All Men Are Enemies: Analysis of Major Characters
"All Men Are Enemies" explores the complex interplay of love, class, and moral dilemmas through its major characters, particularly focusing on Antony Clarendon and his relationships. Antony, an idealistic young man from an upper-class English background, experiences a transformative journey shaped by the brutality of World War I and his disillusionment with societal expectations. His romantic involvement with Katha, an Austrian girl, symbolizes his quest for beauty and authenticity, but their love is tested by the harsh realities of war and poverty.
Margaret, Antony's wife, embodies the superficiality of their class, living comfortably within the confines of societal norms that Antony ultimately rejects. Other significant characters include Stephen Crang, whose bitterness towards class injustice leads him to radical militancy, and Robin Fletcher, whose pacifism evolves into a fervent Communist ideology. The narrative also highlights the impact of mentorship and friendship, as seen in Antony's interactions with figures like Henry Scrope and Richard Waterton, who guide him towards self-discovery. Through these characters, the text delves into themes of idealism, materialism, and the search for meaning in a changing world, inviting readers to reflect on the values that shape human connections.
All Men Are Enemies: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Richard Aldington
First published: 1933
Genre: Novel
Locale: England, Italy, Austria, and France
Plot: Bildungsroman
Time: 1900–1914, 1919, and 1926–1927
Antony Clarendon, a sensitive, idealistic youth. He was reared in a traditional English upper-class home, its values so secure he assumed that this contented and harmonious world would be eternal. During European travels, he falls in love with Katha, an Austrian girl, whose innocent passion satisfies his quest for beauty. All of his idyllic expectations are shattered by his experiences as an officer during the terrible battles of 1916. Overwhelmed by postwar conditions and in despair that he cannot find Katha, he becomes cynical and self-destructive. He resolves, without love, to marry Margaret, a sophisticated woman of his own class, and pretends to enjoy the social round expected of him. Her father makes him the well-paid director of the family company. Soon his whole nature rebels against this empty routine, which thwarts his spiritual principles. He separates from his wife and wanders idly, until by chance he again encounters Katha. In the mutuality of their renewed love, he finds contentment.
Margaret Clarendon, Antony's wife. She is a typical product of her class, elegant and superficial. Completely fulfilled by her role as wife and hostess, she never questions the values of her upbringing. Her unthinking acceptance of the social patterns she has inherited strikes Antony as selfish arrogance. Insensitively, she cannot comprehend why he does not relish the wealthy comfort she provides. When she cannot and will not appreciate his aesthetic yearning for simpler, less materialistic virtues, he rejects her and the world she exemplifies.
Katharina (Katha), an Austrian girl who meets Antony on a romantic Italian island, where they have a passionate youthful affair and plan a loving future. Their plans are disrupted by the declaration of war. During the war and the economic dislocation of its aftermath, she suffers such poverty that she is driven to prostitution until she finds a wretched, low-paying job. She retains her romantic dreams of being reunited with Antony and rediscovering their love. She personifies Antony's idealism and love of beauty and lives to share his yearning for a life free from the dictates of the snobbery of the business world.
Henry Clarendon, Antony's father. He is a dedicated amateur scientist and an atheist. His affection is limited by a cold pedantic manner and his grievance that his son is opposed to the scientific studies in which he delights. Antony receives guidance in religion and art from his mother. Her early death leaves both men bereft.
Henry Scrope, a wealthy neighbor whose distinguished family has served England at the highest levels of government for generations. He is too independent to follow that path, preferring independent explorations in remote regions. He has a major influence on Antony; his cavalier attitudes and extravagant ideas represent to Antony a valuable part of the human spirit that is endangered by modernity.
Stephen Crang, a gifted man with a brilliant mind. His family poverty is too extreme to allow him the education he deserves, so he accepts a subordinate teaching post. This unfairness so embitters him that he becomes viciously militant and condemns the entire capitalist system, which he blames for his deprivation. The war gives him the opportunity to escape the constrictions imposed by class. He changes his beliefs, modifies his accent, and becomes a willing beneficiary of the system he once rejected.
Robin Fletcher, an optimistic and idealistic young novelist who befriends Antony in Paris. Imprisoned during the war for his pacifist beliefs, he becomes a rabid Communist. He spitefully repudiates all traces of behavior that he can excoriate as “bourgeois.” He changes Crang's life.
Richard Waterton, a disabled soldier. His war wound prevents him from returning to the stage or developing his skill as a sculptor, but, without despairing, he retains his generous and gentle spirit. He goes with Antony on a trip to North Africa, during which his kindly manner and quiet good sense guide Antony toward his decision to reject his marriage and his London life.
Walter Cartwright, a high-ranking civil servant who would have made an ideal husband for Margaret, because he shares her social values completely. He is handsome, somewhat pompous, openly ambitious, and utterly incapable of comprehending Antony's objections to the business world and its attendant social pretensions that satisfy him so well. He calls Antony's decision to escape “childish folly.”
Julian, Margaret's young brother. Antony at first is drawn to him, believing there exists in Julian a potential for a genuine appreciation of life in its most humane mode. As he grows up, Julian, to Antony's dismay, willingly accepts the standards of his peers and becomes a typical member of his class, his only priorities being earning money and promotion, because these are the measures of success.
Evelyn, Antony's cousin. As an adolescent, she stays with his family, and her youthful, slim body wakens him to his first experience of gently tender sexuality. She remains Antony's sweetest memory until she returns to London after years in India as the wife of a senior army officer. To Antony's horror, she has taken on all the superior racist attitudes of a bigoted and self-satisfied colonial settler. Her manner appalls him and betrays the old dream, which she has long forgotten.
Babbo, Mama, and Filomena, the Italians who own the hotel in Aeaea where the love between Antony and Katha begins and is rediscovered. They are immensely loving, eager, and attentive toward the young couple and become, for a time, a kind of chorus as the lovers' passion develops.