Two Solitudes: Analysis of Major Characters
"Two Solitudes" is a novel that explores the complex relationships and cultural tensions within early 20th-century Canada, particularly between French-speaking Catholics and English-speaking Protestants. The analysis of major characters provides insight into how their diverse backgrounds and personal conflicts reflect broader societal issues.
Athanase Tallard, a French Canadian aristocrat, grapples with his identity and political responsibilities amid the national conscription debate, while his second wife, Kathleen, embodies the cultural divide, desiring urban life over rural traditions. Their son, Paul, represents a bridge between cultures, navigating his dual heritage as he pursues a career in writing.
The narrative also features Father Émile Beaubien, who symbolizes the religious and cultural tensions of rural Quebec, and John Yardley, an outsider who transcends societal barriers with his inclusive values. In contrast, characters like Janet Methuen showcase the prejudices entrenched in social status, further complicating the narrative. Overall, the character dynamics in "Two Solitudes" illuminate the themes of identity, belonging, and the quest for understanding amidst a backdrop of cultural conflict.
Two Solitudes: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Hugh MacLennan
First published: 1945
Genre: Novel
Locale: the Saint Lawrence River valley, Montreal, Nova Scotia, and Maine
Plot: Regional
Time: 1917–1939
Athanase Tallard (ah-tah-NAHZ tah-LAHR), an elderly French Canadian aristocrat, seigneur of Saint-Marc-des-Erables, and member of Parliament. As a federal politician, he is in an invidious position: Elected by French-speaking Catholic Quebec, he must work with English-speaking Protestants in Ottawa and is supporting national conscription, to which Quebec is opposed. A Catholic, Tallard is more intellectual, less biddable, and less religiously observant than the local priest desires—but Athanase knows the bishop. Tallard's second marriage has alienated him from his elder son. Attracted by the vision of industrial development and employment for Saint-Marc, Tallard mortgages his property to join a consortium headed by Huntly McQueen. The local priest, fearing change, quarrels with him and orders the parish to boycott him. Athanase moves to Montreal, defiantly becomes Protestant, and sends his younger son to an English school. Having offended French Canadians, Tallard is useless to McQueen. Ruined, he dies, returning to the Catholic faith on his deathbed.
Kathleen Tallard, Athanase's second wife, a young Irish Catholic beauty and former hatcheck girl, Paul's mother. Kathleen cannot share her husband's political life, hates rural Quebec, and longs for urban distractions and male admiration. Nine years after Athanase's death, Kathleen marries an American businessman. Her character stresses the gap between Anglophones and Francophones even when religion is not an issue. She also contributes an English component to Paul.
Marius Tallard, the son of Athanase and Marie Adele, Athanase's first, pious, Québécois wife. Marius Tallard is attracted to his stepmother, detests his father's remarriage, and goes into hiding to escape conscription. He later becomes a lawyer, but his first concern is French Canadian politics.
Paul Tallard, the son of Athanase and Kathleen, a brilliant student. His father's death and the Depression force Paul to play professional hockey and become a sailor. He returns to Canada determined to become a writer. Always an admirer of Captain Yardley, he loves Heather Methuen and marries her. The product of a French English marriage and the husband of an English wife, as well as bilingual himself, Paul embodies the ideal of an integrated Canada.
Father Émile Beaubien (ay-MEEL boh-BYAHN), a local priest in Saint-Marc, embodying the religion, culture, and antagonism to change characteristic of rural Quebec. Although he contributes to Tallard's destruction, Father Beaubien cannot stop McQueen, so Saint-Marc becomes a secular, modern community in spite of him.
John Yardley, a retired Nova Scotian sea captain, the father of Janet, grandfather of Daphne and Heather, and mentor to Paul Tallard after his father's death. Captain Yardley fulfills an old dream by buying land in Saint-Marc. Unprejudiced, intelligent, and sensitive, he is accepted by all even though he speaks no French and is not a Catholic. Only his daughter Janet is ashamed of his unpretentious style. Paul and Heather love him and appreciate his wisdom. Captain Yardley retires to Nova Scotia, where he dies. Heather and Paul marry two days after the funeral. The captain epitomizes the human values that run counter to all barriers of status, religion, and culture.
Janet Methuen (meh-TWAN), Yardley's daughter. A limited, insecure woman, resembling her English mother rather than her father, she is delighted to marry into the Methuen tribe, an old moneyed family in Montreal, pseudo-British and snobbish. Widowed by the war, Janet becomes socially ambitious for her daughters; however, she is stupid and unscrupulous. She betrays Marius Tallard to the authorities, seeks McQueen's help in separating Heather and Paul, and fakes a heart attack. She embodies all the pettiness, prejudice, and traditional English privilege that antagonize French Canada.
Heather Methuen, the younger daughter of Harvey and Janet, a tomboy, independent thinker, and her grandfather's favorite. Always in rebellion against her mother's values, Heather wishes to be useful. She has socialist ideals, loves Paul, believes in his writing, and marries him, knowing that war is coming.
Huntly McQueen, a self-made man, creator and head of a powerful conglomerate. He admires the Methuens, especially Janet. Huntly has private foibles (communing with his dead mother, for example), but his unremarkable appearance and his refusal to court publicity are protective coloration. Secretive, ruthless, pragmatic, and visionary, he is at the center of the Canadian power elite.