Characters
The characters in Castle Rackrent are as follows:
- Thady Quirk: the narrator of Castle Rackrent, Quirk is a loyal retainer to the many lords of the estate and observes them closely. He is dismayed by the dissolution of the estate. In the preface, Edgeworth describes him in the following way: "He was an illiterate old steward, whose partiality to the family in which he was bred and born must be obvious to the reader."
- Sir Patrick O'Shaughlin is the first lord who Thady serves. Sir Patrick is described as a lively and convivial person who constantly fills his house with guests, and he even makes the chicken house suitable for house guests. Thady is clearly fond of Sir Patrick.
- Sir Murtagh Rackrent: the heir of the estate after Sir Patrick, Sir Murtagh is described as a "skinflint." He and his wife do not fill their cellars or offer their tenants whiskey (a custom that was observed when tenants paid their rent). His wife is even cheaper than he is, and she keeps her table without spending any money. She knows where each and every tub of butter is located.
- Sir Kit: the next heir of the estate, Sir Kit, Sir Murtagh's younger brother, seems like a more convivial master, but he also runs into trouble. He marries a woman with a dark complexion who seems to be foreign, and Thady Quirk finds out that she is Jewish. Sir Kit locks this woman in her room for five years, makes merry with other women, and throws balls and parties. He hopes for her demise, but his wife outlives him after he is killed in a duel as a result of his rakish ways.
- Sir Condy (short for Sir Conally): the heir of the estate after Sir Kit, Sir Condy is a spendthrift who chooses to marry Isabella, a neighboring woman who has money, over Judy M'Quirk, Thady's niece. Sir Condy and his wife quickly fall into debt. Thady Quirk's son, an estate agent named Jason who has been studying the law, brings Sir Condy's debts to him. Jason hopes to acquire the estate, much to Thady's dismay.
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