Year of Wonders

by

Geraldine Brooks

Charles is a young nobleman who lives next to Elinor in her youth. Eventually, he convinces Elinor to elope and have sex with him, but subsequently abandons her after he impregnates her. For fear of having the child out of wedlock, Elinor performs an abortion on herself that leaves her unable to bear children.
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Charles Character Timeline in Year of Wonders

The timeline below shows where the character Charles appears in Year of Wonders. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 2: The Poppies of Lethe
Community and Convention Theme Icon
Female Sexuality and Friendship Theme Icon
...world by her protective father and older brother. When she was fourteen, her twenty-year-old neighbor, Charles, began courting her, and although her father disapproved of the man’s character and believed Elinor... (full context)
Female Sexuality and Friendship Theme Icon
The lovers went to London, where it was possible to marry without parental consent. However, Charles kept putting off the wedding and even convinced Elinor to sleep with him, although premarital... (full context)
Part 2: A Great Burning
Female Sexuality and Friendship Theme Icon
Elinor becomes delirious and cries out first for her erstwhile lover, Charles, and then for Mompellion, speaking in such an intimate tone that Anna is embarrassed. Mompellion... (full context)