Year Of Wonders Character Analysis

Year of Wonders, by Geraldine Brooks, takes place in a small village called Eyam during the time in which the plague strikes Europe. The village’s young priest, Michael Mompellion, convinces the people to quarantine themselves within the village to stop the spread of the plague. The novel follows the protagonist, Anna Frith, as she witnesses the deaths of her family and friends. Throughout this year full of many deaths, few births, and countless struggles, the women of Eyam fight through it all while showing great power. One very powerful woman is Anys Gowdie. At the demise of her parents, she is left to live with her Aunt Mem. Together they mix herbs and other ingredients to find cures for infections spreading amongst the people of the village. This sorcery, as the townsfolk call it, is what leads to the …show more content…
Since Elizabeth is of a higher social class than Anna, she bosses her around and treats her badly. She treats Anna poorly when the novel says, “I turned suddenly, slopping milk from my bucket as I did so. Elizabeth Bradford scowled as a droplet landed on the aubergine hem of her gown. ‘Clumsy!’ she hissed. And so I remembered her much as I had last seen her more than one year earlier; sour-faced and spoiled” (12). Along with treating people badly and getting away with it, Elizabeth uses her political power to escape the plague-infested village. Because she is one of the very few lucky people that have the money and a place to go, she flees, not giving a second thought to those left behind. Another way Elizabeth uses her power in a negative way is how she accuses Anna of stealing her baby sister. Of course since she is extremely wealthy and highly respected because of that, no one in Eyam dares to question her accusation. These examples show how all women have some sort of power, but those like Elizabeth may not use it for