Susan

Character Analysis

Susan is kind of the "earth mother" figure in this crowd. To say that Susan is a nature-lover would be an understatement. Even compared to the other narrators, who are all pretty nature-oriented, Susan loves the outdoors. When she is off at college, she is disgusted by the artificial smells of school hallways, longing for the noises, smells, and landscapes of her family home back in England.

She initially can't even stand being in a restaurant when she meets up with her friends midway through the novel:

When I came into the room tonight… I stopped, I peered about like an animal with its eyes near to the ground. The smell of carpets and furniture and scent disgusts me. I like to walk through the wet fields alone, or to stop at a gate and watch my setter nose in a circle, and to ask: Where is the hare? (3b.46)

She also loathes anything urban, saying that she will never spend a single night of her life in London.

As you can tell, Susan has some seriously grumpy tendencies; she grumbles a lot about the things she hates, particularly early in the novel. However, she's also very family-oriented. She speaks frequently of her father, longing to see him when she is forced to be away, and she ultimately settles down to a life of having babies and devoting herself to ensuring their success: even if it means she's inside all day rocking her babies to sleep rather than wandering the field—she really must have mellowed with age.

It's Complicated

As far as Susan's relationships go, her primary love interest in the book is the father of her children—who totally goes unnamed and is never described. She had a childhood crush on Louis and has a temper tantrum when Jinny kisses him. Also, Percival apparently was in love with her, though it is not clear that she returned his feelings.