So, Iâve just finished House of Guinness and Iâm OBSESSED. Mostly it is because of Arthurâs character which I found to be very interesting and well-written. I might actually have spent some time trying to understand why I liked him so much and this is the result of this âcharacter studyâ. Enjoy!
First and foremost Arthur feels alone. Not just oppression of queer people, but queer loneliness is a major theme that his character explores. Of course, this loneliness is caused not only by his homosexuality, but also by his heritage. His whole identity is an obstacle to finding happiness.
The interactions between him and Michael and between him and Patrick make clear that hadnât him been a Guinness, his life would have been freer and easier, at least from the point of view of his love life. He wouldnât have to carry the weight of being, him, the firstborn, a reason of shame and possibly of ruin for his family.
But as it is, his life is chained to his name. The parenthesis of freedom he lived in London can be just this, a parenthesis. He will never escape the dark and cold empty halls of his legacy. But behind this statement lies the contrast between bravery and fear. Arthur lives his inability to be himself like a personal failure. He isnât a brave man. Had he been brave he would have meant it when he told Edward to let the Fenians see what he could be. Had he been brave, he would have left all his riches behind to live with Michael. Or at least he thinks so.
These aspects lead Arthur to despise himself. His self-loathing is well masked, as he appears to be very prideful and a bit superficial to those who know him. But in reality he just knows he doesnât deserve tenderness or kindness, not even from himself. And he has learned not to expect it. In his mind, he is the imperfect first attempt. Being such, he is, by nature, unlovable. Despite this, Arthur hasnât grown bitter. Instead he reveals himself to be very kind towards those he cares about (as testified by the job he found for Patrick, the concession to see Rafferty to Olivia, his kind words of appreciation to his siblings, and particularly to Edward, both in public and in private).
However, his loneliness doesnât come exclusively from his impossibility to have a real, stable, lover. It comes from the impossibility to open himself, to speak openly with someone about his feelings without being judged, despised or pitied. To speak up, to show himself proudly, to be recognised, is something he rejects and desires at the same time. Itâs not a coincidence that the moment in which he looks happier in the whole serie is when makes his brother meet Arty. A spark of normality. A situation so normal and natural that it was funny to even think about it.
From this incapacity of expressing himself derive both his anger issues and his attachment to Olivia. She is the first person who accepts him for who he is rather than who he appears to be. She sees through his need for affection better than anyone else. She makes up for the motherly love he was neglected as a kid. Thatâs why, in his own way, he loves her and feels betrayed by her preference for Rafferty.
In conclusion, another why Arthur is a well-written character is that we donât know everything about him. We donât know much about his life in London or how his childhood has been. We ignore how much his siblings knew or understood at the time. For example Edward seems to have ignored, unconsciously or not it is not made clear, Arthurâs homosexuality, while Anne and Benjamin are well aware of it. In the same way, we have been given only hints about Arthurâs relationship with his father. Without doubt , giving the fact that he had left for London, it mustnât have been particularly good. Still, in some ways and in some moments, he seems to respect his father, or at least take into consideration what might have been his opinion on his actions. These ambiguities leave space to imagination, allowing the spectator to make his own headcanons about the matter.
(There are many other things that could be said about him, for example we could spend some time discussing the evolution of his relationship with his siblings, but given how much Iâve written, Iâll probably make another post later on.)
