William Beaumont Character Analysis

William Beaumont is Elsbeth and Bill Beaumont’s eldest son. William returns home from college and moves back in with Elsbeth and his sister, Mona. Elsbeth is delighted to have William home, but she immediately grows bitter and jealous when she cannot control him and when he wants to go out and have a life of his own. Bill Beaumont has passed away, and Elsbeth is a lonely and pretentious woman who views herself as extremely refined—although she is not as rich as she pretends to be and is, in fact, heavily in debt—and despises the other Dungatar residents. William is a weak character, and although he wants to break free of his mother, he grows increasingly henpecked and manipulated by her as the novel progresses. To gain his independence, William marries Gertrude Pratt, who moves into the Beaumonts’ house at Windswept Crest. Gertrude and Elsbeth gang up on William, however, and boss him around constantly. William dreams of being free throughout the novel. He knows he does not love his wife and he regrets his marriage and return to Dungatar. After William eventually encounters Tilly and becomes infatuated with her, he stands up to Gertrude and has her committed to an asylum after she goes mad during the Dungatar theater production of Macbeth.