Character guide

Richard Rowan

major

Also known as Dick, Mr. Rowan, Master Richard, Richard Light, Richard The Tiber, Richard Approaching, Richard Welcome, Richard Good, Richard O, Richard Buon giorno

Richard Rowan returns to Dublin as a celebrated essayist, but his real experiment is domestic: he refuses to claim Bertha as property and speaks of affections that should flow freely to many. That doctrine collides with Robert Hand's open pursuit of her, and Richard's calm feels less like generosity than a dare he cannot lose. His late-night walks on the strand and his silence set the moral weather for everything that follows.

Bertha Rowan

major

Also known as Bertha Archly, Bertha Smiling, Bertha Gravely, Bertha Hurriedly, Bertha Sinking, Bertha Rises, Bertha Bitterly, Bertha Warmly, Bertha O, Bertha Motionless, Bertha Laughs

Bertha Rowan rose before dawn, sleepless, and stands between two men who each believe they know what she should want. She reads Robert's newspaper tribute to her husband and hears, in the same hour, that Robert is packing to leave. Her old servant Brigid remembers when Richard's whole world was Bertha; that remembered certainty is exactly what has slipped, and her quiet panic drives the play's first morning.

Robert Hand

major

Also known as Robert Lightly, Robert Bowing, Robert Grimly, Robert Cautiously, Robert Archly, Robert Brooding, Robert Bewildered, Robert Passion, Robert Friends, Robert Sighs, Robert Tenderly, Robert Those, Robert Little Bertha, Robert Conditions, Robert Slightly wounded, Robert Nodding, Mr. Hand

Robert Hand tells Richard to his face that he loves Bertha and would take her however he can, then confesses he was drawn to her partly because she belongs to a stronger man. He is charming, self-aware, and helpless before his own contradictions: he can write a hero's tribute and pack a valise in the same night. His pursuit forces Richard's abstract creed about free love into a test no one, including Robert, is sure he wants to pass.

Beatrice Justice

supporting

Also known as Beatrice Mr. Rowan, Beatrice Weakly, Beatrice Shaking hands, Beatrice Smiling, Beatrice Sinks, Miss Justice, Beatty, Beatrice Has Mr. Rowan

Beatrice Justice is the first to bring Bertha the news of Robert's article and the first to sense the coldness between the two men. She is a light sleeper who hears her cousin's valise and whistling, and she admits she has it on her conscience that Robert pressed Richard to return to Ireland. Precise, nervous, and quietly drawn to Richard herself, she becomes the household's most reliable witness to what the others will not say.

Archie Rowan

supporting

Also known as Master Archie, Archie Addio, Archie Eleven, Archie Knives, Archibald Hamilton Rowan, Hamilton Rowan

Archie Rowan is old enough to notice what the grown-ups hide and young enough to say it aloud, reporting to his father who came to the house and what was said. His name carries a patriot's legacy, and his parents' friends treat him as a small mirror of Richard's choices. In a play about what children inherit from their parents' freedoms, his presence keeps the stakes from staying merely intellectual.

Brigid

minor

Also known as Brigid Master Archie, Brigid O, Brigid Going

The Rowan family's maid, who looks after Archie and the household.

Mrs. Rowan

minor

Richard's mother, mentioned but deceased before the story begins.