Protagonist

Character Role Analysis

Strether

From start to finish, The Ambassadors is a story about Lewis Lambert Strether's quest for independence. It's also about his efforts to relive some of the experiences he wasn't able to appreciate in his youth because he always played things safe. That's why life has led him to settle down with a rich old widow in Woollett, Massachusetts.

But as we find out, Strether's not ready to settle just yet. Going to Paris totally rejuvenates him and has the opposite effect of what Mrs. Newsome intended. She sent him there to be her ambassador and to persuade her son to return home. Instead, Strether decides that he wants to stay in Paris and even begs Chad to stay, too.

And to tell the truth, we couldn't be happier for his growth into an independent man, even though it's coming at fifty years old. Better late than never, we like to say.