Beyond the Horizon

Andrew Mayo (Andy) is Rob’s older brother and a stark contrast to his character. At the start of the play, Andy is described as “twenty-seven years old, an opposite type to Robert—husky, sun-bronzed, handsome in a large-featured, manly fashion” (126). Andy loves the family farm and working on the land. Unlike Rob, Andy has enjoyed good health throughout his life and has spent a lot of time outdoors learning about the workings of the farm.

Throughout the play, Andy is repeatedly aligned with the earth, almost as an extension of it. When he is away from the farm, both he and the land suffer. When Andy is due home for his first visit in three years, Ruth remarks it will “look natural to see him around the farm again,” and Mrs. Atkins agrees, “Let’s hope the farm’ll look more natural, too, when he’s had a hand at it” (155). However, Andy has been corrupted by the greed and influence of the outside world, leading him to reject his responsibility to the farm, which in turn falls into further disrepair. During his visit, Andy attempts to clarify that he no longer harbors any romantic feelings toward Ruth, which devastates her as she was planning to declare her love for him. The other characters repeatedly pin their hopes on Andy and believe his return will fix everything, but Andy disappoints them all by choosing to ship out to Buenos Aires.

In the interceding five years between Act II and Act III, Andy makes a massive amount of wealth that he subsequently loses though dubious speculation investments. Andy realizes too late that he should have come home earlier and is devastated by his inability to prevent Rob’s death. Unable to cope with his guilt or accept responsibility for the fact his own actions have contributed to the tragic situation, Andy takes his frustration out on Ruth. Ultimately, the play concludes with Andy suggesting to Ruth that they should honor Rob’s wishes and marry, as he attempts fulfil his duty to his brother and the failing farm he left behind.

Ruth Atkins is the Mayos’ neighbor and the daughter of Mrs. Atkins. At the beginning of the play, Ruth is Andy’s love interest. The description of Ruth in the opening scene as a “healthy, blonde, out-of-door girl of twenty” (130) physically aligns her with Andy’s strong, athletic physique as opposed to Rob’s slender, pale appearance. However, Ruth develops feelings for Rob because of how passionately he describes his dreams of adventure, and she is enraptured by the beauty of his storytelling. There are repeated references to Rob putting Ruth under some sort of spell with his poetry, causing her to make the wrong decision and choose him over Andy. Ruth’s declaration of love for Rob is a decisive turning point in the play—it interrupts the planned path of both Mayo brothers and leads them to make choices that they will come to regret.

Ruth is fickle—she appears to be interested in Andy but declares her love for Rob, before quickly changing her mind again. Ruth is also unreliable as a mother, and at times, her daughter, Mary, aggravates her and is threatened with corporal punishment or sent off with her father. Ruth’s true feelings remain ambiguous throughout the play, and it is unclear whether she ever really loved either Andy or Rob, or whether she was more in love with the idea of what each relationship would look like. Although Ruth tries to rekindle her relationship with Andy when he returns for a visit in Act II, he clarifies he doesn’t have feelings for her anymore before she can say anything. Hurt and rejected, Ruth is rude to Andy, who is confused by her behavior.

By the time Andy returns home five years later, Ruth has “aged horribly” (175). Ruth’s grief over the death of Mary, as well as Rob’s ill health, cause her to fall into a state of hopelessness and decay—much like the state of the Mayo’s farmhouse. Ruth is frightened by Rob’s feverish ramblings about new dreams and a new life in the city because she can see how desperate their situation is. Ruth feels empty of all hope—she even suggests Mary is better off dead rather than having to face the ruin she and Rob find themselves in. Even at the end of the play, when Ruth has the opportunity to seize what she has wanted for years—a future with Andy—she is too exhausted to do so.

Mary Mayo is Ruth and Rob’s young daughter. Mary is visibly closer to her father, who comforts her and protects her from Ruth’s spankings. Mary seems to irritate Ruth, who at times seems jealous of the father-daughter bond Mary shares with Rob. In Act II, thrown by Ruth’s confession that she is in love with Andy, Rob wonders if it would be better for everyone if he left. In a moment alone with Mary, Rob asks his daughter if he should leave and questions whether she too would prefer Andy. Mary is horrified and tearfully exclaims that he mustn’t leave, telling him “Mary loves Dada” (164). Although Mary is only young, she can detect her parents’ misery and spots that Ruth is crying following Andy’s revelation that he no longer loves her. Mary is the main reason that Ruth and Rob remain together and her death, eight months before Andy’s second visit home, is one of the factors that contributes to Rob’s declining health.

Kate Mayo is Andy and Rob’s mother. Kate realizes before the rest of the family that Ruth doesn’t love Andy. Despite initially being delighted that Rob decides to stay on the farm, in later years she also questions whether Ruth made the right decision in choosing Rob. Kate is a caring, maternal figure who tries to heal the rift between her husband and Andy. However, Kate’s love for her sons blinds her to the seriousness of their poor decisions. This is especially true for Rob, who Kate defends from Mrs. Atkins’s accusations of incompetence despite, it being clear that he is not coping with running the farm. Kate’s instinct to try and smooth over difficult situations rather than engage in confrontation ultimately allows things to get much worse than if an intervention had been made earlier. Kate also passes away whilst Andy is at sea, and her death is a further blow to Rob.

James Mayo is Andy and Rob’s father. James physically resembles an older version of Andy, and he sees himself in his son, telling him “I know your ways, and they’re my ways” (146). Andy learned about farming from James, and at the beginning of the play, the two share a close bond. James dreams that one day Andy will inherit the farm and make improvements to it, telling him “The farm is your’n as well as mine. You’ve always worked on it with that understanding” (145). James respects his son and is proud of his ability as a farmer.

When Andy tells his family he is leaving to take Rob’s place onboard his uncle’s boat, James is furious at his decision. James knows his son well and can see through Andy’s lies about secret dreams of seeing the world, to the truth of his heartbreak over Ruth. James tries to help his son understand that he is making a mistake and that abandoning the farm will mean running away from his life’s calling. Hurt, and unable to change Andy’s mind, James disowns his eldest son. Andy is profoundly troubled by his father’s death, which occurs whilst he’s at sea. Kate blames her husband’s untimely demise on his stubbornness and refusal to admit he forgave Andy. James foreshadows the tragic ending of the play and is a representation of Andy’s departure from his true self. Since the two characters are so similar, James’s fight with Andy and his eventual death while Andy is away coincides with Andy relinquishing his true self—something that Rob confirms during his death scene: “You’ve spent 8 years running away from yourself” (188).

Mrs. Atkins is Ruth’s mother and a widowed invalid whose disability has made her bitter. Mrs. Atkins regularly reminds her daughter that she made a mistake marrying Rob and constantly criticizes his incompetency as both a farmer and husband. Mrs. Atkins also complains about her own granddaughter, Mary, who is sickly and often cries. A zealous Christian, Mrs. Atkins’ strict beliefs often make her appear cruel—such as when she tells Kate that James died because he was a sinner. Ruth’s mother is also a staunch believer in free will and refutes any references to bad luck that the other characters blame for their unhappy situations. Despite this, Mrs. Atkins secretly supports her daughter financially when the farm is on the verge of ruin by sneaking her money. Although she asserts in Act II that she is ill and doesn’t have much time left, Mrs. Atkins goes on to outlive several characters.

Captain Dick Scott is the maternal uncle of Rob and Andy Mayo. In the opening act, Captain Scott has arranged for Rob to join his ship in order to train him as a sailor. Scott can see that Andy’s physical athleticism would likely make him more suited to sailing than Rob, so although he is initially annoyed when Rob decides to stay on the farm, he is delighted when Andy offers to take his place. Scott is an archetypal sailor—a perpetual bachelor, he has never settled down and has a hoard of entertaining, bawdy stories.

Andy brings Doctor Fawcett, a specialist from the city, to examine Rob. Doctor Fawcett informs Ruth and Andy that Rob is dying of tuberculosis, although he unsuccessfully attempts to conceal the terminal prognosis from his patient. Andy is especially pained by the doctor’s remark that if Rob had received treatment six months earlier then he might have lived longer, as he feels like he could have saved his brother if only he had known about his condition sooner.