The Essex Serpent

Cora is the main character in the novel. As the protagonist, the events that take place in the text revolve around her: It is her presence in Aldwinter that disrupts Will’s marriage; her move away from London that prompts Garrett to self-reflect; and her interest in the natural sciences that focuses the novel’s plot on the potential existence of the Essex Serpent. Cora is a complicated character. She is a recent widow, for instance, but she feels little grief at the loss of her husband. She believes that Michael was not a good man, and his death means that she is now free of him, free to pursue her own interests for the very first time. While she had been locked into her marriage before, she can now indulge her fascination with the natural sciences and form the kind of relationships of which her dead husband might not have approved. Partly, this is because Cora married young and was never truly allowed to enjoy her youth. She moved from her father’s home into the home of her husband; as an upstanding member of Victorian society, this was to be expected of her and would be considered the respectable option.