Guide Mentor

Character Role Analysis

Maria Gostrey

Our first clue that Maria Gostrey is going to be Strether's guide in this book is the fact that she explicitly calls herself a guide when she first meets him. Yep, that's a pretty solid clue. She says: "I'm a sort of superior 'courier-maid,'" (1.1.38). Seriously, there's not much interpretive work to be done here. Maria meets Strether and offers to show him around Chester England, then follows him to Paris to show him around some more. Guide definition, check.

But wait a second. We're not only talking about a physical tourist guide here, because Maria is also Strether's spiritual guide. She's the one whom he first tells about his feelings of being old, and she's the one who convinces him that it's never too late to start living life to its fullest. Throughout this book, Strether always turns to Maria in moments of conflict or panic. It's hard to say what he would do without her.

So yes, Maria is always around with a kind word or a good piece of advice. But that said, she doesn't want to be involved with Strether's mission to bring Chad back to America. It's very important for her that Strether learn how to be his own man, and in this sense, Maria helps Strether gain his independence in a way that no woman has ever done for him.

The bitter irony is that Strether eventually uses this newfound independence to leave Maria and go back to America. Who knew that guide and mentor and star-crossed lover could mix?