Alias Grace (1996) (edit title/settings)

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• Grace Marks: The famed Canadian murderess, protagonist, and one of the narrators. Grace was a maid who was convicted in 1843 of the murder of her employer, Thomas Kinnear, and his mistress, Nancy Montgomery. Smart, shrewd, and untrusting.
• Dr. Simon Jordan: A fictional doctor, who researches the case, and gets to know Grace. He becomes personally involved in Grace's story, and seeks the truth.
• Dora: Ugly abusive housekeeper for Mrs. Humphrey
• George Parkinson: Son of Alderman Parkinson (Grace's first employer)
• James McDermott: allegedly threatened Grace to participate in murder of Nancy and Mr. Kinnear; always pouting; Kinnear's stablehandhis own weakness led to his involvement
• Mary Whitney: Grace's first true friend; worked as a servant at the Parkinson's
• Jamie Walsh: Hides a crush on Grace; plays the flute for the Kinnear household and runs errands; same age as Grace
• Jeremiah the Peddler: gypsy that wanders to households selling clothing and participates in odd jobs
• Aunt Pauline: Grace's aunt who funds her family's trekk across Canada and into the States
• Clarrie: African American servant of the governess
• Reverend Verringer: marries Lydia; writes petitions continually for Grace's release
• Lydia: marries Reverend Verringer after the departure of Simon Jordan
• Thomas Kinnear: Liberal in the sense that he has an affair with his housekeeper Nancy; treats Grace well
• Nancy Montgomery: Demonstrates very extreme moods based on her relationship status with Kinnear; Grace's employer
• Mrs. Alderman Parkinson: Mrs. Alderman Parkinson is the mistress of the house where Grace lands her first job. The Parkinson family is very rich, and the house is very elegant, employing many servants. It is here that Grace meets Mary Whitney and Jeremiah the Peddler.
• Mrs. Honey: Mrs. Honey is the head servant at Mrs. Parkinson's house. She is anything but sweet, Grace says. She is strict and quick to blame Grace.
• C. D. Humphrey: Add a description of this character.
• Mrs. Quennell: Mrs. Quennell is a famous spiritualist of the time. She tries to explain the voice that emanates from Grace while Grace is hypnotized. She believes it is someone else talking through Grace.
• Susanna Moodie
• Mrs. Burt: Mrs. Burt rents a cheap room at the back of her house to Grace's family when they first arrive in Toronto. She befriends Grace's father at first because she feels sorry for him. However, when she finds out that he wastes his day drinking instead of working, she grows tired of him. When Grace's father insists that Grace find a job, Mrs. Burt introduces her to Mrs. Parkinson's housekeeper.
• Kenneth Mackenzie: MacKenzie is Grace's court appointed lawyer. According to Grace, MacKenzie told her to lie and to pretend to be stupid in order to save her life. Later, when Dr. Jordan visits him, MacKenzie says that in his honest opinion, Grace is "guilty as sin."
• Dr. Jerome Dupont: Dr. Jerome Dupont is a charlatan. He takes on several different disguises. He first appears in the story as Jeremiah the Peddler. He is somewhat infatuated with Grace but not to the point of getting married. He asks Grace to leave the Kinnear place and travel with him. He returns later as Dr. Jerome Dupont, a hypnotist. He tells Grace not to give him away. Then he puts her into a trance. Later, Grace sees a poster advertising a circus and recognizes his face.
• Rachel
• Mrs. Phelan
• Janet: The warden's daughter at the time of Grace's release. She travelled to New York with Grace as a travel companion.
• Cook
• Mary Whimey: Grace's best friend and co-worker. Grace continually brings up Mary throughout the story.
• Agnes
• Roy: Roy is Grace's uncle. He is very generous toward Grace's family until his wife becomes pregnant. Then he puts his foot down and says he can no longer afford to help them.
• Tom
• Mr. Haraghy
• Dr. Bannerling: Dr. Bannerling is the director of the asylum. He believes Grace pretends to be mentally incapacitated and that Grace is guilty of murder. He thwarts any attempt made to release her from prison.
• Sally
• Katey
• Walter Scott
• Mama
• Dr. Binswanger: One of Grace's doctor's when she was at the Asylum.

Quotes edit see section history

• “The reason they want to see me is that I am a celebrated murderess. Or that is what has been written down. When I first saw it I was surprised, because they Celebrated Singer and Celebrated Poetess and Celebrated Spiritualist and Celebrated Actress, but what is there to celebrate about murder All the same, murderess is a strong word to have attached to you. It has a smell to it, that word—musky and oppressive…”

  Grace Marks

• “One poor Irishwoman had all her family dead, half of them of starving in the great famine and the other half of the cholera on the boat coming over; and she would wander about calling their names… Another woman had killed her child, and it followed her around everywhere, tugging at her skirt, and sometimes she would pick it up and hug and kiss it... I was afraid of this one.”

  Grace Marks

• “For the widely held view that women are weak-spined and jelly-like by nature, and would slump to the floor like melted cheese if not roped in, he has nothing but contempt. While a medical student, he dissected a good many women—from the laboring classes, naturally—and their spines and musculature were on the average no feebler than those of men, although many suffered from rickets.”

  Simon Jordan

• “It was knowledge <women> craved; yet they could not admit to craving it, because it was forbidden knowledge—knowledge with a lurid glare to it; knowledge gained through a descent into the pit. He had been where they could never go, seen what they never see; he has opened up women’s bodies and peered inside. In his hand, which has just raised their own hands towards his lips, he may once have held a beating female heart.”

• “"For it is not always the one that strikes the blow that is the actual murderer."”

  Grace

• “We make everything we wear or use here, awake or asleep; so I have made this bed and now I am lying in it.”

  Grace

• “I suppose she was melancholy for as I have noticed, those who are depressed in spirits are more likely to consider bad omens.”

  Grace

• “They are hypocrites, they think the church is a cage to keep God in, so he will stay locked up there and not go wandering about the earth during the week, poking his nose into their business, and looking into the depths and darkness and doubleness of their hearts, and their lack of true charity; and they believe they need only be bothered about him on Sundays when they have their best clothes on and their faces straight, and their hands washed and their gloves on, and their stories all prepared.”

  Grace

• “But God is everywhere, and cannot be caged in, as men can.”

• “Just because a thing has been written down, Sir, does not mean it is God's truth, I say.”

  Grace

• “It was raining, and a huge crowd standing in the mud, some of them come from miles away. If my own death sentence had not been commuted at the last minute, they would have watched me hang with the same greedy preasure. There were many women and ladies there; everyone wanted to stare, they wanted to breathe death in like fine perfume, and when I read of it I thought, If this is a lesson to me, what is it I am supposed to be learning?”

  Grace

• “It's true that the American public is unduly impressed by such notions -- they favour cures that can be had by pulling a lever or pressing a button -- but Simon has no belief in their efficacy.”

• “I am afraid he was very much indulged, not least by himself. For if the world treats you well, Sir, you come to believe you are deserving of it.”

  Grace

• “A faithless preacher with a good manner and voice will always convert more than a limp-handed long-face fool, no matter how Godly. Then he struck a solemn pose, and intoned, Those strong in the faith know, that in the Lord's hands even the infirm vessel is put to right use.”

  Jeremiah

• “I said, wouldn't that be a deception and a cheat? And Jeremiah said, no more than at the theatre. For if people wish to believe a thing, and long for it and depend on it to be true, and feel the better for it, is it cheating to help them to their own belief, by such an insubstantial thing as a name? Is it not rather a charity, and a human kindness? And when he put the thing that way, it had a better light on it.”

• “Everyone knows you'll lose, because there's no doubt as to their guilt; but it will be the style in which you lose that will count. There is graceless losing, and there is elegant losing. Let us see you lose as elegantly as possible.”

  Mr. Mackenzie, the lawyer, quoting old Bradley

• “I have little enough of my own, no belongings, no possesions, no privacy to speak of, and I need to keep something for myself; and in any case, what use would he have for my deams after all?”

  Grace

• “Her strongest prison is her own construction.”

• “A cheap whore is cheap not because she is ugly or old, but because she is a bad actress.”

  Simon

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Canada
• Toronto
• United States
• Heaven
• England
• Lewiston
• Massachusetts
• New York
• Europe
• Kingston
• Belfast
• Paris
• London
• France
• Ireland
• Ontario
• Yonge Street
• Switzerland

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Series & Lists edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Margaret Atwood (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• Giller Prize (1996)
• James Tiptree, Jr. Award (Finalist, 1996, Longlist)
• Man Booker Prize (Finalist, 1996, Shortlist)
• Orange Prize for Fiction (Finalist, 1997, Shortlist)
• International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award (Finalist, 1998, Shortlist)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PR9199.3.A8
• Dewey: 813.54

Notes for Parents edit see section history

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Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Authors, A-Z › ( A ) › Atwood, Margaret
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Wikipedia

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