Summary
Summary Character Analysis Our Country's Good
Character analysis for Ralph Clark, Arthur Phillips, Watkin Tench, Davis Collins, Harry Brewer
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CHARACTERSSecond Lieutenant Ralph Clark
Character objectives:
● Be promoted
● Put on the play
○ For the sake of himself; the convicts; proving Ross, Campbell, etc wrong; and
proving redemption and rehabilitation is better than punishment
Key quotes:
● “But how could a whore play Lady Jane?”
● “Harry, you won’t forget to talk to His Excellency about the play?”
● “But it could change the nature of our little society.”
● “And it seemed to me [...] one or two of them, saying those well-balanced lines of Mr
Farquar, they seemed to acquire a dignity, they seemed - they seemed to lose some of their
corruption.”
● “My darling tender wife” “Excellent, Brenham.” “Much better, Morden.”
● “Major Ross, Captain Campbell, I’m rehearsing.”
● “I do not wish to displease my superior officers.”
● “The Reverend says he’s given up on her, sir.”
● “I will lay down my life if I have to, sir.”
● “I can’t rehearse with one of my players in chains, Major.”
● “We must do the play, whatever happens.”
● “One has to transcend personal feelings in the theatre.”
● “Silvia. Mary.”
● “James Freeman” - progression from refusing to call him anything but Ketch in 1.9!
● “She won’t speak, Your Excellency, because of the convict code of honour. She doesn’t want to
beg for her life.”
● “We must get at the truth.” “Morden. No one will despise you for telling the truth.”
● “The theatre is like a small republic, it requires private sacrifices for the good of the whole.”
● “My actors”
Scenes in: 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.9, 1.11, 2.2, 2.5, 2.7, 2.9, 2.10, 2.11
Character summary/arc:
Begins a pious man, focused on remaining loyal to his wife Betsy Alicia and on being promoted up
from Second Lieutenant to First Lieutenant. Harry Brewer visits Ralph and tells him about how
Phillips is looking for someone to direct a play in the colony. Seeing it as an opportunity to be
promoted, Ralph asks Harry to tell Phillips he has some experience in theatre. He becomes the
director for ‘The Recruiting Officer’ by George Farquar and over the course of rehearsals, he becomes
fond of the convicts and, with Phillip’s encouragement, starts to fight for their right at redemption
through education and rehabilitation rather than punishment (e.g. convinces Liz to fight harder to
prove her innocence over death sentence for stealing). Falls in love with Mary. Puts on the play
successfully and he ends as a kinder man, more like Phillips, than the pious and career-focused man
who we knew at the beginning of the play.
, Governor Arthur Phillips
Character objectives:
● Provide the convicts rehabilitation as opposed to punishment
○ Put on the play with Ralph’s help
○ Defend his argument against opposing officers
○ Encourage Ralph and change his views (/boost his determination) too
Key quotes:
● “Was it necessary to cross fifteen thousand miles of ocean to erect another Tyburn?”
● “Could we not be more humane?”
● “Perhaps because they’ve never been offered anything else.”
● “They can be educated.”
● “The theatre is an expression of civilisation.”
● “The last word will be the play, gentlemen.”
● “In other words, he shows that human beings have an intelligence which has nothing to do
with the circumstances into which they are born.”
● “The Reverend’s an ass, Lieutenant. I am speaking of redeeming her humanity.”
● “I want to rule over responsible human beings, not tyrannise over a group of animals. I want
there to be a contract between us, not a whip on my side, terror and hatred on theirs.”
● “But we have embarked, Ralph, we must stay afloat.”
● “Silence has many causes, Robbie.”
● “Robbie, we may be about to hang the first woman in this colony. I do not want to hang the
first innocent woman.”
● “Truth is indeed a luxury, but its absence brings about the most abject poverty in a
civilisation. That is the paradox.”
● “Liz Morden. You must speak the truth.”
● “Tell the truth and accept the contempt [...] Liz, you may be despised, but you will have
shown courage.”
● “Why, Liz?”
● “I’m sure I will, but let us see the play first. Liz, I hope you are good in your part.”
Scenes in: 1.3, 1.6, 2.2, 2.10
Character summary/arc:
He’s a captain of the royal navy, brought out of retirement to serve as governor of the penal colony in
Australia. As a strong believer that anyone can change for the better, he spends the play at odds with
Tench, Ross and Campbell. He is against overt violent punishment and is kind, empathetic. Phillips
decides to put on a play, enlisting Ralph to be his director. His role in OCG is to depict a benevolent
style of leadership, seen in the way he inspires Ralph to persevere with the play, his assertion to his
colleagues the importance and value ‘The Recruitment Officer’ holds for the convicts’ betterment, and
in his encouragement of Liz to speak the truth. His stance: criminality is due to nurture, not nature.
Captain Watkin Tench
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