The Magnificent Ambersons: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Magnificent Ambersons" explores the dynamics of a once-prominent Midwestern family, with a focus on key characters whose relationships and personal journeys reflect broader themes of social change and the clash between tradition and modernity. Central to the narrative is George Amberson Minafer, a spoiled and arrogant young man who struggles to adapt to the decline of his family's wealth and status. His love interest, Lucy Morgan, embodies resilience and independence, challenging George's outdated views as she aligns herself with the burgeoning automobile industry represented by her father, Eugene Morgan.
Isabel Amberson Minafer, George's devoted mother, is torn between her son's demands and her lingering feelings for Eugene, illustrating the tension between familial loyalty and personal desire. Eugene himself serves as a symbol of progress, contrasting sharply with George's reluctance to embrace change. The character of Fanny Minafer, George's aunt, adds depth to the narrative by highlighting the complexities of unfulfilled love and societal expectations, while George Amberson, the philosopher of the family, provides poignant insights into the inevitable decline of the Amberson legacy. Together, these characters navigate a rapidly evolving world, reflecting the themes of loss, love, and the harsh realities of social evolution.
The Magnificent Ambersons: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Booth Tarkington
First published: 1918
Genre: Novel
Locale: A midwestern city
Plot: Social realism
Time: 1873-early twentieth century
George Amberson Minafer, the protagonist, the only off-spring of Isabel Amberson's marriage to Wilbur Minafer. During his childhood, when the Ambersons dominate their Midland town, George is spoiled by his mother, becoming a source of irritation to the community. His contempt for those who are not of his own class makes the townspeople yearn for his downfall. He is proud of his status and his powerful family. He falls in love with Lucy Morgan when he is a college student and at his social peak. George, unlike Lucy's father, Eugene Morgan, is without a profession. Closely linked with the past, he has reigned over the community like a despotic feudal lord. He fails to see the significance of the rising industrial tide and the concomitant decline of his family's fortune until it is too late. George hates the automobile, as the most visible exponent of progress, and its local manufacturer, Eugene Morgan. George later bars Morgan from his widowed mother's life. Declining property values, bad investments, and family greed eventually leave George destitute and the sole supporter of his aunt, Fanny Minafer. Ironically, an automobile accident that sends him to the hospital reunites George with Lucy, who still loves him, and Eugene, who forgives him.
Lucy Morgan, the daughter of Eugene Morgan and George's love interest. Small in stature and possessing a lively wit, she is nevertheless formidable and self-reliant. Having accompanied her peripatetic father on his journeys from an early age, Lucy has an independence that makes her more than a match for George Minafer. Despite enormous pressure from George, she refuses to betroth herself to him as long as he refrains from working for a living. She is thoroughly imbued with the values of her father, a thriving automobile manufacturer. The only thing she concedes to George's repeated overtures is a kind of quasi engagement. Her strength of will is such that she refuses to acknowledge her depth of feeling for George even when he tells her that they are parting for good. Although she regrets the grime and decay that are associated with the industrialization of the city, she is firmly committed to the future, moving with her father to successively newer homes that are increasingly distant from the inner city. She finally accepts George at the end of the novel, after he has lost his fortune and must work for a living.
Isabel Amberson Minafer, George's mother and the object of Eugene Morgan's affection. After Isabel marries the taci-turn businessman Wilbur Minafer, she compensates by slav-ishly devoting herself to her son George. The depth of her love can be measured by the fact that after she is widowed, she allows George to bar former fiancé Eugene Morgan from her life. Even after her death, she apparently communicates to Eugene through a psychic and asks him to help her son.
Eugene Morgan, Lucy's father and the embodiment of the future in the novel. As a debt-ridden young lawyer, Eugene inadvertently sacrifices his engagement to Isabel through a drinking mishap on the Amberson estate. He returns twenty years later to rebuild the relationship and to make his fortune in the automobile industry. Self-confident and sharing Lucy's keen sense of humor, he prophesies the success of his machines and the decline of the inner city. He is the classic self-made man, and his rise parallels the fall of the house of Amberson.
Fanny Minafer, George's aunt and sister to Wilbur Minafer. As a young woman, Fanny loved Eugene Morgan, and his return twenty years later rekindles her affection. Indeed, throughout most of the novel she schemes to capture her long-sought prize and escape unmarried old age. When Fanny tells George about local gossip concerning Isabel and Eugene, he ends the relationship. George continually torments her about her unmarried status; ironically, she must rely on him when the Amberson estate dissipates.
George Amberson, Isabel's brother and George's namesake. He is the novel's philosopher. Although he is abysmal as an investor—he contributes as much as anyone to the loss of the family fortune—his is the story's most consistently intelligent voice. He foresees the passing of the Ambersons, and he counsels his nephew to ignore the gossip about Isabel and Eugene. After the loss of the family fortune, he accepts a consulship and leaves town.