This Side of Paradise

Beatrice Blaine is Amory’s mother and a charming figure that emerges periodically throughout Book 1. She was born into a very wealthy family and grew up in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Beatrice spent much of her youth in Europe, attending the Sacred Heart Convent in Rome for her education. This experience and her time in various European cultures give Beatrice a taste for sophistication and wealth. Her privileged upbringing causes her to appreciate culture but not original ideas. Beatrice also has alcohol dependency and hypochondriac tendencies; she dwells on her various illnesses and finds joy in telling others about them.

Unlike Amory’s father, Stephen, Beatrice significantly impacts Amory’s development as a youth. She travels around the United States with Amory until he is 13, allowing the boy to get an education from experience and numerous tutors. Beatrice also impacts her son when she asks him to meet Monsignor Darcy, her former love interest. She unknowingly introduces Amory to a mentor he’ll look to while at St. Regis’ and Princeton.

Amory loves his mother, but when he returns from his two-year stay Minneapolis, he finds his love for his mother has dimmed. He soon convinces Beatrice to allow him to attend boarding school like other boys his age and class. Despite her impact on Amory in his youth, Beatrice’s death has little effect on Amory as an adult. He only mentions that she died in a letter to Tom and is only concerned with the financial implications of her death. Likewise, when Stephen dies, Amory’s only concern is the family’s financial status. His passive reaction to his mother and father’s deaths demonstrates that Amory lacks a strong sense of family and cares more about himself and his success than maintaining a meaningful relationship with his parents.

Monsignor Darcy is a 44-year-old Catholic priest who lives in an old house in upstate New York. While he once denounced religion, he experienced a spiritual crisis and converted to Catholicism. Darcy attended Yale, allowing him to empathize with Amory’s experiences at Princeton. He is likewise connected to Amory through Beatrice, as he had a romantic relationship with her before taking holy orders. As illustrated by the attendance at his funeral in Chapter 5, Darcy is well-liked and highly respected. He anticipates that he will become a cardinal one day, though he dies before this happens.

Darcy meets Amory before he begins his first year at St. Regis’. The two immediately form a strong bond and realize they have much in common. Darcy even writes a letter to Amory sharing a dream he had where Amory was his son. This bond allows Darcy to become a mentor and hero for Amory as he struggles through his formative years. Darcy knows he can talk to Amory as an adult but only gives advice he knows the younger man can handle. Through Darcy’s wisdom and guidance, Amory can better navigate numerous situations at Princeton and gain a stronger understanding of life than he would have on his own.

The two characters share such a strong bond that Amory feels Darcy’s spiritual presence in the Atlantic City hotel after Darcy dies unexpectedly in Philadelphia at the same time. Darcy’s death is one of the novel’s three climactic events, further illustrating the priest’s important role in Amory’s life and development. With Darcy gone, Amory must go through life alone and without his friend’s spiritual guidance. However, Darcy offers Amory a final gift at his funeral: When Amory sees the multitude of people who love and respect his mentor, Amory’s desire for success and significance renews, albeit in a more altruistic way than before. Thus, even in death, Darcy continues to guide his protégé and help him navigate life’s hurdles.

Isabelle is 16 and lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is a wealthy yet vain debutante who knows her power over young men and uses it to play mental games with them. However, Isabelle has a bad reputation with men because people know she allows them to kiss her. For her generation and culture, being kissed was a significant commitment. Thus, Isabelle’s reputation wavers slightly because she is too forward with the men she ensnares with her beauty and personality. She also has an air of sophistication, which Amory particularly appreciates, as he admired his mother’s sophistication growing up.

Isabelle first meets Amory at the Minnehaha Club in Minneapolis, which Amory attended previously while staying with his aunt and uncle. He returns now as a man, and Isabelle becomes his first significant romantic relationship. However, their relationship is shallow, as exemplified when Isabelle becomes angry because Amory’s shirt stud leaves a mark on her neck after they embrace. This small moment makes Amory realize that he lacks genuine affection for Isabelle. Thus, Isabelle’s character represents Amory’s induction into romance and relationships, teaching him that he wants more from his partner than a pretty face and high social status.

Rosalind Connage, a wealthy debutante, is Alec’s sister and Amory’s most significant love interest in the novel. Rosalind is spoiled and treats men poorly; men fall for her quickly because of her engaging personality and beauty, but she manipulates them. She is also a feminist character and symbolizes how women’s roles and behaviors changed during the Jazz Age, exemplified when she kisses men frequently and through her clever, enthusiastic, and brazen personality. Rosalind also dances and writes well. However, she brags about being expelled from school, though she doesn’t explain why. Rosalind wants people to like her but doesn’t mind when they don’t, refusing to change who she is to get others to like her. In this regard, Amory and Rosalind are foils to each other.

Unlike Amory’s relationship with Isabelle, his feelings for Rosalind are deep and genuine. They make a compatible couple other than the issue of their differing class. Rosalind is from New York’s upper class, whereas Amory was born into the middle class but is slowly sliding into the lower class because of his family’s dwindling fortune. Their differing class destroys their chance for happiness. Rosalind wants to maintain her socioeconomic status and knows Amory will never be truly successful. Instead of giving up wealth for love, Rosalind breaks her engagement with Amory, gaining economic freedom and stability by marrying Dawson. Rosalind knows she will always love Amory, but her financial well-being is more important than love.