59 pages • 1 hour read
Sarah PerryThe Essex Serpent
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2016A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Cora Seaborne
Cora is the main character in the novel. As the protagonist, the events that take place in the text revolve around her: It is her presence in Aldwinter that disrupts Will’s marriage; her move away from London that prompts Garrett to self-reflect; and her interest in the natural sciences that focuses the novel’s plot on the potential existence of the Essex Serpent. Cora is a complicated character. She is a recent widow, for instance, but she feels little grief at the loss of her husband. She believes that Michael was not a good man, and his death means that she is now free of him, free to pursue her own interests for the very first time. While she had been locked into her marriage before, she can now indulge her fascination with the natural sciences and form the kind of relationships of which her dead husband might not have approved. Partly, this is because Cora married young and was never truly allowed to enjoy her youth. She moved from her father’s home into the home of her husband; as an upstanding member of Victorian society, this was to be expected of her and would be considered the respectable option. As a result, she has spent years defining herself in relation to a man she did not particularly like. Once he is gone, she spends her time searching for a new identity and new way to make sense of herself.
One of the ways that Cora tries to self-reflect is through the natural sciences. At the beginning of the novel, her love of nature and botany is evident. Her room is filled with textbooks and samples, while she wastes little time in moving her family out to the countryside in order to pursue her interested in nature. The reason for this is clear: The still-nascent field of natural sciences offers Cora a way to categorize and make sense of a random, confusing world. She is on her own for the first time, so the careful classification of the natural world as pursued by her naturalist textbooks is appealing to her. Cora struggles to process her own emotions on occasions, as she lacks the experience and the frames of reference that are available to other people. The natural sciences present her with a system with which she can make sense of the world, even if that is not what the system is designed to do.
One new issue Cora faces is love. Her marriage to Michael was not a passionate, romantic coupling. Now that she has broken free from the confines of her marriage, she is free to explore her romantic feelings for the world around her. Already, she has men in her life like Garrett, who hold a romantic interest in her that predates the death of her husband. It is almost as though he has been waiting for her husband to die, similarly bound by the expectations and notions of respect that mark Victorian society and afraid to break them. Cora slips out of Garrett’s grasp soon after the funeral. She finds herself in Aldwinter and, in the village, she meets Will. The relationship between Will and Cora is notably complicated. Before Will can experience any romantic involvement with Cora, he must first go through Martha.
As Cora’s close friend and dedicated partner, Martha is fiercely protective of Cora. The relationship between Cora and Martha is not countenanced by Victorian society and thus cannot be explored. Despite this, Martha remains near Cora at all times and helps protect her from the harsh realities of romance. Because Cora lacks the experience of these harsh realities, she can appear foolish and immature. When this occurs, Martha becomes angry with Cora. By the end of the novel, Cora has found solace in her solitude. She has gone out into the world and experienced love and romance, but rather than finding Cora a new partner, it teaches her the value of her own company. Cora no longer needs to define herself in relation to others. After her father, her husband, and a string of potential romances, Cora learns to be assertive and comfortable in her own company.
Love is not limited to romantic endeavors for Cora. Her life is also marked by her relationship with her son, Francis. Throughout the book, Francis’ character is one of the most difficult to interpret. He is quietly precocious, comfortable in his own intellect and seemingly apart from the rest of the world. He is individualistic to the point of a self-imposed isolation, but this isolation is one that he actively pursues. In almost every way, Francis is not like other children. Cora worries about this. She worries about how her relationship with her son reflects on her. She knows what is expected of a mother and son and becomes concerned that Francis shows none of the traditional, “normal” behaviors expected of a boy his age. His introverted nature and his self-assured personality—as well as his odd habits—differentiate him as a child, and Cora worries that this difference marks her out as a poor mother. Nevertheless, she is very protective of Francis and many of her choices are—at least on the surface—carried out with his best intentions in mind, but this concern is limited. While Cora is aware of Francis’ happiness, she also does mostly what she wants. She knows Francis well enough to know that he will not be bothered if she pursues her own interests. Thus, she does not always pay attention to her son or his needs, but she uses Francis to explain her decisions (such as moving to or from Aldwinter). In return, she permits Francis to be himself. He can wander around the house and even the village at night; he can steal from stores and collect his treasures; and he is allowed to behave as he pleases. Cora and Francis have an accord. Rather than the traditional bond between a mother and son, the bond between Francis and Cora is reached through mutual love and respect that develops over time, particularly as Cora learns not to worry too much about the opinions of others when it comes to matters of her own happiness.
Will Ransome
Will is, in many ways, the traditional village vicar. He is the representative of the Church in the small Essex village, and he tends to his small congregation well. He knows everyone and pays visits to their houses to provide support and assistance. He visits Cracknell, for instance, during his rounds and is aware of the man’s history and his inclinations. When he first checks in on Cracknell and finds him skinning moles, he knows Cracknell’s emotional context and history and can provide pastoral care. With his well-liked wife and his three children, he is an upstanding member of the community and a vital pillar of support for many of the people of Aldwinter. When the Serpent arrives, the people turn to Will for an explanation and help.
However, the arrival of the Serpent and then Cora disrupt Will’s peaceful life. The Serpent is already a force in the village when the narrative reaches Aldwinter; the locals claim that its vile influence is beginning to spread through the town, causing harm to people and animals. Though Will has been trying to dissuade his congregation from this, the arrival of Cora only serves to heighten the issue. Cora is interested in the monster from a scientific point of view. She believes that the story could have some truth to it, using a few scraps of research and rumor to support her claim. Though she and Will seem diametrically opposed in this regard, this challenge to Will’s serenity actually drags him from his comfort zone and forces him to think differently. He and Cora talk incessantly. They argue and debate; she compels Will to research and study with the hope of proving Cora wrong. When they see an illusion on the horizon, he goes to the British Library to look up potential explanations and then writes to Cora with his findings. She stimulates him, even if he disagrees with her. Cora disrupts Will’s comfortable life as a village pastor, and this stimulation develops into romantic feelings. Together, Cora and the Serpent challenge Will’s existing point of view and shake up his life to the extent that he is dragged from his benign status quo. This emotional surge threatens to destroy everything Will has built, but he needs it anyway. He wants to be challenged. He wants to be right. He wants Cora as she is the physical manifestation of these desired challenges.
To that end, Will comes to stand for reason in the novel. He is the character who is constantly appealing to the locals’ common sense, telling them that the Serpent is nothing but a myth. Even though he is the representative of religion and the beacon of faith in the small community, he is trying to tempt the locals from the faith they hold in the existence of the monster. This is the wrong kind of faith, in his opinion, divorced from the institutional, familiar, and traditional confines of the Church of England. Though the Church might be a religious institution, it represents order and knowledge at this point in history. The Serpent exists outside of that, so Will must challenge it. By the end of the book, however, Will’s position as the representative of faith is abandoned. He is proved right; the Serpent is nothing more than Banks’ old boat, rocking against the shore. However, by this stage of the narrative, being proved right has ceased to matter. His wife, Stella, the woman he loves, has been devastated by her illness. While Will’s battle against the Serpent has proved successful and his relationship with Cora has been consummated, he has come to realize what is important: Stella. The close, tight knit family existence he enjoyed before is now appealing to him once again. He treasures his wife and children as both have been taken away from him. Ultimately, the reality of the monster and the relationship with Cora do not matter because he has come to understand the depth of his love for Stella. Will may be the representative of reason in the village, but he abandons this position when his victory becomes apparent. The entire battle, he realizes, means nothing compared to his concern for Stella and his family. In the end, the abandonment of this position and the return to Stella comes to define Will. He returns to being the small-town pastor and finds new happiness in his quaint existence.
Luke Garrett
Garrett is the London surgeon who is caught between two worlds. He is an ambitious young surgeon, a man who is keen to advance his profession in exciting new ways. He is developing a reputation as one of the most forward-thinking and skilled surgeons in Britain, yet he lives in relative poverty and relies on disguised donations from his friend Spencer in order to make rent. He is a city boy, someone who is used to London and all of its flaws and dangers. Yet he has fallen in love with a woman whose life seems to be slowly shifting to the countryside. His reputation is considerable, but his physical form is diminutive enough to lend him the nickname the Imp. Garrett’s inability to fit into any one world leaves him lost and alone. It is only when he accepts his status and allows Spencer to explicitly help him does he rediscover the joys in his life.
One of the biggest barriers to Garrett’s happiness is the woman he loves. He was the doctor attending the drawn-out demise of Michael and, while he spent time in the Seaborne household, he became acquainted with Michael’s wife, Cora. This acquaintance grew into infatuation, and Garrett finds himself in love with a recently widowed woman. Once Michael is dead, he decides that it is time to make his feelings clear, but he lacks the conviction to tell Cora how he really feels. At the funeral, he tries to manufacture some time for them to be alone, but Cora rejects his offer of a cab ride. Soon, she is moving to the countryside, and he finds himself facing even more difficulty in capitalizing on his romantic interest. Cora and Martha discuss the Imp’s interest in Cora, but Cora does nothing to alter the dynamic of the relationship; she values the friendship and lacks the understanding and emotional framework required to empathize with Garrett’s problem. Thus, she views Garrett as a friend and nothing more. Eventually, when Garrett does make his feelings clear (when Cora has moved back to London and is spending more time with him), she is furious: “How could you” (228), she writes, accusing him of breaking their friendship by dragging love into the equation. By this point, it is clear to Garrett that his romantic intentions toward Cora will never be realized. Unfortunately for him, this realization occurs in conjunction with an even greater tragedy.
Garrett’s status as a surgeon is considerable. Not only does Spencer talk about Garrett’s skills in glowing terms, but the audience sees Garrett perform a surgical procedure that many thought impossible. He stitches up Burton’s stab wound and, in doing so, unwittingly dooms himself. By saving Burton’s life, Garrett motivates Burton’s attacker to strike again. In this next attack, Garrett’s hand is damaged to such an extent that he will never be able to perform delicate surgeries again. Ironically, Garrett’s greatest achievement as a surgeon eventually ruins his career. This complicates Garrett’s relationship with surgery. He has been a surgeon his entire life and has dedicated himself to the profession, but robbed of the functionality of his hand, he finds himself without purpose. All of his dreams and ambitions are scuttled. While he is recovering, he receives Cora’s letter and finds that his romantic ambitions are similarly in ruins. In a short space of time, Garrett’s life is destroyed. He loses the woman he loves, and he loses his ability to practice the profession he loves. He grows increasingly depressed and becomes suicidal. Garrett cannot bring himself to commit suicide, however, as he worries about the effect this will have on Spencer. Even in trying to kill himself, Garrett realizes that he is a complete failure.
Fortunately, this failed suicide attempt lays the foundations for Garrett’s future existence, teaching him the value of his friendship. By the end of the text, it has become clear that Spencer is the most important figure in Garrett’s life. The two are reflections of one another: Where Garrett is brilliant, Spencer is unimpressive; where Garrett is undeservedly poor, Spencer is undeservedly wealthy; where Garrett is diminutive and imp-like, Spencer cuts an impressive figure. Despite these differences, the two have been friends for a long time. Their relationship is complicated—Garrett sleeps with Martha, the woman Spencer loves, and Spencer anesthetizes Garrett during surgery, which Garrett finds almost impossible to forgive—but it becomes stronger. After the string of tragedies in his life and his failed suicide attempt, Garrett allows himself to accept Spencer as a more important figure in his life. He uses Spencer, taking advantage of Spencer’s working hands to perform the experimental surgeries he devises. He realizes his ambitions vicariously through Spencer, and Spencer appreciates that he can help his friend. Spencer does not want fame or fortune (he has both already) and does not consider himself to be a particularly notable surgeon, but through Garrett, he can help people. Least of all, he can help Garrett himself. At the close of the novel, Garrett finally realizes that the most important relationship in his life is not with Cora or with his profession, but with Spencer. This realization allows him to take back some happiness after a series of tragic events.
