The Company of Women: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Company of Women" is a narrative that explores the lives of several interconnected characters, primarily focusing on Felicitas Maria Taylor, a sheltered Catholic girl grappling with her identity and relationships. At the story's outset, Felicitas is a bright, intellectual adolescent who is influenced by Father Cyprian, a conservative priest who serves as a guiding figure for her and other women in the community. As she matures, she becomes entangled in a complex relationship with Robert Cavendish, a radical professor, leading to an unplanned pregnancy that prompts her to reject abortion and seek support from her mother, Charlotte.
Charlotte, a widowed and resilient figure, embodies strength and practicality, while Father Cyprian's character oscillates between strict conservatism and unexpected compassion for Felicitas's choices. Other notable characters include Elizabeth McCullough, a literature-loving schoolteacher; Mary Rose Costello, a former nightclub dancer with a generous spirit; Clare Leary, a businesswoman who values excellence; and Muriel Fisher, the unloving housekeeper with a complicated relationship with the others. The narrative culminates with Felicitas's child, Linda, expressing her desire to become a priest, indicating a shift in traditional views within the story's context. This exploration of diverse lives, struggles, and evolving beliefs offers a poignant reflection on womanhood and personal growth amid societal expectations.
The Company of Women: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Mary Gordon
First published: 1981
Genre: Novel
Locale: New York City and western New York State
Plot: Social realism
Time: August, 1963; winter, 1969–1970; and 1977
Felicitas Maria Taylor, a bright and articulate but sheltered Catholic girl. In the beginning of the novel, she is an early adolescent coming to recognize her special relationship to Father Cyprian among the women who make up his “company”; he has special regard for her intellectual and spiritual potential. Felicitas' talent at Latin and Greek lead her to a classics major at Columbia University. There, at the height of the Vietnam War protests, she meets and eventually moves in with a radical political science professor, Robert Cavendish, the man who may be the father of her child. Shocked by her unplanned pregnancy, Felicitas nevertheless rejects abortion. Instead, she returns to her mother and they, along with the other members of the company, move to the country to rear the child near Father Cyprian, whose guidance has marked all of their lives.
Charlotte Taylor, Felicitas' widowed mother. Her husband died when Felicitas was six months old. Being the oldest of thirteen children has taught her realism, toughness, and self-reliance in a demanding world, but those qualities do not diminish her devotion to her daughter or to the other women of the company. She is powerless to help in her daughter's painful romance, but she is quick to plan the move to the country to accommodate Felicitas and Linda. At the novel's end, at the age of sixty-seven, she is planning a new insurance business with a neighbor.
Father Cyprian Leonard, a brilliant, acerbic, and conservative Roman Catholic priest. He organized the retreats that evolved into the company of Charlotte, Elizabeth, Mary Rose, Clare, and Muriel, the company that continues to surround him each summer for a retreat. Having struggled up from an impoverished rural background, he uses his sharp mind and tongue to try to direct Felicitas into orthodoxy and away from the sentimentality of popular Catholicism. His conservative politics cause her to clash with him over the Vietnam War. At the end of the novel, however, his love for her daughter, Linda, makes him pray (to his surprise) for the church to reverse its stand on the ordination of women when Linda tells him that she intends to become a priest.
Elizabeth McCullough, a genteel schoolteacher and lover of literature. In the 1930's, her husband abandoned her with a small child, who died young. Quiet and sensitive, she introduces Felicitas to the novels of Jane Austen and is unsure whether her own religion is of the spirit or of literature.
Mary Rose Costello, the simplest member of the “company,” formerly a night club dancer. Father Cyprian helped her during her naïve marriage to a dangerously unbalanced man by having the man committed to a mental hospital; that aid left her as Father Cyprian's disciple. Now she works in a film theater owned by her friend Joe Siegel, where she worries about the X-rated films and indulges her uncomplicated and generous nature in befriending first Felicitas and then Linda. After her first husband's death, she marries Joe Siegel.
Clare Leary, a businesswoman who has high regard for excellence. She has always recognized good quality in the leather goods in which she deals. She had hoped to enter a convent but instead took over her father's business after his death. She appreciates the quality of Father Cyprian's character and helps to finance his work and retirement. Her life outside his “company” is marked by detachment and noninvolvement. At the novel's end, she of all the women most misses the city.
Muriel Fisher, Father Cyprian's housekeeper, an unloving and unlovable woman. Little in her meager life has prepared her to be otherwise. She recognizes her limitations and the animosity the others often feel toward her pettiness (which often springs from her jealous guarding of Father Cyprian). When Felicitas was in the hospital, Muriel's gift to her was a packet of religious tracts.
Robert Cavendish, a radical professor of political science at Columbia. He uses the rebellion of the 1960's to indulge his selfishness; he has rejected his privileged background and marriage for sex, drugs, and radical politics. Felicitas fails to notice his clichés and superficiality because she is caught up in the romance of his attentions, his unconventionality, and his good looks. He lives with two of his cast-off lovers and a variety of other drifters, who move through his apartment in a haze of drugs and political rhetoric. His interest in Felicitas is almost entirely sexual.
Linda, Felicitas' child, seven years old at the novel's end. She tells Father Cyprian that she intends to become a priest, having satisfied herself that the fact that Jesus' twelve disciples all were male is irrelevant to the priesthood.
Leo Byrne, a quiet outdoorsman. Felicitas plans to marry him at the novel's end.