Characters Discussed
Jeremiah Beaumont
Jeremiah Beaumont (jeh-reh-MI-uh BOH-mont), a man betrayed by his idealism as well as by the compromises and realities of life. An earnest young lawyer, he first becomes disillusioned with his benefactor, Colonel Cassius Fort, a famous lawyer and politician, on learning that Fort has seduced an innocent girl. He renounces his benefactor, becomes involved in politics, and marries the betrayed girl. Jeremiah loses a bitter election. He gives up his intention of killing his wife’s seducer, but a scurrilous political handbill, giving a false account of the seduction, enrages him. He kills his former benefactor and is convicted on the basis of false evidence. An old friend helps him to escape from prison. While hiding out, Jeremiah learns that this friend had been responsible for the libelous handbill. Jeremiah’s wife commits suicide, and he is murdered when he attempts to go back to tell the real story. Jeremiah’s story is a reworking of that of a historical figure, Jeroboam Beauchamp.
Colonel Cassius Fort
Colonel Cassius Fort, Jeremiah’s benefactor, a frontier politician. Although he did seduce the girl whom Jeremiah marries, he is not the author of the handbill that bears his name and that drives Jeremiah to kill him. This character is based on Colonel Solomon P. Sharp, who, like Fort, was assassinated in 1825.
Rachael Jordan
Rachael Jordan, the daughter of a planter. She is seduced by Fort and later marries Jeremiah, on the condition that he kill Fort. Later, she dissuades him from fulfilling his promise. When Jeremiah sees the scurrilous handbill, however, he kills Fort. After her husband’s conviction, Rachael also is arrested. Both are freed by Jeremiah’s false friend. Later, Rachael kills herself.
Wilkie Barron
Wilkie Barron, Jeremiah’s opportunistic and false friend, whom he has known since their days as law students together. Barron and several others break into jail and free Jeremiah shortly before his execution date, but Jeremiah learns that Barron was responsible for the handbill that made him kill Fort. After Jeremiah is killed by one of Barron’s men, Barron goes on to become rich and successful. Finally, he shoots himself. Among his papers is found Jeremiah’s manuscript, revealing the whole story.
Jasper Beaumont
Jasper Beaumont, Jeremiah’s bankrupt father. Jeremiah inherits his father’s moodiness, and he develops the feeling that he must work hard to settle his father’s score.
Dr. Leicester Burnham
Dr. Leicester Burnham, young Jeremiah’s teacher, who is a loyal friend. He recommends his pupil to Fort and remains loyal to Jeremiah during his trial.
Mrs. Beaumont
Mrs. Beaumont (née Marcher), Jeremiah’s mother, who is disinherited by her wealthy father. Her final illness postpones Jeremiah’s law studies.
Thomas Barron
Thomas Barron, Wilkie’s uncle. While visiting him, Jeremiah meets Rachael.
Percival Scrogg
Percival Scrogg, a fanatic liberal newspaper editor. He and Wilkie Barron together print and distribute the handbill attributed to Fort.
Josh Parham
Josh Parham, a rich landowner with whom Jeremiah forms a partnership. Their land speculation falls through when the Relief Party comes to power. Parham, an Anti-Relief man, swears not to open up Kentucky land while the Relief Party is in office.
Felix Parham
Felix Parham, Josh’s son.
Desha
Desha, the Relief candidate, elected governor in 1824.
Sellars
Sellars, the candidate who defeats Jeremiah in their election contest.
La Grand’ Bosse
La Grand’ Bosse, a river pirate. After escaping from prison, Jeremiah and Rachael take refuge with him.
Characters
Warren paints a vivid portrait of Beaumont, relentless in its detail, so much so that it almost borders on the tiresome. We trace...
(This entire section contains 388 words.)
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Beaumont's journey from his early, fraught relationship with a domineering father, through his days as a promising law student, enamored by the charismatic Colonel Fort, to his destiny-altering marriage to Rachel Jordan. His quest to defend Rachel's honor leads him into a reluctant duel with Fort. As Beaumont matures, experiencing fleeting happiness with Rachel while living the placid life of a planter, his refusal to settle for ordinary happiness fuels the latter part of the novel, driven by what he sees as a grave injustice against Rachel.
In the latter stages of the novel, Beaumont's clinging to idealism and his lingering naivete often provoke skepticism and impatience among readers. It is rather startling that, despite his legal background, Beaumont, who meticulously plots Fort's murder and crafts an alibi, remains perpetually aghast at the prosecution's use of deceit, half-truths, and scandalmongers in their bid to convict him. Warren stretches Beaumont's trial to an exhaustive length, intending it as a metaphor for the world's habitual injustices.
The novel's second half finds redemption in its closing scenes. Beaumont, after escaping jail, finds himself in the desolate, eternal landscape of a river hideout belonging to the infamous outlaw, the "Grand Boz." Here, Beaumont realizes that returning to society, speaking the truth, and facing execution is preferable to losing his sanity and identity in the wilderness. Despite Beaumont's sometimes wearisome and frustrating depiction as a tragic hero, he ultimately earns the reader's respect.
Character Depth and Appeal
Though Warren's ensemble of main characters is somewhat limited, it remains largely effective. Rachel Jordan emerges as a captivating and complex heroine, believable as a woman who ignites an intense passion in the romantic Beaumont. Warren is unflinching in exposing her flaws, such as her retreats into cowardice, her uncertainty, and even her lack of faith in Beaumont.
Colonel Fort stands out as one of Warren's finest "hollow men," a charming rogue and seducer, adept in politics yet fundamentally shallow and cowardly, unable to confront Beaumont in a duel. Percival Skrogg, the political zealot obsessed with "Relief" for Kentucky's struggling farmers, entangles Beaumont in Kentucky's political web. While effectively portrayed, the "Relief" battle often detracts rather than enhances Warren's theme of historical injustice.
