Mr. Eager Character Analysis in A Room with a View

A British clergyman at the Pension Bertolini who dislikes the Emersons and tells Lucy that Mr. Emerson murdered his own wife. It is later revealed that Mrs. Emerson died after becoming sick with depression and regret when George was sick as a baby. Mr. Eager encouraged Mrs. Emerson to believe that the sickness was the result of George’s not being baptized, and this may be what Mr. Eager means by saying that Mr. Emerson murdered his wife.

Mr. Eager Quotes in A Room with a View

The A Room with a View quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Eager or refer to Mr. Eager. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Society, Manners, and Changing Social Norms Theme Icon

"How wonderfully people rise in these days!" sighed Miss Bartlett, fingering a model of the leaning Tower of Pisa.
"Generally," replied Mr. Eager, "one has only sympathy for their success. The desire for education and for social advance—in these things there is something not wholly vile.”

Related Characters: Charlotte Bartlett (speaker), Mr. Eager (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 49

Explanation and Analysis:

Mr. Eager Character Timeline in A Room with a View

The timeline below shows where the character Mr. Eager appears in A Room with a View. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...two parties, and leads his congregation outside. Lucy recognizes the reverend as an Englishman named Mr. Eager . George tells Lucy that his father has driven Mr. Eager out of the church,... (full context)

...and Charlotte tells Lucy that she admires Miss Lavish. Lucy and Charlotte then run into Mr. Eager , who invites them to join him on a ride into the nearby hills, to... (full context)

Charlotte is pleased to receive Mr. Eager ’s invitation, because she sees him as someone who is in touch with the real... (full context)

Mr. Eager mentions that in this very piazza the day before, “the most sordid of tragedies,” occurred.... (full context)

An Italian vendor tries to sell Mr. Eager some photographs, but he ignores him. Lucy, Charlotte, and Mr. Eager go shopping and buy... (full context)

Mr. Eager mentions Mr. Emerson’s wife, who is dead, and after some hinting finally says that Mr.... (full context)

...Lavish with him on the ride and worries about who will sit with whom, since Mr. Eager dislikes Miss Lavish. Meanwhile, Lucy is lost among the “questions rioting in her brain,” after... (full context)

In the afternoon, Lucy and Charlotte go for the ride with Mr. Eager . A young Italian man drives their carriage, and stops to pick up a young... (full context)

Mr. Eager asks if Lucy is in Florence as a student of art, and she tells him... (full context)

Mr. Eager stops the carriage and tells the driver that his female friend will have to leave.... (full context)

Mr. Emerson talks with Miss Lavish and regrets the way that Mr. Eager treated the young driver, whom he associates with the youth and vivacity of spring. Looking... (full context)

...in the hills outside Florence, the setting that had inspired the Renaissance painter Alessio Baldovinetti. Mr. Eager and Miss Lavish wonder, “where exactly had he stood?” The party walks around the hills... (full context)

...looks like a porter. Miss Lavish and Charlotte encourage Lucy to go off and join Mr. Eager ’s group, but Lucy doesn’t want to. They sit for a few minutes, and then... (full context)

Worried, Mr. Emerson asks Mr. Eager to ask the driver where George is. Charlotte, meanwhile, slips some money to the driver,... (full context)

Cecil criticizes Mr. Beebe to Lucy, who then says that she dislikes a different clergyman, Mr. Eager . She says that Mr. Eager claimed someone at the Pension Bertolini had murdered his... (full context)

...George was a baby. The Emersons had not baptized George, and then George got typhoid. Mr. Eager convinced Mrs. Emerson that the typhoid was the result of George’s not being baptized, and... (full context)