Abstract
John Galsworthy is one of the most prominent English critical realistic writer and playwright in the 20th century. His The Apple Tree not only illustrates a love tragedy between Ashurst and Megan, but also presents unsolved social problems in the capitalism. The novel presents the inequality between Megan and Ashurst and reveals a fact that the gap between the lower-class and the upper-class can not be easily merged.
The paper aims to analyze Ashurst’s extreme complexity of personality and explore the formation of his unique character from the perspective of family and society in the hope of deepening the understanding of the novel.

Key words: The Apple Tree，personality, tragedy, capitalism

Contents
1. Introduction-1
2. Demonstration2   
2.1 A tragic love story-2
2.2 AshurstA man with complicated characters2
2.2.1 An arrogant and self-conceited man3
2.2.2 A self-contradicted man4
2.2.3 A selfish and irresponsible man-5
2.2.4 A compassionate man-6
2.3 Causes of his character7
2.3.1 Social factor8
2.3.2 Family factor-9
3. Conclusion-10
Notes-11
Works Cited-12
Bibliography 13