Anthony Blanche Character Analysis

Anthony Blanche is a friend of Sebastian’s at Oxford University, and an acquaintance of Charles Ryder. Anthony is an outsider in British society for several reasons: he is foreign and has travelled all over the world, he is from a Catholic family, and he is homosexual. Anthony is picked on by other boys throughout his school years in England, and the bullying continues at university. He responds to this by embracing his unconventionality and using it shock people. He loves to break social conventions and to make people uncomfortable. However, although Anthony’s eccentric behavior is a defense mechanism and a way to protect himself, it does not make him likable or accepted the way that Sebastian’s similar behavior does. Anthony is slightly bitter about this and realizes that he is picked on because he is different, while Sebastian gets away things because people are taken in by his “English charm.” Anthony, as a foreigner, cannot rely on this and is jealous of Sebastian. He tries to tempt Charles away from Sebastian and seems irritated that Charles prefers Sebastian to him. Anthony is presented as a “devilish” figure who is the exact opposite of Sebastian’s angelic, youthful innocence. Anthony, in contrast, is worldly, experienced, and can be cruel. He thus represents the demonic side in the battle for Charles’s affections, and tries to steer Charles towards a life of lust, debauchery, and modern art, while Sebastian represents true love, and the wisdom and religious grace which comes from this. Anthony is an “aesthete,” someone who loves beauty and art, and wants Charles to unleash his inner artistic passion. He feels that Charles, who he thinks has potential to be a great artist, has been metaphorically “killed” by Sebastian because he has lost his interest in cultural exploration and, instead, wants to remain as he is and not allow change into his life. As Charles grows older, he realizes that Anthony is right in this sense, and that he must accept change to grow and develop as an artist.