My Oxford Year: A Novel

Jamie is a complex character and the love interest of the novel. Prior to the events of the novel, Jamie studied at Oxford and cared for his brother, Oliver, when Oliver was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. Shortly after Oliver’s death, Jamie was diagnosed with the same illness, though it went into remission after stem-cell replacement. Though Jamie’s first appearance in the novel makes him seem arrogant and mean, he later explains that Ella met him on the same day Jamie received word that his own cancer had returned. As Ella and Jamie’s romance progresses, Jamie is inconsistent in his availability and requests a month-long break from the relationship, all of which Ella sees as attempts to avoid a real relationship. However, Jamie later explains that he wanted to avoid seeing Ella on days that his illness was more pronounced, and the need for a month-long break was tied to a specific treatment plan. After revealing his illness to Ella, Jamie allows himself to get closer to Ella, but he still tries to push Ella to do things without him, predicting that he will die before or shortly after Ella leaves Europe.

Jamie’s role in the novel is to provide a contrasting perspective to Ella. Ella is afraid of losing someone because of the experience of losing her father, whereas Jamie is afraid of losing himself in the process of dying. When Oliver died, Jamie was less upset at the fact of his brother’s death than the conditions under which Oliver died. He notes how William took control of Oliver’s treatments, pushing him to keep fighting even when there was no hope of succeeding. As such, Oliver spent his last months in a hospital in pain, and Jamie wants to avoid that same fate. He tells Ella that he wants to die at Oxford on his own terms, which highlights how Jamie views mortality. Instead of focusing on death, as Ella does, Jamie focuses on life, thinking about how he can best enjoy his final months. As in many works of sick lit, Jamie’s illness serves as a means by which he can teach Ella this lesson, and the Epilogue shows Ella embracing life and relinquishing control over her love for Jamie.

Maggie, Charlie, and Tom are secondary characters in the text that add details and support to Ella’s story. Maggie and Tom have their own side-plot romance, in which Maggie loves Tom, who does not seem to notice Maggie. As their tension comes to a peak, Tom admits that he has always loved Maggie but feared rejection. This romance is not fully developed, mostly because Tom and Maggie are not primary characters in need of a complete narrative. Instead, they serve as a support for Ella’s journey, with Maggie offering advice and comfort to Ella, who, in turn, offers advice to Maggie. In a sense, Maggie and Tom offer an alternative to the conditions of Ella and Jamie’s romance, with Tom being poor in contrast to Jamie’s wealth, but both Tom and Maggie are healthy, removing the concern of imminent death.

Charlie, on the other hand, struggles with unrequited love, as he tries to convince a rower, Ridley, to accept his sexuality. This side-plot is problematic, as it relies on tropes of gay men trying to “convert” straight men, since Charlie openly admits that Ridley is not explicitly gay. Readers note that Charlie, who uses Oscar Wilde’s pseudonym “Sebastian Melmoth,” is a trope of the Oscar Wilde-esque gay man at Oxford, a figure marked by flamboyance, wit, and performative eccentricity that gestures toward Wilde’s own history as both an Oxford student and a cultural icon of queerness. Others appreciate his wit and realism. Charlie, unlike Tom and Maggie, primarily serves as a critic to Ella, noting how she contradicts herself or makes choices that do not serve her interests. For example, at dinner at Jamie’s family home, Charlie emphasizes how Ella clearly wants to stay with Jamie instead of going back to the US. Though Ella fights Charlie on this point, she ultimately makes the choice Charlie expected. Ultimately, all three characters serve as supporting members of the novel’s cast, and their role is only to add details and opportunities for Ella to grow across the narrative.

Cecelia is another supporting character in the novel, but her role changes as the novel progresses. Initially, Cecelia is a rival to Ella, since Ella thinks Jamie and Cecelia either are or were dating. Cecelia is cold and distant, and Ella sees her as arrogant. As Ella grows closer to Jamie, she remains wary of Cecelia’s involvement in Jamie’s life, fearing that Jamie might leave her for Cecelia. This perception shifts drastically when Ella learns that Cecelia was engaged to Oliver during his battle with cancer, which reframes Cecelia’s character and turns her into a parallel for Ella’s own life. Cecelia becomes a valuable member of Ella supporting cast, and she has some growth of her own. At the Blenheim Ball, for example, Cecelia connects with Ella, after which she enjoys the ball, laughing and dancing with Ella’s group of friends.

As a parallel to Ella, Cecelia has two primary roles in the text after she ceases to be a possible rival. First, Cecelia has experienced loss, with which Ella can sympathize. Ella and Cecelia’s initial connection is rooted in the fact that they have both lost someone close to them. However, Ella is preparing for another loss: Jamie’s death, of which Cecelia has specific knowledge. Cecelia already lived the life that Ella is entering, as she was with Oliver throughout his fight with cancer, and so she can provide specific support to Ella. A critical example of this support is the spa certificate Cecelia gives Ella for her birthday, which Ella says is exactly what she needs. Cecelia knows what Ella is going through, but she is also a vision of Ella’s future. Just as Cecelia recovers from loss and joins the group of friends, Ella knows that she, too, will recover after Jamie’s death.