Agnes

Agnes is described as a "middle-aged woman, very neat, very tense, very tired." According to the author, Agnes is someone who has "tried all her life to do the right thing, and the attempt has made her unsure of herself." She is Felicity's oldest daughter and her only surviving child. She shares with the interviewer that she suffers from psychosomatic headaches. They are so much a part of her that she has trouble recognizing them unless they have "gone away." Living in the shadow of her deceased sister, Claire, it appears that Agnes is consumed with pleasing her mother, with caring for her adequately during her illness, despite ongoing abuse from her mother, and the disruption Felicity's illness creates in her life. When asked about her sister or her mother, Agnes has little difficulty in relaying all of the details of their lives. But when asked what she...