Captain Mainwaring often a sympathetic subtext to his own personal neuroses; it is apparent several times that he devotes his energies to his Home Guard unit for a sense of comradeship and purpose lacking in other parts of his life, such as his career and marriage. On one occasion when his men spurned a parade to play darts against the ARP he expressed bewilderment, saying coming to the platoon is "the highlight of my day". It is frequently implied that he is trapped in a loveless and unhappy marriage to Elizabeth, his unseen wife, who is domineering, neurotic and withholding of affection.
Captain Mainwaring with a quip or a sly revelation that Mainwaring is benefiting from underhand deals. Mainwaring is particularly jealous of Wilson, who is more relaxed and charming and possesses combat experience that Mainwaring does not and takes every opportunity to remind his sergeant who is the senior. As a bank manager, he is efficient if ruthless and stingy; as a military commander he can at first glance be seen as barely competent, confused by the 24-hour clock, his plans often resulting in chaos. Mainwaring nonetheless managed to pull a group of local shopkeepers "up by their bootstraps" to become some kind