THE SILVER BOX – CHARACTERS
1. John Barthwick
He is the father of Jack, and a Member of Parliament. He is
between fifty and sixty, and professes Liberalism in politics. He
believes in social etiquettes and wants that young men should
tread on the path of morality and principled life. He is polite
and courteous to strangers. But at heart he is a selfish
hypocrite who cares for his own safety and security, and who is
ready to muffle the throat of justice for the defence of his fair
name. He employs the power of his wealth and saves his son
from punishment in the law court. He has been regarded as the
worst character in this play by R.H. Coats, who points out, “The
worst is by no means Jones himself, who is devoted to his
children and has many good points; nor is it Jack, for he is after
all only what Oxford and the parental upbringing have made
him. The worst character is John Barthwick, M. P. who loves fine
phrases and loudly professes liberal principles in the tone of a
man making speeches to his constituents, but who promptly
turns cad the moment his interests are threatened or his name
is likely to be associated with public scandal.”
2. Jack Barthwick
He is the son of John Barthwick. He is a young man of fashion,
spoilt by the over-indulgence of his mother. He is a fashionable
dandy given to excessive drinking and luxurious spending of his
father’s wealth. He moves in fashionable society and drinks
heavily in convivial parties. He is reckless and does not observe
any scruples in his dealing with other people. He can take away
with him a lady’s purse, and can issue cheques to his creditors
without the requisite bank balance at his credit. He is a man of
modern fashionable society, and is a “social nuisance” and a
‘”rotter”. He is an unamiable zero in the play. His conduct is
criminal, and we cannot excuse him though he gets no
punishment from the court of law.
3. Mrs. Barthwick
She is the mother of Jack. She is a strong woman with deep
settle convictions and a strong dislike for Socialists. She is a
practical-minded lady who believes that Liberals and
Conservatives should join hands to smother socialism. She is an
over indulgent and over-doting mother who spoils her son by
her excessive fondling of her child. For the lower classes in
society, she has nothing but sheer contempt. She does not
believe in equality of rights for the poor, nor is she ready to
concede concessions to the servants and downtrodden people
in society. She believes that the poor classes are inherently
corrupt or wicked. She has no sympathy with Jones’s family and
is self-centered and narrow in her views. She dominates Mr.
Barthwick and is on the whole, a narrow-minded, selfish, and
sentimental woman.
4. Jim Jones
Jones is the central figure in the play. He is a young man of
about thirty years. He is the victim of circumstances. He is poor
in his life. He is out of employment and has to suffer insults and
abuses of the rich men in society. He has his grievances
against the society which has condemned him to poverty and
destitution. In the state of his poverty he steals the ‘silver box’
of Jack. He is rather reckless in his manners and a drunkard. He
maltreats his wife in the state of intoxication. He is good at
heart and when he is not drunk he takes good care of his wife
and his three children. But when he is drunk, and mostly we
find him tipsy, he is violent and reckless. He is punished for
assaulting the police officer on duty. He is the object of ‘social
justice’ in the play. He is the man who exposes the weaknesses
of the system of justice by these remarks – “Call this justice?
What about him? (Jack Barthwick). He got drunk! He took the
purse – he took the purse but it is money got him off – Justice.”
5. Mrs. Jones
She is the wife of Jim Jones. She is a charwoman and is
employed in the family of John Barthwick. She is a weak,
obedient and submissive woman. Though she is ill-treated by
her husband and is often beaten by him, she cannot think of
divorcing him. She is devoted wife and suffers the pangs of
poverty because of the drunken and profligate life of her
husband. Our sympathy goes but for Mrs. Jones, particularly at
the conclusion of the play when she is sacked by John
Barthwick and has no means to support her three children. She
is a pathetic figure in the play and impresses us by her
meekness, docility, innocence, truthfulness and honesty of
character. Commenting on her character R.H. Coats writes:
“Had Mrs. Jones stood up to her husband, had she demanded
better treatment or left him altogether, she might have
prospered, because she is meek-eyed, constant, dutiful, self-
effacing, so she suffers.”
6. Roper
He is a clever solicitor who is well-versed in the legal
profession. He is employed by John Barthwick for the defence of
Son Jack. He intervenes at awkward moments in the Police
Court scene, and under his advice Jack resorts to convenient
forgetfulness and lying. Under his guidance, Jack acts in a
clever manner in the court and is ultimately saved. Roper is a
very adept and astute solicitor and is precise and exact in his
conversation.
7. Snow
He is a detective in the London Police Force. He is deputed to
search the house of Mrs. Jones for the silver box. He appears in
plain clothes and performs his duty tactfully. He is shrewd and
intelligent. He is assaulted by Jones for laying hands on his wife,
and he brings the charge of assault against Jones in the law
court and gets him punished for this violent act. He is curt and
precise, and is very keen in the matter of performing his duty.
8. Thomas Marlow
He-is a butler in Mr. Barthwick’s family, and is the chief
domestic servant. He is quiet and conscientious in the
performance of his duties. He is not given to brow-beating and
hides the weaknesses of his masters.
9. The Police Magistrate
He is a typical judge of the times. He is swayed by the power of
wealth and does not work in the interest of justice. We dislike
him most for vitiating the machinery of Law and allowing Jack
Barthwick to go scot-free.
10. Wheeler
She is a servant in the service of John Barthwick.
The other minor characters who do not play any significant part
are Livens, Magistrate’s clerk, Mr. Seedon, and an unknown
Lady.