Alice Lethbury

Relations to other characters:

- Wife of Julian Lethbury

- Adoptive mother of Jane

- Mother-in-law of Winstanley Budd

- Niece of Aunt Sophronia

Alice Lethbury is a main character of the short story “The Mission of Jane”. The only source of the information about Mrs. Lethbury is her own husband, as the story is written from his point of view. Her age is unknown; she is described as childish and fresh for her age, her girlish demeanor is one of her chief graces, nevertheless Mr. Lethbury doesn´t see her as a beautiful woman. Mrs. Lethbury is described from a perspective of her husband, Mr. Lethbury, as a stupid, inflexible and limited woman. In the conversations with her husband often doesn´t understand the references he uses. For instance, as Mrs. Lethbury talks to her husband about adopting Jane, Mr. Lethbury quoted Shakespeare´s Hamlet: “In this harsh world it draws its breath in pain…”(Wharton, “The Mission of Jane), and Mrs. Lethbury, thinking her husband is saying that Jane were an ill child, defended herself, by saying Jane was the healthiest child she ever saw. Mrs. Lethbury is aware of her intellectual abilities and doesn´t pretend she is cleverer as she actually is, therefore, she asks her husband to take care of the education of Jane. From the point of view of her husband, she is not able to build her own opinions and her everyday philosophy is borrowed from the female members of her family, especially Aunt Sophronia. Her opinion of her own marriage is not quite clear, but it is obvious that she knows her husband doesn´t love her. She possibly resigned herself with this fact and tries to do the best out of her situation: to adopt a child to avoid loneliness. It is also possible that she didn´t love her husband as well. Mrs. Lethbury is a good mother to Jane, which makes her husband admire her, but, like her husband, she is glad when Jane marries and leaves the house. Possesses proactive character: initiates the adoption to better her emotional state and makes all decisions concerning Jane´s well-being. She also had tried to force her husband to talk to Mr. Budd when she was worried about Jane´s engagement, and, after he had refused, she talked to Mr. Budd herself. At the end of the story, she stays with her husband and notices with surprise they became closer to each other.

Source:

"The Mission of Jane"