After Mompesson and Saville have chatted for a bit, Mompesson’s wife, Catherine, enters and the first thing she says is how beautiful the village is. She is obviously more aware of the surroundings than Mompesson as he never mentions them. She is very attentive of things around her, whereas Mompesson is more aware of where he has to live and what kind of people he will be working with, and seeing the bad side of things. Catherine comes across as a positive person, which is why it is good for Mompesson to be married to her as she can bring out something good in him.
From the start you can see that Catherine loves the villagers right at the beginning, no matter how they treat her. Mompesson is weary of loving the people, and doesn’t love them right until the end of the play, but he still thinks he doesn’t. Mompesson loves Catherine dearly, but they are s different at the beginning. Catherine shows love towards everybody she meets, and even takes pity on Bedlam, but Mompesson just won’t open up and love them straightaway.
The villagers will expect the priest to be a doctor as well, this is why it was hard for Mompesson to help the people when the plague broke out. He had to win over the villagers, which was going to be hard as the previous priest, Stanley, was still living in Eyam and most of the town folk believed that Stanley was a better man and did not want Mompesson to become the new priest. It must have been hard for Mompesson to get along with the villagers as they still wanted Stanley to be their priest, but it didn’t help that he thought of them as lower beings to himself.
Stanley and Mompesson’s first meeting is very short, but also very cold. Mompesson asks Stanley to come for dinner at the rectory but Stanley doesn’t accept and walks away. “I left that house five years ago on the arms of the King’s soldiers. If I ever return to it, it won’t be as a guest.” This is what Stanley replied to Mompesson’s request for him to dine at the rectory, this shows me that Stanley is still bitter about not being the priest anymore. He mentioned he doesn’t have a home anymore, and all he has is the ‘oak tree at the end of the street’. “You build your palace, and I will build mine, and let God decide which of us has constructed a tomb.” Stanley is basically saying that he is going to fight for his right to become the priest again, and the judge will be God. I think he also meant that the villagers will decide who they like better, and who they want to be their priest. I noticed that Stanley has not got so much to lose when it comes to the plague, he hasn’t got a family or a home, whereas Mompesson has a family and his job which is also important to him.
When the plague arrives in the village, Mompesson’s first reaction is what to do with the bodies. He doesn’t seem bothered about the fact that the plague has arrived, only bothered about what to do with the dead people. He knows almost immediately that it is the plague after he has seen the marks on George Vicars face. He recognises them from when he had seen them before, but tries not to panic. Instead he is calm, and tells Catherine that he thinks the plague has come. “Marks on his skin. I think I’ve seen them before. I think I know what they are.” This is how he tells Catherine about his suspicions, and later he says “(unemotionally) I think it’s plague,” he doesn’t seem upset or worried about it. The fact that he said it ‘unemotionally’ makes me think he has dealt with it before maybe.
He later tries to get help from Stanley, he is growing in maturity, he has confronted the fact that there is a problem, and is swallowing his pride to ask for help from Stanley.
“I choose to ask your help…I’m a stranger here, a young man, and I find it hard – to make myself loved.” Here he opens up a bit to Stanley, he explains his insecurities. But yet Stanley still ignores Mompessons’ next request.
“You are older – perhaps wiser than I am…Don’t look at me like that, Stanley, people are dying who might have lived, and all I ask is your counsel…”
It must have hard for Mompesson to ask for Stanley to help him come up with a plan, but he overcomes his worries. Stanley still declines Mompessons’ plea for help, and leaves him with the knowledge that all he has is prayer, and that is all can save him now.
The decision to close the village which is made my Mompesson and Stanley together, was a tough one to make, but together they explained their plans to the villagers, and the people listened, and agreed to stay in the village. This shows Mompesson has found the strength somewhere inside him to make an important decision and stick to it. The village is in shock, and a few obviously are not keen on the idea of staying in the village to die, but they agree. Once Mompesson and Stanley have announced their plan, they are left alone. “God help us Mompesson. What have we done?” This is the last we hear about the announcement of the plan to close the village, and it is a very emotional moment for Mompesson and Stanley.
At the start of the play Mompesson had his own views, and he did not have any view of compromise either. He begins in the village very weak, although on the outside he is strong, inside he is weak. As the plague gets worse, and more people die, he becomes stronger, and learns to deal with pain. At the beginning Mompesson is very self righteous, but as the play goes along, he becomes more matured, and slowly changes into a better person.
One decision that was hard for Mompesson to make was when Catherine asked to send the children out the village. They discuss whether or not to send the two young children, and in the end come to the conclusion that they must smuggle them out when everybody is asleep, without either of them. The decide that the children must go on their own, but Mompesson will take them to Catherine’s brother in Yorkshire. This decision was hard for them, but it is definite, the children had to go.
His greatest pain is when Catherine dies. She tells him gently and calmly but he can’t understand why it has happened. He loses his trust in God, and turns away from his religion. He cries out to God, and asks him why it had to happen to him. “You can’t do that! God, Father, you can’t do that to me!” He expresses his anguish whilst Catherine tries to stay calm, she tells him that they should go to the rectory, and that she wants a comfortable death. He is stunned. Pain is hard for him, but he learns from his anguish, but it was to be hard. Catherine always gave him advice, and now he was going to have to survive without her.
After Catherine’s death, Mompesson had to go on without her and without the children. He tries to confess that he sent the children away but the villagers already know. “We knew all along about your children, Rector. Right from the first. Old Unwin saw you creep out of the door with them at midnight, looking so guilty.” Even though the villagers knew, they didn’t say anything until Mompesson did, as they didn’t mind. They know he did it for them, and forgive him for it.
The small crowd that surround Mompesson continue on to tell him they have faith in him, and their prayers are with him in his time of pain. “But you loved us with all your heart, too, in the hardest way. Not with words. With actions.” They explain to him they realise how much he has done for them. He has changed so much since the beginning when he arrived in Eyam. At first he didn’t care for them at all, but he had learnt to love and care for them. “I loved them? I felt nothing…And they forgave me, with what might be their last breath…I don’t understand.” Mompesson can’t see that he has loved them, he still believes that he is how he was at the beginning. But really he has got off his pedestal above them, and become more of a human being. As the play went on, Mompesson’s words and actions change, they go from bad to good. He learns to deal with suffering, and forgets that he didn't want to work there.
The plague arrived in Eyam in the Autumn of 1665, and it ended in the Autumn of 1666. This means that Mompesson has only ages one year, but mentally he has aged a great deal more. He has matured and learned to come to terms with pain and loss. He has grown in mind, in such a small amount of time. Mompesson’s actions throughout the play show and prove that in the end, he did care for the villagers, whether they cared for him or not. His relationship with Stanley also comes to a halt, and they part on good terms.
