ENGL 140

Pastor Finch

A guest speaker at Jean's church, Pastor Finch is a missionary and is idolized by Jean's mother. It's Pastor Finch who leads various church services and serves as a guide to Jean's mother whenever there's a problem. He becomes the best known missionary supported by this particular group of churches.

Eudora

A nearly fifty-year-old expatriate lesbian who Audre meets in Mexico. They begin a brief love affair before Eudora's alcoholism and feud with a Mexican woman cause her to stay in Mexico rather than travel with Audre. Audre, due to improving political conditions in the United States, decides to return to NYC.

Pyrrhus

Achilles' son shows up after his father's death. He is 12 years old and never met his father. He was raised by his goddess grandmother Thetis. He is cold like his mother, and has none of the gentleness found in his father.

Septimus Warren Smith

After Clarissa, Septimus is the character of most importance. His story parallels Clarissa's to a certain extent, as both characters are radically isolated and seem at odds with prevailing forces in the world. Septimus came to London as a young man in search of a career, and he showed early promise. He was an excellent worker interested in furthering his education, but then he went off to war. He returned from the war having fought bravely, but also with shell shock, a condition little understood at the time. He and his wife first seek help from a general practitioner, instead of immediately consulting the psychological specialist, Dr. Bradshaw, demonstrating people's unfamiliarity with mental disease and how to manage it at the time. Septimus is a portrait of a distressed mind, going through the hours of his last day, entertaining delusional thoughts and experiencing hallucinations, and ultimately, killing himself.

Kitty

Also known as Afrekete, she is a singer Audre meets through a mutual friend. She is the last lover mentioned in the book and helps Audre recover from Muriel. They have a brief, happy relationship but drift apart. A few weeks after Audre last saw Kitty, Kitty went to Atlanta to see her mother and daughter and take up a singing position.

Elizabeth Dalloway

Elizabeth Dalloway is Clarissa's daughter. She is just coming of age, and she is somewhat in the thrall of her history tutor, Doris Kilman. However, Elizabeth is also her own person. When she goes out on a shopping trip with Miss Kilman, she soon parts from her tutor and steals a few hours to be by herself before she must return home to get ready for her mother's party.

Ellie Henderson

Ellie is Clarissa's cousin, whom Clarissa invites to her party at the last minute at the request of a mutual acquaintance. Ellie is not well-off and gets out very seldom, so she is grateful to have the opportunity to attend such an exciting affair.

At Swim Two Boys further plot

Events of 1915: Jim attends a Catholic school, regularly attends church, and plays in the school's flute band, where he is the object of his Latin teacher's obsession. Brother Polycarp likes to have extra prayer sessions with him alone, during which Jim is subject to mild sexual pawing whose nature he does not understand; Jim reminds Polycarp of his own past. Unbeknown to his father, Jim is offered the chance of a vocation to join the brothers of the church. When Doyler joins the flute band, their old friendship is renewed. Doyler takes Jim out to the Forty Foot a well known swimming area in Dublin Bay for a swim. The two boys make a pact: Doyler will teach Jim to swim, and in a year, on Easter Sunday, 1916, they will swim to the distant island of Muglins Rock and claim it for themselves. As their friendship grows, Jim reconsiders his vocation, ultimately refusing; Brother Polycarp is emotionally stricken and has to resign. Meanwhile, patriots appear on the novel's stage: Madame Eveline MacMurrough continues to support the idea of Ireland's liberty. The clergy also supports the patriotic body of thought, in particular, Father Amen O'Toiler - who pushes the boys church's flute band to resemble a regimental band. Even Jim's father, Mr. Mack, who is proud having served as a soldier in an Irish Battalion, is swollen with pride for the boys in MacMurrough's garden, seeing them all in uniform kilts. Only Anthony MacMurrough, the nephew of Eveline MacMurrough, turns away from their politics. After his return from imprisonment in England, for acts of gross indecency, his nationalist aunt Eveline MacMurrough is determined to redeem his reputation through a prosperous marriage. In a garden party, Eveline MacMurrough introduces him to Irish society, pushing him to follow her patriotic ideals. However, MacMurrough is still caught up in his memories of imprisonment, conversing with the internal voice of his dead prison-mate, Scrotes, on the fate of homosexuals. In the meantime, Doyler works to help support his family, which has been driven to poverty by Mr. Doyle's alcoholism and illness. Doyler accepts payment from MacMurrough in return for sexual favours. Although Doyler is depicted as accepting his own sexuality, his response to the older man is ambiguous and ultimately MacMurrough fails to attract the boy. Doyler, being a vehement Socialist and outcast from the society of his home community, leaves home and joins the Irish Citizen Army at Dublin. Events of 1916 Jim, bereft of the pal of his heart Doyler, befriends MacMurrough, who becomes a mentor to Jim, teaching about swimming as well as homosexuality and philosophy. MacMurrough finds that he is unable to rid himself of his fascination with the two boys, their relationship and their pact to swim to the Muglins and claim them for Ireland. The night before Easter Sunday, Doyler leaves his duties as army member and visits Jim. They renew their pact, confessing their love for each other. The next morning, Easter Sunday, Jim and Doyler successfully swim to the Muglins. Not only do they claim the islands with an Irish green flag, but they also make love to one another. On their swim back to the Forty Foot, as Doyler is close to drowning, MacMurrough rescues both of them. While Doyler rests and recovers at MacMurrough's house, Jim feels responsible for the duties his friend cannot carry out. As the Easter Rising takes place, Jim grabs the uniform of Doyler and joins the fighting for the Irish Volunteers at Dublin downtown. Meanwhile, MacMurrough does not realize Jim's action. When Doyler discovers what Jim has done, both Doyler and MacMurrough go searching for Jim. As they approach downtown Dublin where the fighting is occurring, Doyler sees Jim standing in the open. Just as the two are about to be reunited, Doyler is himself fatally wounded.

Night Listener Plot

Gabriel Noone is a gay writer whose late-night radio stories have brought him into the homes of millions. Noone has recently separated from Jess, his partner of ten years. Noone's publisher sends him the galleys of a memoir apparently written by a 13-year-old boy, Peter Lomax. The author claims to have been the victim of sexual abuse and infected with HIV. According to his memoir, his father started beating him at two and raped him at four; his mother videotaped the "sessions". When he was eight years old, his parents started pimping him and selling videotapes. When Pete was age 11, he ran away with the pornographic tapes, and his parents were jailed. A psychologist named Donna Lomax took the boy in and eventually adopted him. Noone contacts the boy and they start exchanging a series of phone calls that develop into a kind of father/son relationship. He begins to suspect that Pete does not exist and that he and his memoir are fabrications by Donna. Even a visit to their home is inconclusive, and the novel ends with Gabriel feeling that the value of the relationship to him is more important than whether or not Pete is real. Subplots in the novel revolve around Gabriel's relationships with his lover and his father. Important themes are the nature of father/son relationships, the power struggle involved in caring for and being cared for by another, the embellishment of truth, and the secrets we keep even in the most intimate relationships.

Gabriel Noone

Gay writer with late-night radio show Recently separated from Jess, his partner of 10 years Gets memoirs of 13 year old boy, Peter Lomax Contacts Lomax and the two develop a sort of father-son relationship over the phone Begins to suspect Peter is not real but the novel ends with him feeling the value of the relationship is more valuable to him than whether or not Peter is real Uncomfortable around his own father as his father is racist and prejudiced against Gabriel's sexuality Despite tensions with his father, the two are similar Breakup with Jess is hard and Grabriel seems lost without him Talks to Peter about paternal love, illness, desertion, and trust

Ginger

Ginger is initially a fellow employee at the factory in Stamford where Audre works. Over time and much flirting, they decide to make love and ultimately become lovers. They drift apart over time and Audre returns to NYC.

Jim

Huge Fag Son of shopkeeper Mr. Mack Naive schoolboy, worried about going to hell as he tries obey the rules of the church Ends up loving Doyler who is more experienced Hesitant about becoming intimate with Doyler Sees the the pact about swimming with Doyler to the island as a symbol of their union, their own experience that no one can take away from them

Hugh Whitbread

Hugh Whitbread is deemed by most characters in the book (Peter, Sally, Richard) to be dull and uninteresting. There is the sense that he is a little ridiculous and quite conventional. Clarissa has the most sympathy for him as she appreciates his good qualities. Foremost amongst his good points are his loyalty and obedience. He always tried to please his mother and he looks after his ailing and fragile wife, Evelyn, dutifully.

Hunter Craydon

Hunter Craydon is Louis's latest boyfriend. Louis tells Clarissa he's in love with Hunter, but he's not. He's only in love with some ideal that Hunter cannot live up to.

Economic Class distinction in At Swim Two Boys

In At Swim, Two Boys, the two main characters, Doyler and Jim, are of low socio-economic backgrounds. Students deprecate Jim for attending school on scholarship, which ostracizes him to some degree. He is other-ed—labeled different—due to his socioeconomic background. Doyler, too, is poor and drops out of school in order support himself. In this sense, the two have different experiences, which is to say they don't have the normal school experience of those of the upper-middle class. Moreover, Doyler even enacts sexual favors for MacMurrough in exchange for money. Again, their experiences differ from the status quo, both economically and sexually.

Doyler Doyle

Son of Mr. Doyle who is Mr. Mack's old army buddy Grows up poor, more experienced and less naive than Jim Used to be friends with when they were young (12) but left to work and explore his Irish roots Returns when they are 15-16 Sympathetic to the Irish fight for independence and joins the Irish Citizen Army

The Night Listener main themes

Suspicion Secrecy Truth Loss Mystery Trust New life crisis of gay men expecting to die are suddenly given new life by drugs Also touches specifically upon Aids

Sylvia Parry

Sylvia, Clarissa's sister, is only mentioned in passing, but is significant nevertheless. She was killed by a falling tree at Bourton. The name "Sylvia" is Latinate, meaning "wild" or "woods." Her death signifies the death of youth and freedom, as Clarissa's freedom and youth ended at Bourton when she decided to marry. That is, her life since Bourton has been one in which she is not so much her own person as Richard's wife.

The Branded

The Branded is the name of a group of "outcast" smart kids at Audre's high school. They were Audre's close friends and their bonds extended past high school, when many of them rented an apartment together. The Branded help to form Audre's identity as a creator and maintainer of communities of the marginalized. She often played a motherly role to various younger members of The Branded.

Sistah Outsiders

The Sistah Outsiders are a group of black lesbians of which Audre is a member. The group never meets but instead consists of loners, black lesbians who feel that they are marginalized even by their white lesbian friends.

Virginia Woolf

Virginia Woolf's character represents author Michael Cunningham's interpretation of the real Virginia Woolf. She is the tortured artist, much like Richard's character, and in the novel her reasons for killing herself mirror Richard's: They both felt they had failed as writers. Her thought process in The Hours seems twisted, or askew, in the sense that she seems to see everything through a dark lens. Despite her success as a writer, despite her financial success, despite the level of independence and equality she manages to achieve as a woman (during a time when feminism was a rather new subject), Virginia has very low self-worth and cannot appreciate any of her successes. Virginia is obsessed with social standing; she pretends to hate it, but she is impressed by people, like her sister, who are capable of succeeding in society. This was symbolized in the book by Vanessa's easy dealings with servants, which contrasted with Virginia's inability to command her own servant, Nelly. Her sense of powerlessness is so complete that she believes killing herself is the only solution to her problems. She metes out death to her characters, almost as an experiment, to figure out how others might react to her own suicide; in the end, it seems that Virginia only cares about what others think of her. Ironically, Virginia judges Clarissa Dalloway harshly for caring what others think of her; and yet, in this reader's opinion, Clarissa's character in Mrs. Dalloway was more true to herself than the character of Virginia in The Hours ever managed to be.

Nelly

Virginia Woolf's disgruntled servant, Nelly, is the nemesis who Virginia feels she must overcome in order to convincingly play the part of a society wife.

Mrs. Dalloway Author

Virginia Woolfe

Walter Hardy

Walter is an acquaintance of Richard and seems unfriendly. Clarissa both likes and dislikes the man, as he represents not only conformity to social mores, but he's also socially successful.

Deidameia

When Thetis hides Achilles from going to war, she convinces Deidameia to hide him as a woman, and Achilles will marry her. After the wedding she is pregnant, and she is devastated when Patroclus shows up to steal Achilles' attentions. Achilles leaves her behind when he goes to war, and Thetis tells Deidameia that she will take the child when he is born and raise him herself in the sea. At one point, Deidameia plays on Patroclus' sympathies and she seduces him, as revenge for Achilles hurting her.

Sir William Bradshaw

While Dr. Bradshaw, unlike Dr. Holmes, immediately grasps the gravity and nature of Septimus's condition, he is still not a likable character. He seems very similar to Dr. Holmes. The book's argument against these doctors is that they are primarily concerned with managing individual cases of social and psychological distress without being interested in the causes of such problems. Thus, these doctors are still a part of the problem. They help to maintain the status quo by smoothing over difficulties instead of approaching psychological disturbance as evidence of deep social problems that must be addressed.

Women in Mrs. Dalloway

Women of all classes have little power in Mrs. Dalloway. Lady Bruton, though she seems displaced in the feminine sphere and exhibits general-like qualities, becomes as helpless as a child when she faces writing a letter to the newspaper. Normally proud and serious, she shows ridiculous gratitude when Hugh arranges her thoughts in the manner accepted by the male establishment

Madame Eveline MacMurrough

is depicted as the daughter of a republican figure famous in the history of the local patriotic movement. In the name of Ireland she supports the troops at the Western Front with socks to warm the soldiers' feet, and organizes a garden party to enliven the patriotism of the local society and to support its clubs. Finally, she even backs the Republicans by providing them with weapons for the Easter Rising.

Doyler

poor ass son of Mr. Doyle, who is Mr. Mack's old army pal. Doyler has grown up in poverty, hence he already knows quite a lot about life and is in no way naïve. Doyler used to be Jim's friend when they were about twelve, but Doyler left town for some time looking for work and his Irish roots . As Doyler returns, and the story unfolds, Jim and Doyler are both aged 15 to 16 years old. Doyler is sympathetic to the Irish workers front and later joins the Irish Citizen Army. He dies lol.

At Swim, Two Boys

the connection between the fight for political freedom and sexual freedom. economic class

Anthony MacMurrough

the nephew of Eveline MacMurrough. Jim calls him McEmm as the story develops. Prior to the novel's action, MacMurrough has served a prison sentence in England of two years' hard labour for acts of gross indecency with a chauffeur-mechanic boy. As he returns to Ireland, his previous cellmate Scrotes follows in his mind, providing an internal ghostly friend, supporting the soliloquizing of MacMurrough. He stays at the home of his nationalist aunt Eveline MacMurrough, who pushes him to become a patriotic Irishman, mentoring and leading the young, and, in her imagination, eventually marrying. MacMurrough conforms to some degree but recognises his homosexuality as a permanent character trait. It is only when he becomes a mentor to Jim and Doyler individually, teaching them about swimming as well as homosexuality and philosophy, that he finds some degree of personal fulfilment.

Peter Lomax

13 year old boy Father started beating him at two and raping him at 4 His mother videotaped the rape sessions At 8 his parents started pimping him out and selling the tapes At 11 he runs away with the tapes and his parents are jailed Psychologist named Donna Lomax takes Peter in and adopts him

A Song of Achilles Author

Madeline Miller

Julia Vaughan

Julia is Clarissa's daughter; to Clarissa's friend Louis, Julia represents Clarissa as she was in her youth.

Mary Krull

Julia's friend, Mary Krull, is a social activist and a lesbian who thinks that Clarissa sold out by conforming to society's mores.

Themes in Mrs. Dalloway

Keeping up Appearances, Relationships, Criticism

Lynn

Audre and Muriel's roommate with whom they have a threesome. Over time, they take turns having sex with Lynn, but the relationship doesn't work out and creates distance between Muriel and Audre. Once the door is open to sex with other women, their relationship quickly deteriorates, though Lynn inexplicably left them and stole most of their valued belongings and savings.

Maxine

Audre has several close friends in high school, and Maxine is one of them. She is also Jewish.

Audre Lorde

Audre is the author or main character of the book. The book follows Audre from early childhood to adulthood, cataloguing her development and her relationships with women specifically. Audre is naturally creative, head strong, defiant, private and emotionally vulnerable. Her creativity comes out throughout the book, in her poetic writings and her attraction to the written word. She is headstrong, refusing to despair in a culture that despises her and speaking out against oppression when she can and living freely elsewhere when speaking out will do no good. She is defiant as well, because she ultimately refuses to be defined by those around her and stands out even among other lesbians and feminists as someone with her own, unique perspective. She consistently insists that she has something to contribute that no other has the same perspective. She is also private, particularly after Gennie's death and is resistant to opening her heart to others, including women. And while she does love from time to time, there is a kind of boundary she sets in her heart that always divides her from even her lovers. This is to hide her emotional vulnerability, which springs from an eternal desire to be emotionally close to and loved by other women, not only as friends but as lovers and sexual partners.

Gennie

Audre's best friend in high school, whose real name is Genevieve. She is a dancer who lives a troubled life. She lives with Louisa, her mother, initially, but when her father Philip reenters her life she decides to live with him. She then drops into a deep depression. Linda suspects Philip is raping her. She and Audre become inseparable and she tells Audre that she intends to commit suicide. After a failed attempt, Gennie succeeds. Audre is crushed and has trouble loving again because of the pain she (Audre) suffered.

Lorde's father

Audre's father was a strong man, but he worked often and did not spend much time at home. As a result, Audre's relationship with him was a distant one, although they do share moments of intimacy from time to time.

Bea

Audre's next lover, a white girl in NYC who is interested in lesbianism more for its romantic and intellectual value than for sex. She and Audre are never terribly close, and Audre eventually leaves Bea when Audre goes to Mexico.

Phyllis and Helen (Lorde's older sisters)

Audre's older sisters, who play a relatively small role in the story. They often exclude Audre from their activities because they say she is too young. Audre largely feels rejected by her sisters, and this probably contributes to her hunger for the strength of other women.

Peter

Audre's only boyfriend, a white man that she meets at a youth labor group. She dates him for awhile and is largely unconnected to him. They eventually break up, but she discovers she is pregnant. She then gets an abortion, which is difficult for her physically and emotionally.

Briseis

Briseis is the first Trojan girl the Greeks take as their own. At Patroclus' urging, Achilles asks to have her, and she is granted to him. She slowly learns their language, and she welcomes and helps settle other girls as they arrive. Patroclus and Briseis become very close, and Briseis develops romantic feelings towards Patroclus. She offers him to have a family and still keep Achilles. In the final standoff between Agamemnon and Achilles, Agamemnon takes Briseis as punishment. It is only at Patroclus' intervention that she is spared from being raped.

Chiron

Chiron is highly respected a centaur (half man, half horse) who lives on Mount Pelion. He taught all of the great heroes, and he also teaches Achilles and Patroclus, who live with him for three years. He teaches them medicine and the tasks of daily life.

Clarissa Dalloway

Clarissa Dalloway is the principal character of Mrs. Dalloway, since it is her party that gives definition to the narrative and her point of view dominates the book. She was born Clarissa Parry, and the day the novel takes place, she is approximately fifty years old. Her husband is Richard Dalloway, and they have one child, Elizabeth. The overwhelming impression Clarissa gives is that she is a solitary, even isolated, being, and that she is often consumed with thoughts or feelings of death and mortality. This is not only because her thoughts of friends are for those of her youth and not present. ones, but also because she seems to desire isolation. She chooses Richard Dalloway over Peter Walsh as a husband not because she loves him more, but because she believes Richard will not consume all of her personality and time, or all of her emotional and intellectual reserves. Clarissa sleeps in her own room, in a small single bed that is likened to a coffin, and such suggestions and imagery of isolation and death surround her throughout the book. The reader gains a sense of Clarissa's character both from her own thoughts and from what other characters, especially Peter, think about her. Besides the fact that she has inspired love, which speaks well of her, she is also someone whom others, and herself, think flawed. Peter's notion that she is the "perfect hostess" sums up this suspicion of her weakness. Clarissa is well-off and does not work, putting her in a position to cultivate her preferences, which are the pursuits of beauty and social harmony. While she knows that these are worthy pursuits, she and her friends nevertheless wonder whether this is a wholly ethical way to live. The question she and they ask is whether or not she should be more like her husband or Lady Bruton and take a more obviously practical role in public and political life.

Clarissa Vaughan

Clarissa Vaughan was nicknamed "Mrs. Dalloway" by Richard in honor of the literary character, Clarissa Dalloway, whom he believes she resembles. To fully understand Clarissa Vaughan, one must understand what author Virginia Woolf had in mind when she created the character of Mrs. Dalloway. Woolf thought of Mrs. Dalloway as a shallow society wife; too weak to buck convention, Clarissa could only submit herself to society's judgment and try to live up to its standards. This view of society wives reflected the beliefs of the Bloomsbury Group. At the time Virginia lived, women had even less equality than they do today; Virginia was associated with feminism because she created characters, such as Mrs. Dalloway, who were considered indictments of the socially- accepted female role. The Bloomsbury Group felt that there were more important things in the world than throwing parties and keeping house. The irony is that while they concerned themselves with social agendas like world hunger and poverty, they actually embraced poverty as an ideal. They denigrated homemakers and yet hated the injustice of homelessness. Home is not just a house; a home is also comprised of the people in our lives whom we love and count on. The Bloomsbury Group denied its members the type of marital and family commitments which give human beings a sense of home. Virginia Woolf thus created a character which must in some way have reflected her own mixed feelings. Mrs. Dalloway loved life, but she stood for everything that Virginia was taught to hate. Virginia seemed to secretly yearn for the life of a society wife, but she, on the basis of her beliefs and that of the Bloomsbury Group, would not allow herself to have that life. Virginia originally planned to have Mrs. Dalloway kill herself; in the end, Virginia spared Clarissa Dalloway's life. Virginia must have seen some beauty in her character which she could not bring herself to destroy. Clarissa Vaughan, created in Mrs. Dalloway's image, feels guilt and shame over her own supposed shallowness. Despite the fact that Clarissa loves her life and her wife, she allows people like Mary Krull (who represents the Bloomsbury Group's viewpoint) to judge and condemn her. It is a shame that Clarissa's character could not respect herself and her life more. She must have been doing something right, because she is virtually the only happy character in the book. Society is certainly not perfect, and there is nothing wrong with ignoring or even rebelling against social convention in order to be true to one's self. However, human beings are social creatures, and therefore a complete and utter rejection of society actually contradicts our fundamental nature. Clarissa Vaughan was true to herself, and she might have been even happier had she not substituted the judgment of others for her own.

Importance of the Hours

Clarissa wonders how life can have meaning when everybody inevitably dies. Clarissa decides that the meaning can be found in those hours when you feel satisfied—and you feel as though all has been delivered.

Miss Helena Parry

Clarissa's aunt is a minor character in the book. She figures early on as the relative at Bourton whom the younger people seem to enjoy shocking. She surprises Peter at the end of the book by still being alive and by being present at the party.

Oranges Themes

Coming of Age: Jean ages physically, mentally and emotionally during the course of the novel. She's only seven at the beginning and is a young woman who has completed school as the story comes to an end. She has also taken a long look at herself and made some decisions about her life during that time. One of the biggest decisions is that she refuses to renounce her lifestyle and submit to an exorcism, accepting her mother's decree that she must move out if she doesn't submit. Jean matures with regard to her relationship as well. When she and her first lover are discovered and confronted, they stand together in front of the church. Jean's lover, Melanie, accepts the church's demands that she repent. When Jean is discovered to be involved in a second relationship, she separates herself from her lover, Katy. She does this in order to protect Katy from the abuse she knows will be forthcoming. Jean also matures in her role in the church over the course of the story. It's Jean's mother who has decided that Jean is to be a missionary and Jean is a teenager when she decides that isn't what she wants for herself. Instead, she points out that she is in a position to do good works for the church at home. She begins offering up sermons of her own, leads Bible studies, and is an important figure in the church, even at a young age. This role is taken away when her second sexual relationship is discovered though she's bribed to repent by offering to allow her to resume her teaching of Sunday school —under direct supervision. Jean's mother seems to age somewhat, though it's not really accurate to say that she is an example of coming of age. When Jean returns home for Christmas, her mother acts as though nothing had happened between them. Jean even wonders if her absence might not have even been noticed. Her mother doesn't immediately embark on a tirade about Jean's lifestyle, nor does she make any demands. This shouldn't be taken as acceptance by Jean's mother of her daughter's lifestyle, but is an example of her apparent attempt to hold her family together—a great change over her attitude of previous years. The Need to Belong: Jean is raised in the church and she often points out that she is comfortable there and that the church members are her family. This "family" becomes vital to Jean when she fails to fit in at school. It's mentioned that there are other children involved in the church, and it seems likely. In any case, Jean seems not to associate with those other children. In school, Jean is teased and doesn't fit in. She says on several occasions that she's not one of the "posh" students who is a member of a Brownie troop. While that seems that it should have put Jean into a group of poorer children by default, it seems that she doesn't fit in there either and that she has few—if any—children who want to be around her. Early on in her school years, Jean is confronted by school officials who say that she has prompted nightmares in other children by telling them stories of hell. Jean says that she herself has nightmares and doesn't seem to understand why she shouldn't tell these stories. After all, these are the facts of life as she has been raised to know them. When her mother receives an admonition to have Jean tone down her stories, her mother is delighted that Jean seems to be set apart from other children. It's then that Jean notes that her mother has few friends herself. There is little talk of the impact when Jean is forced from the church, though it seems likely that it would have taken a huge toll on her. It could be that she became so busy in surviving—working two jobs while she finished school—that she had little time to grieve over the loss of her church family. The Need for Approval: In school, Jean is always outside the circle of friendship and companionship. When she's to make a sampler in sewing class, she pulls from her Biblical background for inspiration—an act that wins the favor of her good friend Elsie Norris but not the approval of her teachers. She gives the sampler to Elsie who hangs it in her living room. When it fails to earn a prize in the sewing contest, Jean returns it to Elsie with the comment that she might no longer want it. In Jean's mind, the fact that it fails to win a prize in the contest lessens its value. Elsie says that it's perfect and that she wants it, then adds that some people simply don't understand. Jean talks of wanting so badly to win a competition in school. She spends a great deal of time on projects but never wins and finally credits it to a lack of imagination and understanding on the part of the teachers. Jean's relationship with her mother seems to be many things, but love and approval don't seem to figure into the equation. When Melanie tells Jean that she has no father, Jean says that she also doesn't have one though her adoptive father is alive and well. She seems to be referring to the lack of interaction between the two of them. When Jean's biological mother comes to reclaim Jean, her adoptive mother refuses to allow the two even to meet. Though Jean doesn't interrupt the meeting, she listens in and tells her adoptive mother that she wanted to meet her biological mother. It seems that if Jean had actually wanted that meeting, she would have stepped into the room and done so. Instead, it's possible that she was attempting to provoke a loving response from her adoptive mother. That wasn't the response she received. Jean's interaction in the church seems to be a need for companionship, but it is also a safe place where she is accepted and needed. When it's noted that women have overstepped their bounds in the church, Jean says she doesn't understand. It seems she's taken her cue from the strong women in the church and that she feels there's nothing wrong with women delivering sermons and taking over the organization of the church. Her mother, seeming to give in to her own need for approval from a man she admires—Pastor Spratt—agrees with the church that women have overstepped their bounds.

Daisy

Daisy is referred to in passing as the woman whom Peter Walsh is to marry. Peter is in London arranging matters for her divorce, among other business, as she is presently married

Madame Eveline MacMurrough

Daughter of famous republican figure in the local patriotic movement Makes socks for troops Organizes garden party to enliven local patriotic spirit Provides weapons for the easter rising

The Hours Themes

Death Wish: Suicide is the central theme of the novel. Whether to accept life or reject it has been a literary theme dating back to the ancient Greek tragedies. William Shakespeare summed it up perfectly in Hamlet, with his famous line, "To be or not to be, that is the question." Psychologically speaking, there are two major reasons for suicide: despair and revenge. Given Laura Brown's level of anger and resentment, emotions she stifled continually, revenge may have been part of her motivation. Despair most certainly played a part in her death wish, however. She saw the life she'd made for herself as a series of long, depression-filled hours. With no hope or prospect for joy in her life, those hours seemed unbearable. Laura flirted with thoughts of death, which to her seemed a release from the hours. Virginia Woolf sought that same release from her own despair. What causes despair? Many people suffer pain and tragedy, make heinous mistakes, and yet retain a sense of hope about the future. For human beings, life is often a series of mistakes and regrets, intermingled with triumphs and joys. Every human being has their own threshold for what they consider an acceptable level of failure, and beyond that acceptable level comes despair, an inability to recover hope; this is a sliding scale and completely dependent on our own viewpoint. People who exceed their own level of tolerance for failure may feel they have no choice but to kill themselves. Laura Brown, for example, had an extremely low tolerance for failure. Had her second cake come out as poorly as the first, she may never have checked out of that hotel. The characters of Richard and Virginia Woolf both felt they had failed as writers, despite the many awards and accolades they achieved. Hope is critical to our emotional well-being, and the loss of hope which characterizes despair can lead to a death wish. When a human being views their life through the lens of despair, as Laura, Richard, and Virginia all did, the only hope they are often capable of imagining lies in death. It is a cruel irony that many people who commit suicide are reaching out to the only hope they can imagine - the death that they hope will provide a release from their problems. Sexual Confusion: Homosexuality has been a part of human behavior through the ages, and yet it is still little understood today by some, large sections of society. This lack of understanding creates huge difficulties for homosexuals, as they have few role models and very little guidance for developing their sexual identities. Laura Brown, a stereotypical post-war housewife, could not imagine that she herself was gay. She spent a great deal of time and effort denying her basic instincts because the world she lived in seemed to have no place for someone like her. Laura's son displayed a similar level of sexual confusion; he was in love simultaneously with both Louis and Clarissa. Richard did accept his homosexuality, however, and even Clarissa knew it was his fundamental feeling. Clarissa was the only woman in his romantic life, and it's entirely possible that his confusion stemmed from his need for a maternal figure, whom Clarissa represented. Laura, Clarissa, Richard, and Virginia Woolf all have similar feelings of sexual confusion within the novel. Social Standing: The desire to be admired by society is a theme throughout The Hours and throughout its predecessor, Mrs. Dalloway. Clarissa's inner dialogue reflects both her desire to be admired and her self-condemnation for holding such a shallow desire. There are several references to fame, beginning with the movie star emerging from her trailer during Clarissa's morning excursion. Later, Sally's lunch with the famous Oliver St. Ives provides an opportunity to illustrate how people desire to be admired by society and share in the glory of those, like St. Ives, who have achieved success in society's eyes. Clarissa feels left out when St. Ives doesn't include her in the luncheon invitation, because she feels he has not deemed her important. She has nearly identical thoughts when she meets Walter Hardy, a man she does not even like, and yet she is disappointed that he, too, seems to find her unimportant. Clarissa clings to Richard's growing fame and respect as an author and hopes the fact that he wrote about her in his prize-winning book will elevate her social standing. Simultaneously, she chides herself for wanting to elevate her social standing at all. The desire to feel important is so ingrained in Clarissa that even at the moment of Richard's death, she wishes she could tell him how much she wanted him to come to her party, so he could show her guests how important Clarissa was to Richard.

Miss Doris Kilman

Doris Kilman is a single, educated woman to whom life has not been particularly kind or just. While she possessed employment of some security before the war, her refusal to jump on the war bandwagon and call all Germans enemies made her unpopular and caused her to be dismissed from her post. Left to fend for herself during the lean war years, she scrapes together a living from incidental tutoring and lecturing. She feels great bitterness about her misfortunes and develops a religious fanaticism that makes her extremely unpopular with Clarissa, who fears and resents the woman's influence on Elizabeth.

Dr. Holmes

Dr. Holmes is an overbearing and controlling doctor who does not understand Septimus's condition and whose ignorance and arrogance do Septimus more harm than good. His arrival at Septimus's apartment is the last straw for the young man. Rather than fall under Holmes's control, Septimus throws himself out of a window, killing himself.

A Song of Achilles simple plot

In a world where where Gods, demi-gods and people all live together, "The Song of Achilles" is the love story of Patroclus and Achilles. Both were born the sons of kings, but Patroclus' father exiles him when he is a boy after he accidentally kills a nobleman's son. He is shipped off to be raised by in Phthia, where he meets Achilles, son of the King, Peleus. They are the same age and soon Patroclus becomes the sworn companion of Achilles. They develop an intense bond, despite Achilles' mother's objections. She is a goddess so this is more easily said than done. When at sixteen years old, they are living in the woods with Chiron, Achilles' teacher, the relationship between them turns physical. Not long later, Achilles is called to war. His mother whisks him away into hiding to protect him but soon he is found. Patroclus joins him in going to Troy. Over the next ten years, they partake in the Trojan War and their fates, and ashes, are sealed in Troy.

Real life people in At Swim, Two Boys

James Connolly, Patrick Pierce (who led the uprising), Roger Casement

At Swim Two Boys Author

Jamie O'Neill

Agamemnon

King Agamemnon is the general of the war. His brother is Helen's husband, but Agamemnon is the more powerful king and he leads the army. He is sensitive to people questioning his authority and more than once he gets into heated exchanges with Achilles. Agamemnon at times puts his pride before honor. He is often mean and makes poor choices, like shunning the high priest who tries to ransom his daughter. He is also staunchly religious, so much so that he sacrifices his own daughter to appease the god Athena.

Oranges are not the Only Fruit

Jean lives "for a long time" with her mother and father. That seems a sarcastic statement until she reveals that she is adopted, meaning that she didn't always live with her parents. She immediately begins a description of her mother. She says that her mother lives for conflict. For example, her mother wants the Mormons to come to her door and deliberately chooses the windiest days to hang out sheets so that she'll have to do battle to keep them off the ground and on the line. Her mother has a list of friends and enemies. Slugs and the people next door are among the enemies. Slug pellets, God, and Jean are among the friends. Jean's mother is a devout woman. Jean says that she "was very bitter" about the fact that the Virgin Mary "got there first", so that Jean's mother did the next best thing—arranged for the adoption of a foundling. That "foundling" is Jean. Jean is taught at home for a time, largely through the use of the Bible and scriptures. Authorities then insist that she attend school. She doesn't fit in and is scolded for frightening the other children with her stories of hell and damnation. Her mother tells her that they are to be set apart and Jean notes that her mother has few friends, and none outside the church. Jean becomes close to a woman named Elsie. Their friendship seems to develop when Jean is in the hospital after having surgery to restore her hearing. Jean's mother believes she's caught up in the rapture of the Lord and it's a neighbor who discovers that Jean actually can't hear. Jean's mother is busy with church activities and Elsie is the one who stays with her in the hospital and who cares for her when she returns home until her mother returns from a church trip. Jean becomes caught up in the activities of the church and is soon presenting sermons of her own. When her sexual orientation comes into question, the council that oversees the church notes that women have overstepped their bounds with regard to church services. Jean says that she'd always been surrounded by strong women and sees nothing wrong with the role they play, but her mother disagrees. When she is a teenager, she admits that she is gay and enters into a sexual relationship with another young woman. Perhaps because she feels guilty about the relationship, she attempts to tell her mother what she feels. Her mother discerns the true nature of the relationship and takes the matter to the pastor, who calls Jean and her friend, Melanie, to the front of the church demanding that they repent. Melanie does immediately and is later married, though Jean notes that she's soon a "bovine" and then a vegetable. Jean does repent and seems to be forgiven but then enters into a similar relationship with Katy, another young woman—a new convert to the church. They are likewise discovered and confronted, but Jean refuses to repent and leaves home at her mother's demand, which seems to be prompted by the pastor. She lives with a teacher, works part time on an ice cream truck and part time in a funeral parlor while finishing school, then takes a job in a mental hospital because the job includes a room. She returns home for a Christmas holiday and notes that her mother acts as if she'd never been away. There have been some changes, including the disbanding of the Society for the Lost because of corruption among its leaders. Jean is raised to believe in the power and importance of the church, but near the end of the story admits that she's not certain God is real. She seems to come to no conclusions but seems somewhat more at peace with her life and her choices.

Melanie

Jean's friend who becomes her lover. Jean notices Melanie working in a market and continues to go there on Saturdays just to watch her. When Melanie quits and begins work at a library, Jean searches for her. When they meet, Jean invites her for a baked potato and Melanie agrees. They soon begin spending nights together. The relationship apparently disturbs Jean, who tries to tell her mother of the situation but can't bring herself to give up all the details. Her mother discerns the nature of the relationship and turns it over to the church. The girls are confronted and Melanie succumbs to pressure, repenting of the lifestyle. She later marries a young man who tells Jean that he knows about their relationship. Jean answers by spitting in the man's face. Jean notes that soon after the marriage Melanie takes on the docile look of a bovine and later appears completely vegetative. Jean sees Melanie after the birth of her first child and she says that she's pregnant with her second.

Katy

Jean's second lover. When the relationship is discovered, Jean is intent only on protecting Katy. With that in mind, she separates herself from Katy as much as possible so that the church will not attack Katy as they had Melanie. When Jean is kicked out of her home, she notes that she might go to Katy except for the repercussions.

Jean

Jean's story begins when she is seven, though she tells the story of her mother's search for a child that she knows is to be her own. She finds Jean in an orphanage and adopts her. Jean is raised in the church and later says that she's surrounded with strong women, meaning that she had no inkling that women were not meant to be strong. At seven, Jean is singled out by a pastor who says that parents should keep an eye on their children because even children can be possessed by demons. Jean is educated at home and her mother uses the Bible as almost her sole teaching tool. Jean is constantly quizzed on Biblical stories so that she can do well on the church quizzes. She notes that her mother likes it when Jean wins. Then Jean is forced to attend public school. Initially, she's excited but soon learns that she doesn't fit in. When she tells the other children about hell and death, the children have nightmares and tell their mothers, who confront school officials. Jean's mother says that they are to be apart from others and takes the school's reprimand as a sign that Jean was in accord with God and with her Christian duties. During her childhood, Jean becomes deaf and undergoes surgery. While she's unable to hear, her mother assumes that she's living in the rapture of the Lord and is pleased. Jean's mother is not often at her bedside during her hospital stay because she has church business to attend. She sends oranges and letters and Jean is often kept company by a woman named Elsie Norris who becomes Jean's close friend. It's Elsie who tells Jean that she would have protected her from the church's exhortations after Jean's sexuality is made public, but Elsie herself was in the hospital at the time. Through a series of stories about princesses, a sorcerer's apprentice named Winnot, and the knight named Sir Perceval, Jean draws parallels to her own life. When her second female lover is discovered, Jean refuses to recant her lifestyle and is ordered from her mother's home. She moves in with a teacher, works her way through school, and eventually takes a job in a mental hospital.

Elsie Norris

Known as "testifying Elsie" because she's always willing to give her testimony, Elsie is the person who spends time with Jean when she's in the hospital recovering from surgery to restore her hearing. Elsie and Jean become fast friends. Elsie helps Jean with school projects and Jean creates a sampler for Elsie in sewing class. Elsie is in the hospital when Jean is confronted about her sexuality and later says that she would have protected Jean had she been there. When Elsie dies, Jean spends the night at her side in the mortuary.

Lady Bruton

Lady Bruton is the character with whom Richard Dalloway and Hugh Whitbread have lunch. She is a woman of strong character and active in public and political life. She always uses her influence in matters about which she feels strongly. Her new interest is in emigration, that is, encouraging young British couples to emigrate to Canada, one of the British Commonwealth countries. She asks Richard and Hugh to revise her letter to the editorial section of the major London newspaper, the Times, the forum in which she plans to air her views.

Laura Brown

Laura was Richard's mother. Her failure to be true to herself planted the seeds which ultimately led to Richard's destruction. Long before the novel began, Laura betrayed herself by marrying Dan Brown. It was not only a betrayal of herself, but a betrayal of Dan, to whom she made promises she was not equipped to keep. Interestingly, in the movie The Hours, which was based on this book, Dan Brown is portrayed as a jerk who stifles his wife, thus driving her to consider suicide. Similarly, in real life, Leonard Woolf (Virginia's husband) has often been blamed by feminists and critics alike for driving Virginia to suicide. One would think that these judgments unfair to Leonard Woolf and the character of Dan Brown since they negate the concept of personal responsibility. It was not Dan Brown who caused Laura's depression. Her depression was caused by her own refusal to discover her true sexual identity, and it was also caused by the false vows she made when she married Dan. Is Laura's confusion understandable? Certainly. When she began to understand herself better, she had a choice as to how to handle the mistakes she made. Her marriage was a mistake; she married Dan because she thought so little of herself that she felt she had no right to refuse a war hero's proposal. Laura didn't realize that it was actually her responsibility to refuse the proposal if she was incapable of honoring her marriage. People who have been victimized early in life - like Virginia Woolf, sexually molested by her stepbrothers - often feel they lack the power to stand up for themselves. This is a common and understandable mistake made by victims who've been made to feel powerless. It's worth noting that victims who have become accustomed to victimizing behavior also become victimizers in turn. Laura, belatedly, realizes she has been untrue to herself in creating this marriage. She could have divorced her husband and remained a presence in her children's life; however, the only two options she considered were suicide and abandonment of her family. She wanted to wish away her mistakes instead of healing them. She was such a perfectionist that she really couldn't accept the fact that she made a mistake, and for this reason tried for so long to be a good wife. Had her thinking been less extreme, less black-and-white, her child might have grown up to be a healthier human being, capable of making and recovering from his own mistakes. It's not fair to blame Laura Brown for her son's unhappiness - although her son did blame her. The cycle of victimization has been passed down generation-to-generation throughout human history, and Laura undoubtedly inherited her own problems, to some extent, from her parents. Transcending victimization is a huge challenge, and the era Laura Brown lived in lacked psychological enlightenment; she, like Virginia Woolf, did not have the support or knowledge needed to overcome her pain and confusion. Novels like The Hours, which explore such themes, can help to create human awareness of such issues and provide hope that the current generation of victims may not follow the same path as their victimizers.

Zami Themes

Lesbianism: Audre is a lesbian and later in life becomes a major lesbian contributor to the feminist movement. Her lesbianism is a major theme of the book because all her lovers are women and her concerns in the book are about the nature of her love for femininity and women generally. Her lesbianism appears to derive from her admiration for and draw towards the feminine strength of her mother. Audre has a continuous drive to find feminine power in other women, not just through friendship, but through romantic and erotic relationships. She often describes her arousal at the possibility of sex with another woman and of the mixing of their feminine elements. She even begins the book by saying that she desires both to enter women and to be entered by them, "to leave and to be left" and "to be hot and hard and soft all at the same time in the cause of our loving." Audre desires to become one with other women from a masculine and feminine perspective, to consume the female essence in romantic and erotic attachment. Her lesbianism plays out in other ways as well. She cannot be open about her lesbianism which leaves her feeling isolated from others, even white lesbians. Black lesbians live in a world of their own, Audre often argues. Lesbianism is not merely about her connection to womanhood but about her estrangement from others. Racism and Marginalization: Audre is born is 1934 and grows up during the Depression and World War II. After WWII ends, she comes of age. Much of the book occurs during the 50s. This was not a great time for tolerance in the United States. Many citizens were fighting to maintain segregation, police communists, and marginalize and dominate independent women. Of course, homosexuality at the time was considered such an abomination that it did not even need to be repressed directly. But Audre grows up as a black, female, homosexual. She is thrice rejected by her society. She sees American society as male- dominated, white-dominated and straight-dominated and she sees these forms of oppression even among her lesbian feminist friends. Many lesbians become interested in dominance/submission relationships, but Audre and others see this as simply bringing patriarchal forms of domination into the lesbian community. She also faces an inevitable chasm of emotional separation between her and whites, even white feminists. She sometimes emphasizes the uniqueness of her experience as a "thrice rejected" member of American society. Her white feminist and white lesbian friends often cannot recognize the importance of this difference. Audre also discusses the impact of racism on her family and the opportunities she was denied as a result of it, not only in school but afterwards in the job market. She rejoices when the Supreme Court desegregates the schools. Relationship to Mother: The relationship between Audre and her mother comes up time and time again throughout the book. Linda, Audre's mother, is present in the first half of the book but her shadow extends over Audre's life even after she's left home. Audre begins life as she remembers it in awe of her mother's strength, power, grit, and determination. Linda is Grenadan and is related to the people of Carriacou, a group of women who are legendary for their strength and mutual support for one another. Audre desires to draw this strength and noble quality from her mother, describing the manifestations of her mother's power throughout her childhood. Linda is stern and strong-willed, prepared to live in a racist society with her husband and never willing to accept anything but the best for her children, including their education. Linda is also often harsh with Audre, particularly when it comes to getting to close to white people. Linda is deeply suspicious of white people due to the deep racism characteristic of American society at the time. As Audre enters her teenage years, she fights with her mother constantly and when she is seventeen leaves home. But the influence of Audre's mother extends throughout the book in Audre's unending search for a source of feminine power to draw from, a need that apparently had not been met by her own mother. Audre's feminine hunger, she comes to believe, derives from her mother who she suspects was also a lesbian. Her relationship to her mother then seems to symbolize her deep yearning for feminine completeness coupled with her occasional alienation from it.

Linda, Lorde's mother

Linda is Audre's mother and a major figure in the book. She is actually present in the first half of the book but her shadow extends over Audre's life even after Audre's left home. Audre begins life as she remembers it in awe of her mother's strength, power, grit and determination. Linda is Grenadan and is related to the people of Carriacou, a group of women who are legendary for their strength and mutual support for one another. Audre desires to draw this strength and noble quality from her mother, describing the manifestations of her mother's power throughout her childhood. Linda is stern and strong-willed, prepared to live in a racist society with her husband and never willing to accept anything but the best for her children, including their education. Linda is also often harsh with Audre, particularly when it comes to getting to close to white people. Linda is deeply suspicious of white people due to the deep racism characteristic of American society at the time. As Audre enters her teenage years, she fights with her mother constantly, and when she is seventeen leaves home. But the influence of Audre's mother extends throughout the book in Audre's unending search for a source of feminine power to draw from, a need that apparently had not been met by her own mother. Audre's feminine hunger, Audre comes to believe, is derived from her mother who Audre suspects was also a lesbian.

Jean's Father

Little description of Jean's father is offered up in the story. Jean's mother says that he was a gambler when they met and he's described as a person who is never pushy. When Jean's mother is angry at a person who criticizes food given to the poor, she promptly removes the woman from her prayer list, but Jean's father adds her to his own. From this and the fact that he built the nativity scene used in the Christmas play, it seems that he is at least somewhat religious though little else is known about him.

Louis Waters

Louis is Richard's former lover; Richard was the love of Louis's life. In the same singular way that Richard's heart remained true to Clarissa over the years, Louis remained true to Richard. Despite the many lovers Louis has had over the years, he has not had a single meaningful relationship since the time he left Richard. Louis regrets having left the love of his life, despite his good reasons for doing so. Not only did Richard torment Louis by openly having an affair with Clarissa, but Richard was also, on general principle, against the idea of commitment. Richard viewed commitment as a form of selling out, giving in to social mores. He held out absolutely no hope to Louis, and he immediately made it clear to Louis that the only kind of relationship Louis could have with Richard was an open one. Louis did not want to accept that kind of treatment from the man he loved, however, out of love and desperation, Louis did accept it for almost ten years before giving up and walking out on Richard. And yet Louis never got over Richard, and Louis's emotional response to Richard's illness and subsequent suicide suggests that Louis regrets not staying and fighting for the man he loved.

Louisa, Philip, Ella

Louisa is Gennie's mother and Philip is her father. Louisa and Gennie do not get along well in Gennie's teenage years, so she decides to live with her father. But Philip apparently is molesting her, which sends her into a deep depression. Ella is Philip's second wife and Gennie's stepmother.

Lucrezia Warren Smith

Lucrezia, or Rezia, is Septimus's wife. He met her in Italy where he was stationed for part of WWI, as Italy was one of Britain's allies during the war. While she was happy to marry Septimus and set out to a foreign country, now in London she is in despair because Septimus is no longer the same man she married. His war trauma is now deepseated and advanced and she finds herself alone and confused about what is happening to her husband.

Lucy

Lucy is the principal housemaid in the Dalloway home, and she and the cook are primarily responsible for readying the house for the party.

Upper class in Mrs. Dalloway

Members of the upper class in Mrs. Dalloway, including Hugh Whitbread and Lady Bruton, are devoted to preserving their traditions and justify their supremacy by defending one another's faults. Thus Hugh, a shallow glutton, is indulged and defended by Lady Bruton and Clarissa, among others. Likewise, money and a lordly demeanor shelter the psychiatrist Sir William from judgment. Lady Bruton would like to make the problems of the British Empire, such as unemployment, disappear by exporting them—and English families—to Canada. She has "lost her sense of proportion" in her Canada obsession, but she is exempt from the evil forces of Sir William, whereas Septimus is not, in part because she belongs to Sir William's class.

Mrs. Dalloway Plot

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf is a book about Clarissa Dalloway and her life as an upper class politician's wife. The book begins in the middle of June. Clarissa Dalloway, a woman living in the Westminster section of London, is enjoying the beautiful weather and thinking about her absent friends. Clarissa thinks about the fact that the War is over, the King and Queen are nestled in the Palace, and although there are many things one may be unhappy about, the truth is that the people there loved life. Clarissa is planning a party that will include all of the notable people in London from the Prime Minister to people in important social circles. Clarissa frets about the party and strives to make it perfect. The reader meets Lucrezia and Septimus Warren Smith. The couple is out at the park. Rezia frets because something has happened to Septimus. He has changed since the war. It is unclear if he has become clairvoyant or mad. Rezia thinks he has lost his mind. Dr. Holmes says nothing is wrong with Septimus but that Lucrezia must keep him focused on things that are real. Septimus cannot be dissuaded from his observances and pulls into himself while he talks aloud and writes notes on the backs of envelopes. Lucrezia is horrified and tries to get Septimus away from the crowd lest someone see him. Attempts to heal Septimus fail and in the end, Septimus commits suicide. Peter Walsh, Clarissa's love from her youth, has returned to England after spending five years in India. The relationship between Clarissa and Peter is strained. Clarissa seems cold to Peter. Clarissa is stunned to see Peter standing in front of her after all this time. She had been thinking about him almost constantly and he appeared. Peter, too, is shocked to see Clarissa. True, they had both aged. It is clear to Peter that he still has great love for Clarissa, even though she wounded him deeply when she broke it off all those years ago. Peter realizes only now that his trying to unravel the mystery of Clarissa made him critical and forced him to demand absurd things so she had no choice but to break it off. The situation between Peter and Clarissa will never truly resolve itself and Woolf leaves it so that nothing has changed between them. The night of the big party arrives. Clarissa fusses, delights in her guests, and strive to make sure that everyone is having a good time. Everyone says Clarissa is a perfect hostess. It is a wonderful surprise when Clarissa's childhood friend Sally shows up. Clarissa and Peter are delighted to see her. Sally talks about how she still cannot believe, after all these years, that Clarissa married Richard Dalloway. It was clear, Sally said, that Clarissa loved Peter much more than she loved Richard. Peter is not so sure but he does know the futility of a relationship with Clarissa. It is getting late. Clarissa notes the hour and hopes that the evening will go on as long as possible. Peter watches Clarissa. No matter what logical arguments Peter makes against it, he still loves Clarissa. Once again, she is there in front of him.

Anthony MacMurrough

Nephew of Eveline Served prison sentence in England for gross-indecency with a mechanic boy As he returns to Ireland his deceased cellmate Scrotes haunts him Scrotes acts like an internal friend supporting the soliloquizing of MacMurrough Lives with Eveline who pushes him to become a patriotic Irishman who mentors and leads the young with hopes that he also marries Conforms somewhat but his homosexuality gets in the way Becomes mentor to Jim and Doyler and gets personal fulfilment from teaching them about homosexuality, philosophy, and swimming

Jess

Noone's former lover Has HIV but is responding well to treatment

At Swim, Two Boys example from the novel that highlights the connection O'Neill is making between the fight for political freedom and sexual freedom.

O'Neill makes connections between the fight for political and sexual freedom with the boys agreement to claim the Muglins for Ireland. During this experience, Jim and Doyler finally confront their feelings for each other, consummating their relationship by making love to one another as well as physically claiming the island for Ireland. This culminating act of acceptance of their sexuality is mirrored by their passion for Irish political freedom. In physically fighting for political freedom—undertaking an extremely dangerous swim for mother Ireland—and having sex in the process, the two are demonstrating their own sexual liberation.

Odysseus

Odysseus is a respected and wise king, and one of the key players in the Trojan war. He was able to procure the wife of his choice with cleverness, helping the king (her father) avoid conflict. Again he uses his smarts to get Achilles to reveal himself while in hiding. Odysseus is persuasive. He convinces Achilles to go to war on his own account. After the war has ended, Odysseus tries to convince Pyrrhus to let Patroclus' body find peace, but his request is refused.

Oliver St. Ives

Oliver is the gorgeous, former B-movie star who catapulted to greater fame when he came out of the closet and began promoting gay rights.

Muriel

One of Audre's most important loves, Muriel is a schizophrenic Italian woman. For a time Muriel and Audre believe they are soul mates and have powerful love-making sessions. But over time Audre's work and Muriel's mental disorder pulls them apart, along with a mutual sexual relationship with their temporary roommate Lynn. Eventually Muriel leaves Audre for another woman after a brief adultery incident with one of Audre's ex-friends. Muriel ends up in a hospital program for schizophrenics and Audre moves on over time.

Describe love in A Song of Achilles

Patroclus and Achilles find each other in childhood, and their romance survives all the twists and turns of their tale, even death. Achilles ensures nothing pad happens to Patroclus, and Patroclus does his best to keep Achilles grounded, to be the boy he always was. Patroclus sacrifices himself for this love; he offers it freely. Achilles is devastated by his death and no longer wishes to live himself. Thetis' love for her son is powerful. She appears when she needs to, and she joins in as a spectator to marvel at his strength and agility. Her love for Achilles keeps him out of harm's way more than once, but also she loves him enough, that in the end, she sends Patroclus' spirit to him, when she had the power to deny it.

Patroculus

Patroclus describes the journey of his life from 5 years old until his death. Patroclus is kind, soft. He is perceived as simple and not quite right when he is a child. His father is disappointed in him. Even though he is a prince, other boys push him around. Through his time in Phthia and then on Mount Pelion, Patroclus builds his confidence and self-esteem. Ity is during this time that he bonds and falls in love with Prince Achilles. Patroclus is gentle and kind. Though he accidentally kills someone, he would never intentionally hurt another being. There is only one point in the book where Patroclus willingly enters battle, and he gets caught up in the thrill of it. Patroclus is sensitive and tries to mitigate the discomfort and hurt of others who are ignored by Achilles: Deidameia, Briseis. He is interested in medicine.

Peleus

Pelius is the King of Phthia. Aside from being Achilles' father, he also houses many foster boys who need a place to stay. Patroclus realizes that this in turn will result in a loyal army willing to fight for Peleus. Pelius is known to have been a formidable warrior. He is highly respected and does not get into quarrels.

Peter Walsh

Peter Walsh is an Anglo-Indian, that is, a British citizen who worked in India during Britain's administrative colonial control of that country. At the time of the book's events, he is visiting London. Peter is defined mostly by his having been deeply in love with Clarissa Dalloway and by his intention, during his youth, to marrying her. In fact, he still seems to be in love with her, despite having married after she rejected him, and despite the fact that he is planning to marry for a second time. Of the group of close, youthful friends, Sally, Clarissa and himself, he seems more like Sally than like Clarissa. Sally and Peter were very lively; they took chances and espoused forward-looking political and social views.

A Song of Achilles Themes

Pride, Love, Destiny

Achilles

Prince Achilles is the son of Peleus in Phthia and the sea nymph, goddess Thetis. He naturally commands respect, even as a child. People are drawn to him. He is strong, smart, and good. He falls in love with Patroclus and is never ashamed of this. He always insists on Patroclus' presence, no matter what people think. Achilles at first is not interested in war, but when others appeal to his vanity, he embraces what they say is his destiny. Whereas he starts off a good, fair boy, he develops a pride that becomes his downfall.

Gabriel's Father

Racist and prejudiced Is in denial of his wife's (Gabriel's mother) illness

Richard Dalloway

Richard Dalloway, despite being Clarissa's husband, does not play a large role in the novel. He was not as close to Clarissa as Peter and Sally were during their youthful days. Rather, in the various characters' memories of their mutual past, Richard is a late arrival on the youthful scene. He arrives around the time Clarissa is thinking about marriage and presents himself as the perfect husband for her, in contrast to Peter. He is a politician and member of Parliament and the Conservative Party, demonstrating Clarissa's and his relative social and political conservatism, especially compared to Peter and Sally.

Richard Brown (Richie)

Richard's character is the link which ties the storylines together. At some point during the novel, the reader realizes that the eminent writer and winner of the Carrouthers Prize is the same little boy we see in the scenes with Laura Brown. As a child, Richie is depicted as an extremely sensitive little boy. His mother has very little understanding of this, and she often wonders why he overreacts to the smallest criticism. Laura Brown is not self-aware enough to realize that the boy is reacting, on a profound level, to her unhappy moods and increasing detachment from her family. At his tender age, Richie realizes, even before his mother realizes, that she intends to commit suicide. Richie is not merely aware of his mother's moods, he is deeply affected by them. He idolizes his mother, as little boys will, and takes on her worldview as his own. He is too young to understand that her extreme perfectionism fuels her disproportionate sense of failure. He embraces her perfectionism, and this is the reason for his over-sensitivity to criticism. This is exemplified by his inordinate fear of making a mistake while baking the cake; he has absorbed her fears of failure. Unfortunately, what he learned as a child stays with him in adulthood. Despite winning the Carrouthers Prize, Richard feels like a failure as a writer. His mother's sexual confusion also haunts him as an adult. He witnessed, when he was a child, her deliberations over whether to stay in her marriage or leave to pursue her true sexual identity; he echoes that indecision with his inability to choose between Louis and Clarissa. He loves them both, and he has seen firsthand the consequences of walking away from the bonds of commitment. This prevents him from forming any commitments, and it also prevents him from walking away from those he loves. Louis and Clarissa both left him. Richard would most likely have been content to remain in a painful state of limbo with the two of them. After all, his mother's decision to leave her family hurt him deeply. He can neither commit nor leave, afraid of making the same mistakes Laura made. In essence, he refuses to participate in life or love and winds up alone, tormented, and broken. His choice to commit suicide also seems to be a response to his mother's decision to "walk out" and leave the family. Like her, he sees suicide as freedom. Because her leaving was so painful to him, it's possible he would have actually preferred she kill herself. In his novel, where he was in control of her character's destiny, he changed the reality of her leaving and instead chose for her to commit suicide. Ultimately, he made the same choice for himself.

Sally

Sally is Clarissa's lesbian life partner. She represents Clarissa's conformity to social standards. Despite Clarissa's sense of guilt for creating a normal life with Sally, her choice proved to be a good one, as these two are the only reasonably happy characters in the book.

Sally Seton

Sally, with Peter and Clarissa, was a member of the close triangle of friends who often spent time together at Bourton. Sally delighted her friends with her vibrant personality and her legendary exploits. Clarissa was so taken by Sally that she fell in love with her, as she realizes years later. Sally, like Clarissa, went on to marry, marrying a selfmade man whose success eventually earns him high social distinction, giving Sally the title "Lady Rosseter."

At Swim Two Boys Plot Summary

Set in Dublin before and during the 1916 Easter Rising, At Swim, Two Boys tells the love story of two young Irish men: Jim Mack and Doyler Doyle. Jim goes to school on a scholarship (for which he is looked down upon) - he is quiet, studious, thoughtful, and naïve. In contrast, Doyler is outspoken, rebellious, brave, and affectionate. Doyler might once have received a scholarship, like Jim, but Doyler withdrew from school to find work and support his impoverished family, leading them to grow apart. They have an additional connection through their fathers, who served in the army together during the Boer War, and were once best friends.

The Woman Who Makes Wreaths

She is never referred to by name but is a friend of Jean's mother. This woman later puts Jean to work, helping in a funeral parlor and providing a job that Jean needs desperately.

Mrs. Dalloway writing style and background

The action of Mrs. Dalloway takes place during a single day in June 1923 in London, England. This unusual organizational strategy creates a special problem for the novelist: how to craft characters deep enough to be realistic while treating only one day in their lives. Woolf solved this problem with what she called a "tunneling" technique, referring to the way her characters remember their pasts. In experiencing these characters' recollections, readers derive for themselves a sense of background and history to characters that, otherwise, a narrator would have had to provide. In a sense, Mrs. Dalloway is a novel without a plot. Instead of creating major situations between characters to push the story forward, Woolf moved her narrative by following the passing hours of a day. The book is composed of movements from one character to another, or of movements from the internal thoughts of one character to the internal thoughts of another.

Jean's Mother

The description of Jean's mother begins on the first page of the book and seems to override everything else. She's never named but is referred to only as Jean's mother. She has apparently told Jean the story of her decision to adopt. Jean's mother says that she was led to the orphanage where Jean lived as a baby, and that a star led the way. Jean's mother was intended to raise Jean as her own and she immediately dedicated the child to mission work. Much later, Jean declines to go on the foreign mission field, saying that she prefers to remain at home and that she can do equally good works for the Lord without going to a foreign country. Jean's mother is saddened by this news and it seems that she's had her heart set on having a daughter on the mission field. Jean's mother works hard at her various causes and it seems that she must have something to keep her busy in order to be happy. The relationship between Jean's mother and father is only hinted at, though he apparently shares her interest in church and Christianity, though it seems to a lesser degree. When Jean's mother discovers her daughter's sexual preference, she immediately turns the issue over to the church—an action that will be repeated later when it's discovered that a former member of the Society for the Lost is drinking heavily and has been accused of allowing a man to perform voodoo on nursing home patients she was responsible for. Jean's mother seems almost to love the problems, though she calls on the church for help. When Jean is in trouble at school for telling the other children about hell, Jean's mother is delighted. She says that Christians are to be set apart and Jean admits that her mother seems to have no friends.

Easter Rising

The goal of the Easter Rising was Irish Independence against Great Britain. The rising ultimately fails as rebel forces surrender.

Pastor Spratt

The handsome young preacher who is leading a tent revival called a "crusade" when Jean's mother wanders into the event by mistake. She, along with many other young girls, accept the calling to Christianity that night. Pastor Spratt gives all new converts a potted plant. He justifies it by saying that Christians are to be "fishers of men", and that it's okay to use "bait". Jean's mother chooses a lily of the valley plant from Pastor Spratt, instructs her husband to follow her lead the following night but to choose the Christmas Cactus plant. Pastor Spratt is out of plants by the time Jean's father makes his way to the front of the line to choose a plant.

The Hours Plot Summary

The novel opens with a vivid description of Virginia Woolf's suicide. The plot then moves through time and space to intertwine the lives of three women: Woolf, Laura Brown (an unhappy housewife), and Clarissa Vaughan (the modern-day Mrs. Dalloway). As we switch back and forth between these three women's stories, we experience their lives as told through the events in a single day. Virginia Woolf's day begins with her writing her new novel, Mrs. Dalloway, and nearly ends with a possible suicide attempt, averted at the last moment by her husband Leonard. Laura Brown, whose day takes place nine years after Woolf's actual suicide, is the reader of Virginia's book, Mrs. Dalloway, and a fellow candidate for suicide. Her thoughts of suicide that day are also diverted, although we learn from the third storyline (Mrs. Dalloway's/Clarissa Vaughan's) that she later chose to abandon her family instead of committing suicide. Clarissa Vaughan, who is based on the character created by Virginia Woolf, was nicknamed "Mrs. Dalloway" by her lover, Richard. Richard, we ultimately learn, was Laura Brown's abandoned son. He witnessed her suicidal tendencies, lived through her abandonment, and when we catch up with him in the present day, he is a tortured artist, dying of AIDS. Clarissa is planning a party to honor Richard, the dying writer, for winning the Carrouthers Prize, which he is scheduled to receive that night. Clarissa's day reflects the plotlines and events which Virginia Woolf wrote about in Mrs. Dalloway. However, Woolf's book ends with Clarissa Dalloway's party. In The Hours, Clarissa Vaughan's day ends with a suicide, instead. Richard tells her he won't be able to attend her party after all, moments before plunging to his death in a suicide leap from a fifth- story window. As Virginia Woolf herself decided while writing Mrs. Dalloway, the tortured artist character must die; with his sacrifice, Clarissa Vaughan/Mrs. Dalloway is allowed to go on living.

Night Listener themes

The threads holding The Night Listener together include questions of truth and illusion; the complexities of romantic love (with doses of eroticism thrown in here and there); the alternately strong and tenuous bonds between father and son, which include bonds between Gabriel and his own father and his newly fabricated "son" Peter; an unsettling awareness of aging at mid-life. Half-way through the book, The Night Listener begins to read like a mystery--does Peter really exist? Did his adoptive mother Donna write the memoir? Does she assume Peter's identity during the long phone conversations? Is this a hoax or does Donna have a multiple personality disorder? In a back-and-forth between the building mystery and other present-day concerns, Gabriel ruminates on his breakup from Jess and Jess's newfound relationships and lifestyle (Jess is HIV positive but is doing extraordinarily well on a new cocktail), his ongoing difficulties with his obnoxious father, and a troubling bout of writer's block--in other words, mid-life angst on both personal and professional fronts. The conversations between Gabriel and Peter are some of the best writing in the book, which includes Peter's (or is it Donna's impersonation?) painful memories of sexual abuse, Gabriel's confessional tone with this boy-stranger, Peter's precocious teasing about Gabriel's sexuality, and strange omissions leading to further doubt about Peter's existence once the idea had been planted. Maupin clearly did not intend the book to be a close examination of living with AIDS, but rather a story of loss, spiced as a page-turning mystery.

Mrs. Arkwright

The woman who sells products to control vermin. She notes at one point that business is bad and that she hopes it will be a warm season so that people have trouble with vermin. She later tells Jean that indoor plumbing and central heat have hurt her business and that she plans to emigrate. She says that she needs additional money in order to set herself up in a new business and that she plans to burn down the building of her vermin control business to raise the money, but swears Jean to secrecy.

Mrs. Jewsbury

The woman who teaches oboe and who takes Jean to visit her lover when the two of them are separated by the church. Jean and Mrs. Jewsbury also make love. Jean says she hates every moment of it but doesn't stop. Mrs. Jewsbury immediately moves away and Jean later learns that she's not living alone. Mrs. Jewsbury invites Jean to her apartment but Jean declines.

Describe destiny in A Song of Achilles

There are profecies in the story and they all come true. Achilles does not want to be a warrior but it has been determined that he will be the greatest warrior of all Greeks.

Thetis

Thetis is a sea nymph. She is a goddess that lives in water. Thetis can appear anywhere she likes except under the earth. Thetis was raped by Peleus and her son Achilles is the result of that rape. The gods then forced her to stay with Perseus for their first year of marriage. Thetis loves her son and she is resentful of humans, Patroclus in particular. She tries to prevent the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus, unsuccessfully. Thetis is strong and cold. While she has a soft spot for her son, like when she tries to hide him from going to battle, that is her only soft spot, until Pyrrhus is born. She then raises Pyrrhus as she was unable to do for Achilles. She wanted to turn them into gods, but they were mere mortals and both of her sons die.

Zami: A new spelling of my name plot summary

Zami: A New Spelling of My Name tells the story of Audre Lorde's passage from childhood to young adulthood. It covers many themes but focuses primarily on the close bounds she develops with women throughout her life, first with her mother and then with various lovers throughout the book. Audre grows up as a black woman and a lesbian, and in American society in the 40s, 50s, and 60s, this was a triple-threat. Her race, gender and sexuality were all rejected by her society at large; thus, much of the book functions with Audre living in a society that either ignores or rejects her and her telling tales of secret lesbian love. The story begins with Lorde's childhood in Harlem. She is a child of black parents from the West Indies. She grows up in Catholic School but faces racism as a child, along with the handicap of being legally blind. Yet she displays strong verbal talents, particularly for writing, from an early age. As she grows up, she continues to find herself alienated. She has a young friend named Gennie who commits suicide and who was Audre's first love. In High School she joins a group of outcasts who call themselves "The Branded" and begins to write poetry. And after high school she leaves home, dates a boy named Peter who impregnates her. She has an abortion. She is very unhappy in college and moves to Connecticut to find work. There she meets her next love, Ginger. She returns to New York after her father's death. She begins a relationship with a woman named Bea, who she then leaves for reasons she does not understand. Audre moves to Mexico after saving some money. In Mexico she meets a middle-aged woman named Eudora who is a mentor and lover to Audre. She then returns to NYC and falls in love with a schizophrenic woman named Muriel, and they move in together. Audre's life begins to look up but Muriel cheats on Audre and their relationship is destroyed. After recovering she meets her final lover in the book, Afrekete, who ultimately leaves her for a "gig" in Atlanta. Audre then ends the book by meditating on all the things the women in her life, particularly her mother have taught her and speculates that her mother shared her own deep passion for the feminine soul.