Three Lives: Analysis of Major Characters
"Three Lives" is a nuanced exploration of the lives and struggles of three major female characters, each representing different facets of identity and societal roles. The first story centers on Anna Federner, a dedicated German immigrant domestic servant whose selflessness ultimately leads to her demise. Anna's relationships with her employers, Miss Mary Wadsmith and Miss Mathilda, highlight themes of control and dependency, as both women rely on Anna's labor and care but ultimately fail to recognize her needs.
The second narrative focuses on Melanctha Herbert, a mulatto woman navigating her mixed-race identity and the complexities of love and relationships. Through her connections with characters such as Dr. Jeff Campbell, who seeks traditional values, and Jane Harden, who teaches her about life, Melanctha's journey reflects a tension between freedom and societal expectations, culminating in her tragic death.
The final story follows Lena Mainz, a gentle yet passive woman trapped in an unhappy marriage, illustrating the consequences of a life devoid of personal desires and autonomy. Her husband, Herman Kreder, transforms from a selfish individual to a devoted father as Lena's vitality wanes, underscoring the impact of societal and familial pressures on individual lives. Together, these narratives weave a rich tapestry of women's experiences, offering insights into the interplay of race, gender, and social class.
Three Lives: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Gertrude Stein
First published: 1909
Genre: Novel
Locale: Bridgepoint, in the United States
Plot: Psychological realism
Time: The early twentieth century
Anna Federner, a middle-aged domestic servant, “the good Anna” who provides the title for the first of the three stories in the book. She is a hardworking and clean immigrant German woman who fills her life with service to others. Through caring, she exercises a measure of control over her employers, her dogs, and the young girls who are her assistants in the domestic sphere. Anna is not sophisticated or educated and is used by others because of her desire to be needed. She literally works herself to death being good to others.
Miss Mary Wadsmith, Anna's initial employer in Bridgeport. She is a large, fair, and helpless woman, trying to rear her brother's orphaned children. She lets Anna make all the decisions that pertain to the family. She cannot control her niece, who, as she matures, challenges Anna's control and drives her away.
Miss Mathilda, Anna's second employer. She is a large, careless woman who needs Anna because Anna's willingness to take over the entire domestic sphere frees her to pursue other interests. She listens to Anna's problems and offers the kind of sympathetic understanding proper to a relationship based on class difference. Her interests finally take her to Europe (as the author's own interests did), and Anna is left behind, totally bereaved.
Mrs. Lehntman, Anna's friend and the only love of her life besides her dogs. She is Anna's opposite in her easygoing approach to life and her failure to care about strict codes of behavior. She is a widow and a midwife who acquires an extra child without thinking about financial responsibilities. She borrows money from Anna and others that she cannot repay and appears to be involved in illegal activities with a local doctor. Although she always lands on her feet, she finally alienates Anna.
Melanctha Herbert, who is eighteen years old at the beginning of the second novella, which takes her name. She is somewhat older by the end of her adventures, when she dies, as do all the major female characters of these stories. Melanctha is a mulatto whose mixed race reflects her difficulty in understanding where she belongs. Melanctha is intelligent, adventuresome, and desirous of learning what life means. She lives always in the present in her fearless, apparently undirected way. She naturally accepts the life of feeling and learning as opposed to the life of fixed rules and appearances. As a result, she enters into a number of fluid relationships that bring her disillusionment and disappointment and lead to her death by tuberculosis.
Dr. Jeff Campbell, a hardworking, serious black physician who opposes the fluidity of Melanctha's life and wants to create a life of traditional values for his people. His love affair with Melanctha ends when the conflicts that the two of them represent overwhelm him.
Jane Harden, a hard-drinking, independent, educated mulatto who teaches Melanctha much of what she learns about life. Jane's rebellious understanding takes Melanctha only so far, however, and her influence lessens when Melanctha meets Jeff.
Rose Johnson, a careless, negligent, sullen, childlike, and selfish black woman who allows her child to die as a result of indifference. She is a friend of Melanctha and the opposite of Jane Harden. Rose does not question or seek to learn but accepts things as they are and has her place in the social fabric of the black community. She uses Melanctha until she becomes jealous of Melanctha's friendship with her husband.
Jem Richards, Melanctha's last lover and a gambler, dashing and powerful, honest, and fast in his life. His power attracts Melanctha, but his desire for freedom is greater than hers, and he abandons her. He does not love her but fails to tell her so until she has ended her relationship with Jeff Campbell.
Lena Mainz, the title character of “The Gentle Lena.” She is brought to Bridgeport from Germany by her cousin, who is unable to understand that Lena's gentleness is a result of her passivity. So simple is Lena that she seems to have no desires in this world or concern about autonomy of any kind. Manipulated into an unhappy marriage, she bears three children, who bring her no joy. Lena becomes increasingly lifeless in her marriage until she bears a fourth baby, a stillborn child. The birth having taken what life she has, she dies.
Herman Kreder, Lena's husband, a German American tailor who works for his father. He is an unimaginative, spoiled mother's boy who has no will to protect his wife from his mother's interference until he realizes that he will be a father. As Lena becomes more lifeless with each child, Herman becomes more involved in the lives of his children, loving and caring for them because they are his. After Lena's death, he is content not to have a woman always around, for he has his three children.
Mrs. Haydon, Lena's cousin, a hard, ambitious, well-meaning German American woman married to a well-to-do-grocer. She exercises power by arranging other people's lives for their own good, and Lena is a victim of her “goodness.”