# Mrs. Zachariah — The Revolution in Tanner’s Lane character guide

> Mrs. Zachariah in The Revolution in Tanner’s Lane by Mark Rutherford.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** the first Mrs. Zachariah

**First appearance:** 0001-the-revolution-in-tanner-s-lane

## Snapshot

Zachariah's wife, whose hardness is less cruelty than the slow product of a marriage that brings out everything disagreeable in her.

## Who they are

She is the domestic counterweight to Zachariah's public fervor, a woman whom neighbors call hard and even cruel, though the narrator insists her injustice grows from a false relationship rather than a false nature. With a better man she would have been better and happier; with Zachariah, every virtue of his seems to sharpen her temper. She matters because she makes the reader feel the private cost of revolutionary zeal before any political consequence arrives.

## In the story

### [I: The World Outside](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/chapters/i-the-world-outside)

Zachariah's wife, present during Major Maitland's visit. She is startled by Maitland's casual use of God's name but remains silent.

### [Outside Pike Street](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/chapters/ii-outside-pike-street)

Hosts Major Maitland for tea, discusses cleanliness and politics, and provides him with embrocation for his rheumatism.

### [III: The Theatre](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/chapters/iii-the-theatre)

Eager for the outing, grows impatient and angry at Zachariah's delay, leaves with the Major, and feels guilty for her enjoyment.

### [IX: A Strain on the Cable](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/chapters/ix-a-strain-on-the-cable)

Grows hysterical and bitter under misfortune, blaming Zachariah for their plight.

### [Disintegration by Degrees](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/chapters/x-disintegration-by-degrees)

Zachariah's wife; obsessively orderly, resentful of interruptions, and develops jealousy toward Pauline.

### [XI: Politics and Pauline](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/chapters/xi-politics-and-pauline)

Waits for Zachariah at home, reading the Bible with a tone of reproach, and suggests they have prayers.

### [End of the Beginning](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/chapters/xv-end-of-the-beginning)

Dies while Zachariah is in prison; their relationship is strained before his journey to Lancaster.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/characters/mrs_zachariah
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/characters