Vyvyan Ayrs | |
Novel | |
Appears | Letters from Zedelghem |
Relationships | Jocasta Ayrs, wife Eva Ayrs, daughter |
Film | |
Appears | Robert's Letters |
Actor | Jim Broadbent |
Relationships | Jocasta Ayrs, wife |
Character |
Vyvyan Ayrs is an aged and infirmed composer whose works have been played and praised throughout Europe. He is the master of Chateau Zedelghem, and is featured in Letters from Zedelghem - which consists of chapters 2 and 10.
Biography[]
Vyvyan Ayrs lives as the master of Chateau Zedelghem with his wife, Jocasta, and his daughter, Eva. Robert Frobisher, in "Letters from Zedelghem," arrives at his door one summer and is taken on as a musical assistant. He accepts Frobisher into his household and together they compose a critically acclaimed concerto. Ayrs is initially portrayed as a senile, old fool, but the reader realizes towards the end of the second portion of the story that Ayrs has been manipulating the situation with Frobisher from the very beginning. When Frobisher refuses to continue to play Ayrs' games, he is banished from the Chateau.
Ayrs is also mentioned as an example of a prominent composer in Mitchell's novels "Black Swan Green" and "Slade House".
Quotes[]
- "Any society's upper crust is riddled with immorality, how else d'you think they keep their power?"
- —Vyvyan Ayrs
Film portrayal[]
In the film adaptation, Vyvyan Ayrs is portrayed by actor Jim Broadbent.