Guy Mannering: Or, the Astrologer: Analysis of Major Characters
"Guy Mannering: Or, the Astrologer" is a novel that intricately weaves the lives of its major characters around themes of identity, fate, and familial ties. Central to the story is Captain Brown, originally Harry Bertram, a young Scottish aristocrat who is kidnapped as a child. As he grows into adulthood and serves in India, he falls in love with Julia Mannering, though the Mannerings do not recognize him as their long-lost friend’s son. Colonel Guy Mannering, an astrologer and family friend, plays a pivotal role by predicting significant dangers in Harry's life, which come to fruition. The plot thickens with the introduction of Gilbert Glossin, a corrupt lawyer whose actions set off a chain of events leading to Harry's abduction and the attempted usurpation of his family estate. Other notable characters include Meg Merrilies, a gypsy whose past is intertwined with the kidnapping, and Dirk Hatteraick, a smuggler connected to the darker elements of the narrative. The relationships among the characters, including the eventual unions of Harry with Julia and Charles Hazlewood with Lucy Bertram, reflect themes of redemption and the unravelling of secrets. Through its rich character dynamics, the novel unfolds a compelling tale of intrigue and resolution, inviting readers to explore the complexities of its characters and their fates.
Guy Mannering: Or, the Astrologer: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Sir Walter Scott
First published: 1815
Genre: Novel
Locale: Scotland
Plot: Historical
Time: Eighteenth century
Captain Brown (Harry Bertram), a young Scottish aristocrat whose life took a turn when he was kidnapped in his sixth year. He becomes an officer and, while stationed in India, falls in love with Julia Mannering. The Mannerings, old friends of the Bertrams, do not recognize Brown as young Harry Bertram. Through a chain of events—an interview with a Dutch smuggler and a secret revealed by an old gypsy—Bertram has his identity and inheritance restored and becomes eligible to marry Julia.
Colonel Guy Mannering, a British gentleman and a friend of the Bertrams who, being a student of astrology, predicts dire events for Harry Bertram: the boy's fifth, tenth, and twenty-first years will be especially dangerous, he says. His predictions are more or less accurate. Mannering, finally, is happy to see his friend's son, Harry Bertram, whom he has known as Captain Brown, restored to his inheritance, and he blesses his daughter Julia's alliance with Bertram.
Gilbert Glossin, a crooked lawyer who sets in motion the machinery of the novel. It is he who arranges to have Harry Bertram kidnapped; with Harry out of the way, the lawyer is able to buy the Bertram estate, Ellangowan, inexpensively. He is finally unmasked and, while in prison awaiting trial, is killed by one of his partners in crime.
Charles Hazlewood, a young gentleman who loves Lucy Bertram, Harry's sister. Once mistaking Captain Brown for a bandit, he tries to shoot him. He himself is wounded, however, when, as he and Brown wrestle for the weapon, it is discharged. He marries Lucy Bertram.
Meg Merrilies, an old gypsy woman who played a role in the kidnapping. When young Bertram is twenty-one, she confesses her part, thus disclosing a smuggler and Glossin as her confederates; the smuggler then kills Meg before he is taken to prison.
Dirk Hatteraick, a Dutch smuggler and murderer who killed the revenue officer with whom young Bertram was riding the day Dirk and Meg kidnapped him. Later, he shoots Meg and, while Glossin's cellmate, kills him. Before the law can send him to the scaffold, Hatteraick hangs himself.
Julia Mannering, Guy Mannering's daughter, who finally becomes Harry Bertram's wife.
Lucy Bertram, Harry Bertram's sister, who marries Charles Hazlewood.
Godfrey Bertram, Laird of Ellangowan, who is Lucy and Harry's father. He dies seventeen years after Harry's kidnaping, leaving Lucy an orphan.
Sir Robert Hazlewood, Charles's father.
Dominie Sampson, the faithful tutor to the Bertram children.