Eleanor Harding
The heroine of the novel is Eleanor Harding. The narrator writes that "She had not the majestic contour that rivets attention, demands instant wonder and then disappoints by the coldness of its charms." This is imagery that is used more for the purpose of saying what a character is not than what a character is. Eleanor is not presented as a physical bombshell capable of turning heads. Her attributes require much more attention and much closer scrutiny to fully appreciate.
The Age of Grievance
The narrator presents an image of his own era through comparison to the past. This may seem ironically familiar to readers of the modern age. "In former times...An age was occupied in proving a grievance...which it took a life to write, and an eternity to read...now...ridicule is found to be more convincing than argument, imaginary agonies touch more than true sorrows." One can almost see the divergence being suggested here. The reference to serious study of thick books is juxtaposed against the easier task of the privileged making absurd claims to victimhood.
Mr. Sentiment
Mr. Popular Sentiment is a minor character parodying Charles Dickens. He becomes a caricature of the narrator's public enemy number one: the ineffective reformer. "When he has made the working classes comfortable, and got bitter beer put into proper-sized pint bottles, there will be nothing further for him left to do." The imagery of the bitter beer works on both literal and metaphorical levels. The virtues of the multitudes are extolled. They are given ample enough issues to enjoy complaining about. It is their outrage that will keep them content enough to keep from demanding actual change.
Clerical Politics
The plot of the book is centrally concerned with the politics of the church. Representing the traditional side of the equation is Septimus Harding, whose "hands are delicately white...always wears a black frock coat, black knee-breeches, and black gaiters...scandalises some of his more hyperclerical brethren by a black neck-handkerchief." This imagery immediately cements expectations of personality. Harding is almost destined to come into conflict with a newly arrived representative of the reformist side of the conflict. The imagery suggested by his external appearance creates certain expectations about his inner psyche.
