The Deptford Trilogy: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Deptford Trilogy: Analysis of Major Characters" delves into the complex relationships and spiritual journeys of key figures in the trilogy, exploring themes of guilt, redemption, and the search for meaning. Central to the narrative is Dunstan Ramsay, an aging schoolteacher who grapples with his past and the significant impact of a childhood incident involving his friend Boy Staunton. Dunstan embodies the role of "fifth business," serving a vital function in the lives of those around him, especially in relation to Boy and Paul Dempster. Boy Staunton, initially portrayed as a vigorous and successful businessman, faces the consequences of his actions and emotional detachment, culminating in his tragic end. In contrast, Paul Dempster, who transforms into the renowned magician Magnus Eisengrim, emerges from a troubled childhood to embrace artistic expression and personal growth. Additionally, Mary Dempster, Paul’s mother, symbolizes forgiveness and saintliness despite her challenges. The narrative also introduces David Staunton, Boy's son, who confronts his own existential crises, further intertwining the characters' fates. The character of Liesl Vitzlipützli, a powerful and enigmatic figure, serves as a catalyst for the spiritual awakenings of Dunstan and David, enriching the overall tapestry of human experience in the trilogy.
The Deptford Trilogy: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Robertson Davies
First published: 1983: Fifth Business, 1970; The Manticore, 1972; World of Wonders, 1975
Genre: Novel
Locale: Canada and Switzerland
Plot: Psychological realism
Time: 1908–1975
Dunstan Ramsay, a fussy bachelor whose memoirs elucidate the meaning of his life and that of his boyhood friends, Boy Staunton and Paul Dempster. Although on the surface he is simply an elderly schoolteacher, what is important is his inner life, which is preoccupied with religion, magic, and myth. He is “fifth business” of the title; this theatrical term indicates an actor whose secondary role serves a crucial function in the plot. Dunstan's role in the life of Boy Staunton is a spiritual one, and although his stern Presbyterian upbringing tends to make him petty and withholding, he becomes a kind of saint. He occasions poetic justice in the life of Boy Staunton and is perpetually in search of the transcendent meaning of things. His spiritual destination is suggested by his name change from its original Dunstable to the saint's name of Dunstan and by his writing of books of saints' lives. Eventually, it becomes clear to him that his life has been shaped by a boyhood incident in which Boy attacks him with a piece of granite hidden in a snowball but instead hits Paul's mother, Mary. As the keeper of the conscience of Boy Staunton as well as the keeper of the offending piece of pink granite, Dunstan realizes the guilt he carries and the connection he forms with Mary Dempster as the most important aspects of his long and busy life. As he distances himself from his puritanical roots in small-town Canadian life, Dunstan develops a mystical side to his personality, joining Paul, now the great magician Magnus Eisengrim, as “permanent guest” at the castle of the grotesque theatrical impresario and occult priestess, Liesl Vitzlipützli.
Boy Staunton, originally named Percy. His nickname affirms an ideal based on energetic virility. It is Boy who throws the stone-filled snowball at Dunstan, hitting Mary Dempster instead. He assumes no guilt for his incident and instead becomes a successful, politically influential businessman with a reputation as a sexual athlete.
Mary Dempster, Paul Dempster's mother. Though addled by the snowball thrown by Boy, she is forgiving and lives by her inner lights, making her a possible saint.
David Staunton, the son of Boy Staunton. A successful criminal lawyer, he undergoes a midlife crisis after the death of his father. Unmarried, alcoholic, warped by an overly legalistic mind, and haunted by his relationship with his father, he travels to Switzerland for Jungian therapy. He learns that he is like a mythical beast called the Manticore, a monster who is only partially human. His one-sided emphasis on masculinity and cold reason has estranged him from the world of women and feeling, as well as making him unconscious of the dark side of his own personality. David comes to appreciate the women in his life and understands that his father had blocked both his spirituality and his capacity for intimacy. Like Paul and Dunstan, he engages significantly with Liesl Vitzlipützli, who initiates him into his own mystical and poetic unconscious.
Boy Staunton, who neglects his ailing, lonely wife and has a disturbing effect on his son David. His crimes and evasions catch up to him when, his emotional life withered, he commits suicide. With the assistance of both Paul and Dunstan, retribution is achieved when the stone that hurt Mary Dempster is mysteriously placed in Boy's mouth at his death.
Paul Dempster, alias Magnus Eisengrim, the son of Mary Dempster. Her dementia, combined with a harsh religious up-bringing, forces Paul, at the age of ten, to join a traveling circus in which he becomes the sexual servant of a seedy magician. Descending into a criminal underworld, Paul survives by his wits and eventually joins a theatrical troupe whose romantic values of love and imagination transform him from a tough little criminal into a great artist. After experimenting with a series of alter egos, Paul emerges as Magnus Eisengrim, the world's greatest magician and illusionist. The imagery of greatness (Magnus) and wolfishness (Eisengrim) suggests the intimidating power of his final identity. His early years of suffering and hardship have led to a life rich in experience and feeling, and he becomes the close companion of the wise sorceress, Liesl Vitzlipützli.
Liesl Vitzlipützli, a grotesque mistress of a mansion called Sorgenfrei (carefree). She is a theatrical impresario, sage, and figure of charismatic female power. Her name derives from a minor devil from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust (1790–1833), and she presides as a priestess of a strange magical world beneath the modern one.