Mary Olivier (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: May Sinclair
- First Published: 1919
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Impressionistic realism
- Time of Work: 1865-1910
- Setting: Essex and Yorkshire, England
- Genres: Long fiction, Impressionistic literature
- Subjects: Maturation or coming of age, Freedom, Family or family life, Tradition, Love or romance, Twentieth century, Gender roles, Nineteenth century, Literature, Religion, Individuality, England or English people, Women, Human behavior, Women’s rights, Unitarianism
- Locales: England, Essex, England, Yorkshire, England
Characters Discussed
Mary Olivier (oh-lee-VYAY), the protagonist, whose search for happiness is the story of her life and the theme of the novel. Treated with indifference by her mother, she yearns for love but always loses the object of her affections. A bright girl with an independent mind, she is expelled from school for her religious unorthodoxy. Later, she is jilted by Maurice Jourdain because she is too intensely intellectual for a woman. In middle age, she finds a satisfying relationship with the scholar Richard Nicholson but rejects him so that she can care for her...
[The entire page is 726 words long]
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