The Golden Age Characters Flashcards
1
Q
Frank Gold
A
- determined individual who is comfortable with independence
- tragedy of his early life has distanced him from normality
- after an hour spent in the attic, Frank discovers that an element of himself craves solitude and he had adopted the “ability to speak his thoughts” with poetry
- Frank and Sullivan bong by sharing their faith in poetry’s ability to heal
- Frank and Elsa’s relationship is forbidden and passionate, but becomes the cornerstone of their strength, both together and individually
2
Q
Elsa Briggs
A
- Resilient individual with an air of grace that likens her to an angel
- Polio awakens a need for independence and marks her with self-sufficiency for the rest of her life
- Elsa is close with both her parents (son Jack never had and is Margaret’s blessing)
- She carries the heavy burden of fulfilling her parents expectations and “comes back distant from everyone”
- Finds a new place of belonging with the children at the hospital
- Elsa and Frank bloom into passionate, forbidden lovers who turn to one another for comfort and reassurance
- Frank is a welcome disruption to the tragedy of her condition
- She learns many values and truths about herself which will follow her for the rest of her life from Frank
3
Q
Ida Gold
A
- She is the haughty, proud and persistent mother of Frank
- Her fractured identity is the consequence of trauma and imprints upon her character
- By the time she has arrived in Australia, she has developed a bitter and hostile view of the world
- She responds to Frank’s diagnosis with desperation and begs him to push himself to recover
- She is heavy with grief and has distanced herself from Meyer
- Her hostility is an effort to protect herself from the trauma and gross injustices which she has been cruelly confronted with
- Her reconciliation with the piano is the key to her acceptance of Australia
- While returning to the piano is the source of great pain for Ida, she must forgive the past and bridge her dual realities
4
Q
Meyer Gold
A
- Meyer is a reasonable, non-nonsense man with attuned observation skills and an avid love for the outdoors
- He is uncomfortable with recognising his own shortcomings and struggles with a reserved grief for the myriad of losses throughout his life
- His division from his family when he was sent to a labour camp in Ukraine marks the birth of Meyer’s ingrained self-sufficiency and his appreciation of privacy
- The traumatic deaths of his close family become an elemental part of Meyer
- Meyer and Frank are strangers and his marriage to Ida has disintegrated into a fruitless commitment by the end of the war
- Meyer is the most accommodating of their new reality
- He finds consolation in his job as a driver for Brickford’s which offers generous freedom and connects him to the land
- The natural world is a source of Meyer’s fundamental joy and, as he later discovers, his vocation in life involves tending to its prosperous soil
- During Frank’s time as a patient, Meyer nurtures the bond he shares with his son and protects them from Ida’s overwhelming nature
- He is the cornerstone of the Gold’s family dynamic and on numerous occasions, Meyer sacrifices his own desires for the benefit of his family (e.g. pursuing Olive Penny)
5
Q
Margaret Briggs
A
- A devoted parents focuses her energy on fulfilling the needs of the Briggs’ household
- Elsa’s condition anchors Margaret to a profound grief
- She is a shy introverted individual who is naturally fearful of restrictions and speaking up for herself
- She is tormented by the family’s ostracism from society
- Her daily life is plagued by hurtful actions and comments which leave Margaret bitterly disappointed on behalf of her daughter
- Margaret learns that the only way out is to fight for her desires (visiting Elsa, daily errands, stands up to Nance)
- Margaret’s true love is her family and her vocation is mothering
- All her daughters are dear but Elsa is special
