Dorea Swivel Character Analysis in The Plague of Doves

Dorea Swivel is Joseph Coutts’s landlady and lover. Though Joseph Coutts and Dorea have passionate, deeply intimate sex, Joseph feels ambivalent about Dorea, insisting that she is “plain” and should therefore only be a short-term love interest. Unfortunately, after Joseph returns from his trip suddenly ready to marry Dorea, he learns that she has married someone else, mirroring the pain Judge Coutts will feel decades later when he falls in love with Cordelia Lochren.

Dorea Swivel Character Timeline in The Plague of Doves

The timeline below shows where the character Dorea Swivel appears in The Plague of Doves. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...the only consistently good thing in Joseph Coutts’s life is his relationship with his landlady, Dorea Swivel. But Joseph cannot see a future with the homely Dorea, so when he meets... (full context)

A few nights before he is bound to leave, Joseph Coutts tells Dorea his plans. That night, for the first time in a while, she does not come... (full context)

...terrier. For his part, Joseph Coutts only brings along The Meditations and a picture of Dorea in a locket, as if he knows he will need her stern, plain features to... (full context)

...the men kill it for food. Tired and hungry, Joseph Coutts starts to dream of Dorea. The other men, too, begin to fantasize about the women they have left behind, particularly... (full context)

...will have meat tomorrow,” Henri promises. While they wait, Joseph shows Henri the picture of Dorea in his locket. Henri says Dorea is beautiful, which Joseph thinks is the only lie... (full context)

...of deeds for the seemingly worthless land). When Joseph Coutts returns home, he knocks on Dorea’s door, only to find she has married another man. (full context)