Mrs. Rattery Character Analysis in A Handful of Dust

Mrs. Rattery is Jock Grant-Menzies’s girlfriend, whom he invites to join him at Hetton for the fox hunt. Before meeting her, Tony Last has already dubbed her the “shameless blonde,” in apparent reference to some prior act. Contrary to his expectation of a gregarious airhead, however, Rattery is highly laconic and austere. She arrives at Hetton behind the wheel of a propeller plane, establishing the pattern of bold, masculine behavior that characterizes her. She is fond of extended games of solitaire. After John Andrew’s death, Mrs. Rattery stays behind to keep Tony company while Jock delivers the news to Brenda. Mrs. Rattery’s presence in the novel is mysterious, but Waugh certainly intends to contrast her honorable reserve with the shamelessness of Brenda and her friends, excepting her from the relentlessly negative characterization he applies to almost all the other women in the novel.

Mrs. Rattery Quotes in A Handful of Dust

The A Handful of Dust quotes below are all either spoken by Mrs. Rattery or refer to Mrs. Rattery . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Communication Breakdown and the Loss of Meaning Theme Icon

).

“I only wanted to see [Rev. Tendril] about arrangements. He tried to be comforting. It was very painful… after all the last thing one wants to talk about at a time like this is religion.”

Related Characters: Tony Last (speaker), Mrs. Rattery , Mr. Tendril

Page Number and Citation: 140

Explanation and Analysis: