Sir Claude

Character Analysis

A Family Man?

Sir Claude is a real winner, but he has one weakness: he just can't get over his mistress, Mrs. Beale. He tries hard to, but in the end, he's not up to the sacrifice. Even though it's sad to watch him say goodbye to Maisie, we sense that his willingness to let her go is a sign of his goodness. Too bad he couldn't be better, though.

When Sir Claude first appears, he calls himself "the most unappreciated of … family men" (VIII.35). And for much of James's novel, the reader is tasked with figuring out, together with Maisie, whether this description could ever be accurate.

Sir Claude wishes that he were a family man, and Maisie and Mrs. Wix wish this, too, even more so. But the handsome Sir Claude just can't seem to settle down, no matter what his conscience tells him or how many heart-to-heart talks he has with Mrs. Wix.

We see that his conscience is, in fact, working behind the scenes because he drops hints to Maisie about their future together, then whisks his stepdaughter off to France, where the two are joined by Mrs. Wix. But their hopes for a life lived happily ever after across the Channel are soon dashed when Sir Claude proves that he can't keep his mind off the super-hot Mrs. Beale.

A Disappointment

Again, James judges Mrs. Beale's carrying on with Sir Claude very harshly. The difference between the two stepparent adulterers is that Sir Claude tries, at Mrs. Wix's urging, to do the right thing, leave Mrs. Beale, and settle down with Maisie and the old widow.

This may seem like an unfair expectation to readers today. Why should two people who love each other, like Sir Claude and Mrs. Beale, be kept apart? The key thing to remember, though, is that when James wrote What Maisie Knew, divorces were rare, and marriages were supposed to be forever—more so than today. Adultery was a sin, not just an unfortunate little habit.

All of which means that readers are meant to feel for Sir Claude and admire his attempts to reform himself but not to side with him when it comes to custody. Sir Claude tries to be selfless but time and again puts himself first. He's not as selfish as Ida or Beale Farange or as sneaky as Mrs. Beale, but James clearly thinks that he can't quite be trusted with Maisie's future.