The Citadel: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Citadel: Analysis of Major Characters" focuses on the complexities of the main characters in A.J. Cronin's novel, highlighting their struggles, relationships, and moral dilemmas. At the heart of the narrative is Andrew Manson, a young doctor from a poor background who grapples with exploitation and his idealistic aspirations while working in a coal-mining community in Wales. His marriage to Christine Barlow, a dedicated schoolteacher, serves as both a source of support and tension as they navigate his ambition and her tragic fate.
Supporting characters include Dr. Edward Page, an elderly physician unable to practice, and his domineering wife, Blodwen, who perpetuates the illusion of her husband's capacity to work. Philip Denny, a kindred spirit to Manson, emerges as a talented yet troubled physician who encourages Manson to pursue social justice through healthcare initiatives. Additionally, Freddy Hampton represents a contrasting physician archetype, embodying the pitfalls of medical practice motivated by wealth rather than genuine patient care. Together, these characters illuminate themes of ambition, morality, and the impact of personal choices within the medical profession.
The Citadel: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: A. J. Cronin
First published: 1937
Genre: Novel
Locale: Two small towns in Wales, London, and a town in southwestern England
Plot: Social realism
Time: First third of the twentieth century
Andrew Manson, the central character. Coming from a background of poverty, he attends the University of Dundee with the help of an academic prize and graduates as a medical doctor. He accepts a position as an assistant to Dr. Edward Page in the coal-mining community of Blaenelly in Wales. He is the latest in a series of assistants who actually are expected to run the practice for Page for little remuneration. Manson is idealistic and works hard despite his growing sense of being exploited. He forms a close friendship with Philip Denny, a talented physician in the community, whose tendency to drink excessively makes him less than respectable. After Christine's death, it is with the support of Denny that Manson is able to pull himself together, and they open a clinic for the treatment of lung disease.
Christine Manson, née Barlow, a schoolteacher in Blaenelly. She meets Manson when he enters her schoolroom to protest her allowing an ill child to return to school. They are attracted to each other and marry. She tutors Andrew in languages to help him prepare for his advanced degrees. Throughout their marriage, she works to keep him committed to the ideals of his youth. Estranged when he is tempted by wealth and status, they are reconciled, but she dies in a street accident.
Edward Page, an elderly physician in Blaenelly. He has suffered a stroke and knows that he will never practice again, but he is dominated by his wife, who maintains the fiction that he will recover. He likes Manson but is incapable of protecting the young doctor from his wife's exploitation.
Blodwen Page, Dr. Page's wife. A short, plump woman about forty years old, she has a domineering personality. She will not admit to the miners in her husband's practice that he will never work again and recruits assistants such as Manson to do all the work. She pays these assistants meagerly and feeds them as cheaply as she can.
Philip Denny, a bright, idealistic physician who assists Dr. Lewis in Blaenelly. He welcomes Manson and finds in him a kindred spirit. Although prone to overindulgence in drink, Denny is a more than capable physician with an unconventional approach to life. He helps Manson in Blaenelly and in finding a new position. Later, he persuades Manson to set up a lung clinic and helps his friend overcome the death of Christine.
Freddy Hampton, a former classmate of Manson who makes good in London. He has an elaborate practice dedicated to soaking rich patients and develops a circle of acquaintances who call one another in for consultations as a further means of enriching themselves. Hampton seems the epitome of a successful physician to Manson, and Manson is persuaded to join with him. Manson breaks with Hampton when he realizes that the latter has no true concern for patients.