What is the theme of fifth business?
Guilt and Sacrifice The internal conflict driving the story is one based in guilt: Dunstan feels responsible for Mrs. Dempster’s premature labor (since the snowball that hit her was meant for him). This guilt compounds over the course of the story: subsequent misfortunes also seem linked to Dunstan’s behavior.
What is the meaning of fifth business?
Those roles which, being neither those of hero nor Heroine, Confidante nor Villain, but which were none the less essential to bring about the Recognition or the denouement were called the Fifth Business in drama and Opera companies organized according to the old style; the player who acted these parts was often …
What does the Victoria Cross symbolize in fifth business?
She tells him he has won the V.C. (the Victorian Cross, a medal for bravery) for his work on the battlefield, but since he was declared dead, it was given to him posthumously.
Who is Mary Dempster fifth business?
Robertson Davies combines elements of the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene in the character of Mary Dempster. As Mary is pregnant at the time Boyd hits her with the rock and soon goes into labor, the parallels with the Virgin Mary are clear; at that time, she is also the virtuous wife of a minister.
How does Paul Dempster become remarkable?
Paul eventually runs away from home after being lured into a circus by Le Solitaire, who is an implied pedophile. He becomes a famous magician and illusionist, going by the name of Magnus Eisengrim. He eventually reconnects with Dunstan, whom he hires to write his magic persona’s falsified autobiography.
Who is the antagonist in fifth business?
Rose and Albertine are among the antagonists of Tremblay’s novel and, like Boy Staunton, Mrs. Ramsay and Amasa Dempster in Fifth Business, they are the voices of disapproval, the representatives of narrow, repressive social and religious views.