marries Salome to look after his child and becomes a planter on the Mississippi River. Although he is rich, he is not greedy; in fact, he does not even know how much he is worth. After Rosamond is kidnapped, he and Jamie Lockhart search for her in the forest, but in vain. When he hears Goat shouting “Jamie Lockhart is the bandit,” Clement becomes so disillusioned that he wanders aimlessly in the forest, where he is captured by Indians. After Salome dies, the Indians release him. Convinced that Rosamond has been eaten by a panther, he is overjoyed when he accidentally meets her in New Orleans.
Salome, Clement's second wife. After being captured by the Indians, this ugly woman is consumed by greed and ambition, which drive her to encourage Clement to plant more profitable crops, build a finer house, and increase the size of his plantation. Even though Clement constantly buys her gifts, she is envious of the ones that he buys Rosamond, especially a fine green dress. She sends Rosamond out to the woods every day to collect herbs in the hope that an animal or an Indian will kill her, but to no avail. In desperation, she hires Goat to spy on Rosamond, but he is unable to turn up any hard evidence against the girl. Eventually, Salome's jealousy leads to her own destruction. She persuades her Indian captors to choose her instead of Rosamond as their sacrifice, and she drops dead during a ritualistic dance to the sun.
Rosamond, Clement's beautiful daughter. Haunted by the opinion that her dead mother would have of her, she blindly obeys her stepmother. Contrary to Salome's accusations, Rosamond is not vain, but she is an inveterate liar. Even though Jamie Lockhart steals her dress, rapes her, and abducts her, she falls in love with him and devotes herself to cleaning his house and making him happy. After removing the berry stains from his face with her stepmother's potion, she discovers his identity and, thinking that he has no honor, leaves him. Having escaped from the Indians by promising to marry Goat, she becomes lost in the woods while looking for Jamie and eventually tracks him down in New Orleans. They are married shortly before she gives birth to twins.
Jamie Lockhart, a gentleman bandit. After helping Clement elude Mike Fink, Jamie is invited to Clement's house. Although Rosamond serves him dinner, Jamie does not recognize her as the girl he raped in the woods. After Jamie abducts Rosamond, Clement asks him to find his daughter, but Jamie brings Clement the wrong girl by mistake. After he escapes from the Indians, Jamie mistakes the bones of an Indian maiden for those of Rosamond and runs wild through the woods. Just as he is boarding a boat in New Orleans, he is reunited with Rosamond. He marries her and becomes a rich merchant.
Mike Fink, a legendary river boatman. Standing six and a half feet tall, this boasting giant tries to murder Clement Musgrove and Jamie Lockhart at an inn at Rodney's Landing so that he can steal their gold. He beats the sugarcane that the two men have substituted for their bodies in bed. When they reappear from the wardrobe, he escapes through the window and becomes a mail rider. Still thinking that Jamie is dead, he tells Rosamond at the end of the novel that he has seen Jamie's ghost in New Orleans. Afterward, he returns to the river and is restored to his former glory.
Goat, Salome's assistant and Clement's neighbor. Driven by his desire to help his mother marry off his six virgin sisters, he agrees to spy on Rosamond for Salome, and he takes his oldest sister to Little Harp, who he thinks is rich. After rescuing Rosamond from the Indians, he takes Big Harp's head to the authorities, who believe the head to be Jamie Lockhart's, and receives a bag of gold, which he plans to give to his sisters when they marry.
Little Harp, an ugly bandit. Having talked Goat into working for him, he persuades Goat to give him his hen, his pig, and his sister, but he loses Goat's sister to Jamie, who punches him in the stomach. To get even with Jamie, Little Harp tries to take over his gang and even murders an Indian maiden who he thinks is Jamie's girl. After he and the bandits are captured by the Indians, he is stabbed in the heart by Jamie Lockhart.