Mary Seton
The narrator’s friend at Fernham, who teaches science and discusses the college’s finances.
The book
Who they are in the book
Spoiler-freeMary Seton is the invented friend who hosts the narrator at Fernham in Chapter One of A Room of One's Own. Their conversation connects the women’s college’s limited funds with earlier generations’ restricted opportunities to earn and keep money.
How the book draws them
- A science teacher and hostAfter the college dinner, Mary Seton receives the narrator in her sitting room. She teaches science and provides a place for private conversation.
- An effort to restore conversationMary Seton produces a bottle and small glasses from a cupboard. The friends sit by the fire, and their talk becomes easier after the plain college meal.
- Knowledge of the fundraising effortMary Seton describes the letters, meetings, and appeals needed to establish the college. Her account contrasts that difficult effort with the wealth behind older institutions.
- A family history behind the questionThe conversation turns to Mary Seton’s mother, her thirteen children, and family memories of Scotland. The friends examine why those mothers could leave little money to a college.
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