Protagonist

Character Role Analysis

Tristram Foxe

Although Beatrice-Joanna and Tristram are both protagonists, Tristram gets a lot more page time than his wife does, and his character gets a lot more room for growth and development too. Despite the fluctuations between state-sanctioned homosexuality and heterosexuality in The Wanting Seed, one thing remains constant throughout the novel: it's a man's world after all. 

As the novel's male protagonist, Tristram is the one who suffers the most trials and tribulations on his path to reunite with Beatrice-Joanna: he's the one who travels, voyages, and gets shipped off to war, all so that he can eventually make his heroic return.

Beatrice-Joanna Foxe

As the novel's female protagonist, it's Beatrice-Joanna's job to keep the home fires burning while her wayward husband runs around overcoming the trials and tribulations that are keeping them apart. She gets a short adventure of her own when she makes her daring escape to Shonny and Mavis's farm in Northern Province, but on the whole, Beatrice-Joanna's knowledge and experience are much more limited than Tristram's.

Ultimately, her actions in the novel are shaped by her symbolic role as the Ideal Woman/Mother. Like Penelope in the Odyssey, her job is to wait for her hubby to get home from war, and greet him joyfully when he returns.