Elinor Mompellion Character Activity

Character Activity
In order to succeed in this Area of Study, you need to understand the characters and how Brooks has constructed them. Use the attached sheets to assist you.

Your task...

For each of the main characters:

• Write a brief description of the character including their role in the novel and relationship to other characters (include relevant quotes or references)

• List character traits and provide evidence to support each one

Main Characters

Anna Frith
Michael Mompellion
Elinor Mompellion
Josiah (Joss) Bont
Aphra Bont
Elizabeth Bradford
Colonel Bradford
Anys Gowdie

Other Characters

For each of these characters, write a brief description of their roles in the novel and their relationships:
Jamie and Tom Frith
Mem Gowdie
George Viccars
Alexander and Mary Hadfield
Christopher Unwin
Alun Houghton
Jane Martin
John and Urith Gordon
Lib Hancock
Mr Stanley
Merry Wickford
Mrs Bradford
Maggie Cantwell
Brand
Ahmed Bey
Aisha and Elinor Frith
Anna Frith

List words to describe Anna, including her strengths and weaknesses. Give examples and page references.

Write a paragraph about Anna’s life, her values and beliefs before the plague. Pages:6,7,9,55

At the end of the novel, when she is living in Oran, what is her life like, and what has she achieved? Pages: 286-7, 298-303

How do Anna’s beliefs and attitdues change from when the Plague began in Eyam to the end of her narrative? Pages: 73, 83-88, 95, 114-115, 214-215, 239-240, 290, 301

Analyse Anna’s relationship with Elinor Mompellion. Pages: 35-37, 78, 120-125, 148-155, 158, 177-185, 228-229, 234-239, 275, 279-283, 299

Analyse Anna’s changing relationship with Michael Mompellion. Pages: 4, 9, 14, 44-46, 68-71, 194-195, 222-223m 228-229, 234-235, 264-268, 274-284, 292-294.

Analyse Anna’s relationship with her father, Jossiah Bont and her stepmother, Aphra. Pages: 36-37, 131-134, 189-192, 199-210, 247-248, 253.

Give examples of Anna as a caring individual. Include page references where you can.

Does she make the right choice in leaving England? Explain fully. Pages: 268, 273, 287, 293, 298-299, 303.

Michael Mompellion – A paradox
Provide evidence from the text to illustrate each of these characteristics. Remember to provide page references.

A Man of the People
Natural leader
Great personal ability
Academic potential
Powerful
Left-leaning theologian
Altruistic
Intelligent
Initiative
Logical
Pragmatic
Charming
Wilful
Personal commitment
Passionate
Encouraging
Commanding
Physically strong
Generous
Humble
Violent
Determined
Forgiving
Fanatical
Selfish
Cruel
Obsessive
Repressed anger
Spiteful
Lustful
Sexist
Stubborn

Does the plague year expose Michael as just a man like any other?

How do his beliefs and values change throughout the year of the plague? Pages: 216-217, 270-271.

What is his relationship with Elinor really like? Pages: 154-155, 187-188, 235-239, 255-257.

Relationships – What do they teach us about the human condition? (the essence of being human)

Anna and George Viccars
Anna is aroused in a physical sense by George Viccars but also on an intellectual level as he offers her a different insight into the world beyond Eyam. She reveals her more open views and thoughts with him, and these differentiate her from the typical woman of her time.

Anna and her father
Anna’s relationship with her father is characterised by the memories of cruelty and violence she suffered at his hands as a child. As a woman, she is still beholden to his patriarchal rule and despite her loathing of him, she must defer to him. Her new moral strength is demonstrated later in the narrative in her refusal to support him at his trial.

Anna and Aphra
Aphra inspires Anna’s sympathy and compassion for she knows how her stepmother’s life must be a wife for Josiah Bont.
Despite Anna’s anger towards Aphra for taking advantage of the villagers in their weakest moments, she sees within her another victim wasted and ruined by the plague.

Josiah and Aphra
The bond between the Bonts is cemented by lust, gluttony and a kind of twinship in their cunning nature which the reader comes to abhor. They represent the very worst in human nature in a time of crisis; that of greed, opportunism, exploitation and the cut-throat human instinct of placing the rights of the individual above that of the community.

Anna and her husband, Sam Frith, and children.
Anna’s “olive shoots”, Tom and Jamie, are her “miracles” and their deaths and her subsequent grief places her firmly in the sympathy of the reader. Her “gentle Sam” treasured her in a way she hadn’t known before and their lives together were a time of peace and joy which Brooks returns to in flashbacks. The juxtaposition between her happiest days and the year that follows also allows us to witness the transformation she undergoes from a wife and mother to a woman of great personal strength and independence.

Elinor and
Anna
The unlikely friendship between the rector’s wife, Elinor, and her maid, Anna, comes is characterised by intense loyalty and unconditional love that transcends social boundaries and conventions. Together they forge a compassionate, stoic and selfless front in the face of the plague, fighting it with newfound courage and knowledge. They are the female heroines of the story and serve as an example of the great feats that can be achieved when one is tested by catastrophic events.

Anna and Ahmed
Ahmed saves Anna from an uncertain future and provides an opportunity for her to learn more about medicinal science while raising her daughters in a vibrant and intellectually stimulating environment. Their relationship is similar to that of teacher and student, and reminiscent of the kinship Anna felt with Elinor. Her place in Oran as Ahmed’s wife allows Anna to forge a new identity that is still linked with her former self, Anna Frith of Eyam.

Aphra and Elinor
The relationship between these vastly different characters climaxes in a scene of high melodrama, as Aphra, driven mad with grief, murders the bride-like Elinor. Before this moment, Elinor opens her arms to Aphra in a gesture symbolic of Elinor’s compassion and devotion to all of the people of the village over the past year. As is often the case, those cut down by misfortune of cataclysmic proportions need to find a figure to blame. For some in the village, this blame came to be placed on an interventionist God, nature, sin or the devil. Aphra’s jealousy of the beautiful and gracious Elinor, along with her need to appropriate blame, culminates in her distorted view of Elinor as her nemesis.

Michael and Anna
While the early relationship between Michael and Anna is characterised by his position as the rector and her role as a maid, the plague and the resulting shared experiences forces a shift in their relationship. Their mutual admiration, and confirmation of their survival, results in a short-lived affair that reveals secrets which strip him of his priestly robes and unveil him as a mere man and a mere mortal, capable of lust, jealousy and grave mistakes. This allows for a shift in their perception of each other. In the novel’s resolution, Anna scornfully rejects his moral code and Michael views Anna as a woman of substance far greater than he.

Michael and Elinor
The intense love shared between Michael and Elinor is one that is overshadowed by the revelations towards the novel’s end. The reader is forced to decide if he was indeed “untrue in everything” in his decision to withhold intimacy in the view it would ensure both Elinor’s soul atonement and the blessing of their union in heaven. Elinor feels that Michael saved her from depression and loneliness, and that she was a “fortunate woman...to have been loved so in my life” but there is still the suggestion that her short-lived life was left cruelly unfulfilled by his misguided zeal. The novel does not force us to condemn Michael for his actions, as one cannot doubt his love for his wife, but it certainly poses questions about the ideal nature of love.

Michael and Josiah
Mompellion and Josiah Bont are positioned as contrasting characters; the rector a man of vision, compassion and altruism and Josiah the archetypal villain. In their heated exchanges, Josiah expresses his hatred for those higher on the social hierarchy than him but it also is in these moments that the reader is shown Michael’s common background and quick temper.

Michael and Colonel Bradford
The war of words between the two powerful men in the town regarding the Sunday Oath shows two perspectives on the concept of personal accountability.
While Mompellion tries to appeal to the Colonel’s responsibility the township and God’s wishes, the Colonel insists it is his right to protect himself and his family from “the lion”. Michael reveals an insight into his character when he roars, “One does not have to be a priest to be a man!” but the Colonel refuses to view his choice in this light. As an officer of the military, one might assume the Colonel to behave in a more honourable fashion. This difference in character is one Mompellion must be conscious of due to the brave sacrifice made by his own father during the
war.

Michael and his congregation
The villagers demonstrate enormous faith in their acceptance of Mompellion’s message at the Sunday Oath by placing the town under quarantine. Many must realise their great sacrifice will result in their death. Yet as Mompellion embodies God’s image in their eyes he is able to urge them to remain steadfast in their religious beliefs; that this test is for a reason and their good deed will be rewarded either in this life or the afterlife. In return, he works himself to utter exhaustion to comfort, encourage, and even, bury, his faithful flock.

Anna and Elizabeth Bradford
Elizabeth Bradford demands subservience from Anna and is surprised upon her return to the village to see the dramatic changes in the former servant, who will no longer bow to her, despite the physical instinct to do so. Anna sees her for ‘a coward’ and Elizabeth’s intent to kill new life spurns Anna’s ferocious will to fight for life.

Elizabeth Bradford and Mrs Bradford
Elizabeth dotes on her mother and is protective of her in a way that suggests the reversal in roles of a typical mother and daughter relationship. Mrs Bradford’s fragility and unhappiness is brought about by the bombastic and cruel nature of her husband towards her. Elizabeth’s loyalty goes so far as to prompt her to murder the “bastard” conceived out of wedlock to protect her mother from the Colonel’s vicious male pride and fury. Considering their isolated position within their family and class, this loving and close relationship might be the only one possible for both women.

Bradfords and Servants
In their indecent haste to leave the plague-stricken village, the Bradfords shirk their responsibility towards their servants, some of whom have spent the majority of their lives in their employment. The abrupt abandonment of the servants shows not only their sense of superiority over others but is also a commentary on the powerlessness of the lower classes in this era.

The Gowdies and Anna
The Gowdies represent the generation of wise women who have used the knowledge passed down over time to help others in the community. Their role in easing women through child birth and the healing of ailments through the use of herbal remedies is something Anna is initially fearful of yet comes to embrace as a worthwhile necessity in the face of the plague.

Anna and Anys
Anys is a feminist in a patriarchal society and her world view contrasts dramatically with what is socially acceptable. She is outspoken, doesn’t wish to marry and is sexually liberated in a time when such things were unheard of. Anna’s view of her is one of admiration but she is also fearful for Anys. This sense of foreboding is accounted for when Anys is lynched by the mob who fear she has brought the plague to the town through her dealings with the devil .

Mr Stanley and Michael
Mompellion and Mr. Stanley forge a co-operative relationship to present a united front to the village. Michael includes Mr. Stanley in the decision making process and in this way Brooks demonstrates an inclusive of religion that is modern beyond its time.

John and Urith Gordon
One of the most shocking examples of the impact of the plague on the psyche of the villagers is John Gordon’s decision to inflict starvation and self harm on his body in the belief it is God’s wish he do so in repentance for the human sins that have caused the plague. His wife is beaten, starved and forced to live in the simplest manner in isolation from the rest of the village. Upon his death, and that of Urith Gordon other villagers follow suit of to flagellate themselves in the belief it will save them. The desperation of the people of Eyam in their search for reason against an unstoppable force evokes pathos in the reader. There is also a sense of frustration and disbelief in trying to understand the actions of such devoutly religious people considering our modern rationalisation of disease through empirical science.

“Year of Wonders” Adjectives used to describe particular characters:

Mrs. Bradford:
“A vapid beauty”.[p57] “cowed and nervous. brittle, timid, fretful. submissive. Overshadowed [by the Colonel] beautiful. scared, helpless, downtrodden, unfaithful [p284] religious[p284] frail, weak,

Elizabeth Bradford
Confident, self-righteous, proud, sour, mirthless, protective, caring [of her mother], condescending, self-important, overweening, self-centred, rude, snide, harsh, ignorant, cruel, haughty, supercilious, contemptuous, disdainful.
Colonel Bradford
Abusive, arrogant, disparaging, cruel, misogynistic, condescending, intelligent, proud, heartless, powerful, rude, mocking, self-absorbed, loud-mouthed.

Josiah Bont
Selfish, conniving, cunning, harsh, rude, arrogant, patronising, cruel, ignorant, malicious, insulting, intoxicated, drunk, foul-mouthed, deplorable, nasty, self-centred, brutal, beastly, unbearable, intolerable, intemperate, depraved

Aphra Bont
Selfish, rude, arrogant, weak, greedy, graceless, alcoholic, stubborn, suffering, despairing, superstitious, ignorant, loving[ as a mother] slow-witted

George Viccars
Clean and neat [p23] warm, intelligent, kind, hard-working, knowledgeable, free, witty, adventurous, sensitive, observant, caring, unselfish, considerate,

Anys Gowdie
Strong, understanding, courageous, confident, secure, unusual, young, accomplished, self-reliant, proud, free, un-married, helpful, independent, knowledgeable, inspirational, learned, self-assured, healthy, tender, attractive, blasphemous, unconventional, defiant, sexually liberated

Sam Frith simple, slow[p8] loving, tired, big, worn, weathered, knowledgeable[ about mining] caring, responsible, traditional, protective, dull, narrow-minded, slow to anger[ p134]

Elinor Mompellion
Caring, loving, smart, learned, educated, knowledgeable, inspirational, kind, prosperous, compassionate, loyal, noble, selfless, devout, inquisitive, warm, mistreated, yearning,

Michael Mompellion
Strong, dominant, complicated, loving, compassionate, arrogant, egotistical, charitable, controlling, bitter, intelligent, passionate, persistent, stubborn, authoritative, impulsive, driven[by faith and love] insightful, vindictive strong-willed, brave, depressed and dishevelled [post Elinor’s death]

Anna Frith
Courageous, loving, caring, charitable, jealous, inquisitive, dedicated, reflective, insightful, sympathetic, emotional, understanding, eager[to learn] hard-working, typical [early in the novel] unique[ later in the novel] selfless, rational, traditional [in her beliefs early in the novel] intelligent, attentive, intent, imaginative, beautiful [Aphra p7]
Optimistic} at various times
Fearless} at times
Fearful} at times
Sensitive} at times