Philip Earle/Mr. Quill Character Analysis

A mapmaker hired by Edmund Jordan to assess his property and draw up plans for a sheep farm, nicknamed “Mr. Quill” by the villagers for his ever-present pen and paper. Mr. Quill is educated and comes from a wealthy background, but he lacks Jordan’s arrogance and is more similar to Master Kent in his kind dealings with the villagers. His humility is likely informed by a limp he’s had since childhood, which exposes him to mockery from other men, notably Jordan himself. Mr. Quill’s artistry is a source of fascination to Walter; it shows how men can wield power over the land without actually working it, an intriguing but frightening prospect. While his arrival in the village prefigures its downfall, Mr. Quill quickly becomes enamored of village life and sympathetic to the villagers. Conveying information on Jordan’s plans to Walter and also comforting Master Beldam and Father Beldam while they are trapped in the pillory, he combines a respect for traditional life with a sympathy towards outsiders that the village lacks. Despite his evident goodwill, the villagers mistrust him and accuse him of sorcery; he’s eventually murdered, probably by Mistress Beldam, even though he tried to help her. His death suggests that innate goodness can’t persist long in the turbulent, unwelcoming circumstances of the novel.