Dear Brutus: Analysis of Major Characters
"Dear Brutus" is a play that explores the complexities of human character through its diverse cast, each grappling with their desires and regrets. The central characters include Will Dearth, a once-promising artist who confronts the loss of his former self and the impact of his failures on his family; Alice Dearth, his fierce wife, who embodies both ambition and vulnerability as she navigates her unfulfilled dreams. Their daughter, Margaret, represents innocence clouded by her father's shortcomings. Mabel and Jack Purdie illustrate the complexities of marital fidelity and emotional detachment, with Mabel accepting her husband's infidelities while Jack acknowledges his flaws. Joanna Trout, married to Jack, reveals the pain of unreciprocated affection, while the characters of Matey and Lady Caroline Laney explore themes of social status and personal authenticity. Additionally, the Coades, an elderly couple, reflect on missed opportunities and the bittersweet nature of second chances. At the center of this narrative is Mr. Lob, the enigmatic host, who facilitates the exploration of what could have been, challenging each character to confront their choices in a whimsical yet poignant journey. The interplay of these characters offers rich commentary on human nature, the desire for redemption, and the consequences of our actions.
Dear Brutus: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: James Barrie
First published: 1923
Genre: Play
Locale: England
Plot: Fantasy
Time: Midsummer Eve
Will Dearth, who in the drawing room is a shaky, watery-eyed relic of what was once a good man. An artist at one time, he and Alice Dearth had loved madly. In the woods, he is a successful artist and the father of a daughter named Margaret. He claims credit for all of his daughter's charm, except her baby laugh; this she lost when he allowed her to lose perfect faith in him. Back in the drawing room, he grants that he is not the man he thought he was. The Dearths, probably the only ones to gain by their revelation, may be able to breast their way into the light.
Alice Dearth, Will's wife. In the drawing room, she is a woman of fierce, smoldering desires. Hers is a dark but brave spirit, a kiss-or-kill personality. In the woods, she becomes a vagrant woman, a whimperer who warns Dearth to take good care of Margaret, for her kind is easily lost. Returned to the drawing room, she lies about what happened in the woods. Although she resents losing her might-have-been station as “the Honorable Mrs. Finch-Fallowe” and her husband's contentment with a might-have-been daughter, Mrs. Dearth shares his present interest in painting. She will try for compatibility, despite her avowal that her husband will not get much help from her.
Margaret, who in the woods is a beautiful and bewitching young girl. Her knowledge that “they” will take Dearth away stands between her and Dearth, to cloud their joy.
Mabel Purdie, in the drawing room a good companion for her philandering husband. Feigning other interests, she is apparently indifferent to his affair with a woman of their set. In the woods, she becomes a charmer who carries on passionately with her husband. Again in the drawing room, she sees her husband for what he is. Indifferent, she pledges to stay by him as long as she cares to bother.
Jack Purdie, in the drawing room a brilliant, intellectual man accepted—in fact, liked—despite his unfaithfulness to his wife. In the woods, he walks alone. No woman can plumb the well of his emotions. Once more in the drawing room, he sees himself objectively; he is a philanderer with no prospect of change in store for himself.
Joanna Trout, in the drawing room a woman attractive in face and figure but dull and humorless in love. She imagines herself the natural mate for the strong-hearted Purdie. In the woods, married to Purdie, she is drab and complaining because he is unfaithful. Back to the here and now of the drawing room, she recalls the might-have-been experience sufficiently to realize that she and Jack are hardly worth sorrow.
Matey, in the drawing room the perfect butler, a general favorite among those who know him, despite his being a pilferer. In the woods, he becomes James Matey, a dishonest business tycoon, and the husband of the disdainful Lady Caroline. Among his real satisfactions is being called “Jim” by Lady Caroline. Back in the drawing room, although he returns reluctantly to normality, he makes the full change quickly. Confronted by a coffee tray, he picks it up and goes to the pantry.
Lady Caroline Laney, in the drawing room a snobbish aristocrat, not so taken as others are by the thieving Matey. In the woods, she cavorts, uninhibited, with her handsome, brawny husband, Matey, answering gladly to his “Caroliny.” In the drawing room, like Matey, she retains her role into the return and is shocked when her Jim picks up the coffee tray. She then assumes her former manner.
Emma Coade, an elderly, rounded woman called “Coady,” as is her husband. She is the most congenial of the ladies gathered at the scene. Mrs. Coade did not go to the woods, but she knows that the others did. She senses that Lob, their host, is behind these fantastic happenings. The fact that she is Mr. Coade's second wife adds to her sadness when she learns of her husband's second-chance experience.
Mr. Coade, in the drawing room a gracious, older man with a gentle smile. Comfortably well-to-do, he has always meant to write a book but is always conveniently distracted. In the woods, he becomes a jolly, ne'er-do-well old bachelor. Later, in the drawing room, he is still gentle with Mrs. Coade in the same empty way; he sees himself as a genial, lazy old man who gained nothing by his second chance.
Mr. Lob, the wizened, ageless host to his guests, all of whom want a second chance. He is Puck from William Shake-speare's A Midsummer Night's Dream in disguise, and he introduces his guests to the Midsummer Eve of what might have been.