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Agnes’s Mother/Alice Grey
A poor clergyman in northern England, Richard Grey marries Agnes’s mother Alice against the wishes of Alice’s rich family. He loves and respects Alice more than he wants financial support from a prospective wife’s family. Nevertheless, the melancholy and anxious Richard feels guilty that he cannot support Alice in the fine style in which she was raised. The pair have six children, but only two, Mary and Agnes, survive to adulthood. When Alice is about 18, Richard tries to improve the family’s fortunes by investing in a mercantile venture—but when the merchant’s ship sinks, the Greys are impoverished. The shock of this loss permanently damages Richard’s health. He dies a few years later after a lingering illness.
Agnes’s Father/Richard Grey Quotes in Agnes Grey
The Agnes Grey quotes below are all either spoken by Agnes’s Father/Richard Grey or refer to Agnes’s Father/Richard Grey. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 1: The Parsonage Quotes
An elegant house and spacious grounds were not to be despised; but she would rather live in a cottage with Richard Grey than in a palace with any other man in the world.
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Chapter 8: The ‘Coming Out’ Quotes
“You did not ask me if Mr Richardson were a good, wise, or amiable man.”
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Chapter 13: The Primroses Quotes
As for the primroses, I kept two of them in a glass in my room until they were completely withered, and the housemaid threw them out; and the petals of the other I pressed between the leaves of my Bible—I have them still, and mean to keep them always.
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Chapter 19: The Letter Quotes
“[I]f he married a richer wife, misfortunes and trials would no doubt have come upon him still; while I am egotist enough to imagine that no other woman could have cheered him through that so well: not that I am superior to the rest, but I was made for him, and he for me[.]”
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Chapter 20: The Farewell Quotes
We often pity the poor, because they have no leisure to mourn their departed relatives, and necessity obliges them to labour through their severest afflictions: but is not active employment the best remedy for overwhelming sorrow—the surest antidote for despair?
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Chapter 22: The Visit Quotes
“It’s the husband’s part to please the wife, not hers to please him; and if he isn’t satisfied with her as she is—and thankful to possess her too—he isn’t worthy of her, that’s all.”
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Agnes’s Father/Richard Grey Character Timeline in Agnes Grey
The timeline below shows where the character Agnes’s Father/Richard Grey appears in Agnes Grey. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1: The Parsonage
Agnes’s mother, a squire’s daughter, decided to marry Richard Grey, a clergyman with a small personal property and a modest income. She persisted even...
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Agnes’s mother and Richard have six children, of which two—Agnes and her older sister Mary—survive. Agnes and Mary are...
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A friend of Richard’s convinces him to invest in the friend’s merchant business, claiming that Richard will make double...
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...out that she’s older than 18. She can work—she just hasn’t had the chance. When Richard walks in and hears the discussion, he laughs at Agnes too, but then he tears...
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Chapter 6: The Parsonage Again
...for several months, happy to be among her loved ones. Yet as her sick father Richard Grey worries incessantly about what will happen to her, Mary, and their mother when he...
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Chapter 17: Confessions
...village rat-catcher, who treats his dogs badly; and she gets a letter from home that Richard Grey’s health is worsening.
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Chapter 18: Mirth and Mourning
...home happy and hopeful—but the next morning she receives a letter from her mother that Richard is very ill. Mrs. Murray—reluctantly, claiming there’s no need to rush, and praising her own...
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Chapter 19: The Letter
After Richard Grey’s funeral, Agnes, Mary, and their mother sit around the table and discuss their future....
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