Edward is Maria’s fiancé. He’s stationed in India (where in the late 18th century England had a colonial presence) on unspecified business. During set changes, Maria takes to the stage alone and reads aloud from her and Edward’s letters. His early letters are filled with passionate declarations of love for Maria and his homesickness for England, but they become more impersonal over time, and Edward gradually becomes more apprehensive about coming home, wondering if his memories of England are overly romanticized and not true to life. Another reason that Edward’s letters get more impersonal is that Edward is having an affair with Miss Cholmondeley, a woman he meets in India. Though he mentions her in passing in his letters to Maria, it’s not until Edward incorrectly calls Maria’s eyes blue—the color of Miss Cholmondeley’s eyes—in one of his letters that Maria (whose eyes aren’t blue) finds out about the romance and breaks of the engagement.
Edward Quotes in An Experiment with an Air Pump
The An Experiment with an Air Pump quotes below are all either spoken by Edward or refer to Edward. 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:
).
Act 2, Scene 1
Quotes
Maria: Papa, Edward thinks my eyes are blue, he said so in a letter, and Harriet says this is because he’s a complete fool and that she never liked him anyway, but I think, perhaps he has a tropical fever and his mind is wandering or perhaps he meant brown but wrote blue –
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Edward Quotes in An Experiment with an Air Pump
The An Experiment with an Air Pump quotes below are all either spoken by Edward or refer to Edward. 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:
).
Act 2, Scene 1
Quotes
Maria: Papa, Edward thinks my eyes are blue, he said so in a letter, and Harriet says this is because he’s a complete fool and that she never liked him anyway, but I think, perhaps he has a tropical fever and his mind is wandering or perhaps he meant brown but wrote blue –
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
