Arcadia

Septimus Hodge serves as Thomasina’s tutor across the three years covered in the past. While he is smart and Cambridge-educated, he does not understand Thomasina’s ambitious and creative ideas. Unlike Thomasina, he has fully crossed over to adulthood and lacks her imagination. This is reflected when he marks her essay poorly because he cannot understand her revolutionary genius. The ending does suggest that Septimus has grown to appreciate her ideas and take them seriously, even if he cannot understand them. When marking her homework this time, he marks it as an A “in blind faith” that her ideas are right (96). As a hermit, he continues to try and expound her theories.

Byron functions as a mirror character for Septimus in many ways. They attended the same school and sleep with the same women. Byron and Septimus share a sharp wit. Throughout the play, Septimus demonstrates his wit. When Chater is confronting him, he takes advantage of Chater’s lack of wit to humiliate him despite the differences in class. His wit attracts the women of the play to him. Byron, too, seduces women with his wit, like reading from his satire to amuse Lady Croom. These similarities allow for Bernard to mix up their identities and believe that Bryon is the letter’s “liar,” “lecher,” and “slanderer” (31). However, these similarities also highlight their differences: While Byron is a poet, Septimus is more scientifically—and mathematically—inclined. Byron is emblematic of Romanticism while Septimus adheres more closely to Enlightenment ideals, even though Septimus’s eventual conversion into a hermit absorbs him—literally and figuratively—into the Romantic landscape.

Hannah Jarvis is a modern-day writer and historian who has come to Sidley Park to research the hermit and assist with rebuilding the historic Gardens. Before the events of the play, she wrote a best-selling book about Lady Caroline Lamb, a writer in her own right and a lover of Lord Byron. Hannah’s interest in “rehabilitating” Lady Caroline’s reputation suggests that she has a commitment to recovering and reinterpreting figures that have been lost or overlooked in the past.

Hannah is skeptical, vehemently rejecting Romanticism in favor of Enlightenment ideals. When describing the symbolism of the hermit to Bernard, she declares Romanticism a “sham” where “intellectual rigour turned in on itself” (27). Throughout the play, she acts as the voice of reason. She rejects romance and sex, turning down Valentine’s, Bernard’s, and Gus’s advances. When others make claims, she demands proof. This mindset contrasts sharply with Bernard, who advocates following one’s “[g]ut” (50). However, by the end of the play, she becomes less strictly rational. She wants to believe Septimus is the hermit despite lacking concrete proof, and after some hesitation, she does dance with Gus. Hannah’s dance at the play’s close suggests that, as with Septimus, sometimes Enlightenment and Romantic ideals can overlap harmoniously.

Bernard is a rakish academic who is interested in the Romantic era. Driven by his interest in fame and commendations, he plans to write about his theory that Lord Byron killed Mr. Chater in a duel over a woman. He does have some evidence of different aspects of his claim, like Byron’s presence at Sidley Park, as noted in the game book. However, his selfish motivations push him to make claims that are not supported by historic truth “in a hop, skip and a jump” (59), just to satisfy his own vanity. Bernard does not pursue knowledge and truth, but rather seeks fame. As Hannah says after listening to his lecture practice, he has “left out everything which doesn’t fit” (59) into his argument about Byron. Bernard therefore serves as a foil to Hannah, who seeks proof in her pursuit of the truth.

Bernard’s relationship with Chloe contrasts sharply with the relationship between Septimus and Thomasina. Septimus shares his academic knowledge with her and refuses to go to her room at the end of the play. While he does not understand all of her ideas, he supports her. Bernard, on the other hand, sleeps with Chloe and uses her to flatter his ego. Bernard does not support Chloe’s clear academic promise, suggesting that he cannot recognize or respect female academics as his equals.