Character guide

Theodore Gumbril

major

Also known as Mr. Gumbril, Gumbril, Mister Gumbril, Theodore, Poor Theodore, Theodore Gumbril, Mr. Theodore Gumbril

A restless young inventor of pneumatic trousers, Theodore Gumbril drifts through post-war London chasing love and meaning with self-mocking wit and a talent for grand, silly phrases.

Myra Viveash

major

Also known as Mrs. Viveash, Viveash, Myra

Beautiful, wealthy, and elegantly bored, Myra Viveash holds her admirers at arm's length while reclining on sofas like a professional invalid, dispensing charm and quiet devastation in equal measure.

Casimir Lypiatt

major

Also known as Lypiatt, Mr. Lypiatt, Poor Lypiatt, Poor old Lypiatt, Dear old Lypiatt, Old Lypiatt

A painter and poet of violent sincerity, Lypiatt turns every canvas and every emotion into a matter of life and death, especially where Myra Viveash is concerned.

Rosie Shearwater

supporting

Also known as Rosie, Rose

Rosie Shearwater arrives at a strange man's door rehearsing a speech about civilization, only to find herself bandaging a bleeding poet and discovering she rather enjoys it.

Coleman

supporting

Also known as Mr. Coleman

A bearded, Bible-quoting Cossack of a man who bleeds freely and philosophizes about love, Coleman lives on Christian principles and other people's discomfort.

Gumbril Senior

supporting

Also known as II Gumbril Senior, the cabman Gumbril Senior

Theodore's father, a retired schoolmaster with a taste for invention and a cabman's ear for history, delivers bleak wisdom about liberty with the cheerfulness of a man who has made peace with disappointment.

Mercaptan

supporting

Also known as Mr. Mercaptan, precious Mr. Mercaptan, fluted Mr. Mercaptan

Mercaptan moves through Mrs. Viveash's exhibition as a one-man tribunal, ridiculing Lypiatt's catalogue mottoes and reducing a nude to 'Carracis with cubical muscles' before the paint is dry. His wit is genuine but parasitic: he needs other people's art, and other people's laughter, to feel himself exist. As the novel's sharpest satirical instrument, he sets the tone for its running quarrel between aesthetic pretension and actual feeling.

Emily

supporting

Also known as Mrs. Emily X.

Emily is the elder, graver half of a giggling pair, first encountered when Molly whispers 'Beaver' behind Gumbril's back and she blushes to the eyes. Her marriage is real but kept deliberately vague, wrapped in silences and Molly's indiscreet laughter, and she follows where the bolder girl leads. Her slow, half-reluctant yielding to the Complete Man tests whether Gumbril's swaggering vitality can survive contact with someone sincere.

Boldero

supporting

Also known as Mr. Boldero, X Mr. Boldero, Dear Mr. Boldero

Boldero lunches, devours, and annexes: within one meal he has absorbed a lecture on modern painting and begun pronouncing on 'Bacosso' as an old master. Unpunctual, untidy, perpetually busy, he gets away with it because cash delivers itself to him almost miraculously. As the commercial engine behind the Patent Small-Clothes, he embodies the novel's comedy of ideas converted instantly into merchandise.

Shearwater

supporting

Also known as Mr. Shearwater, Physiological Shearwater

Shearwater believes passion is nonsense that half an hour of willpower can shut out, and he has ordered his marriage and his research accordingly. But a violent bubbling from below has shattered his calm, and he finds himself sighing like a whale in the night over a woman who only thanked him for the compliment. His struggle to render unto Caesar, to God, to sex, and to work makes him the novel's most sympathetic case of a system failing.

Bojanus

minor

Also known as Mr. Bojanus, Enigmatically Mr. Bojanus

A mysterious and wealthy foreigner who hosts a memorable party.

James Shearwater

minor

Also known as Mrs. James Shearwater, Mrs. James, Jim, James, Poor old Shearwater

The brother of the physiologist Shearwater, a practical and blunt man.

Porteous

minor

Also known as Mr. Porteous, poor Porteous

An elderly classical scholar and friend of Gumbril Senior.

Albemarle

minor

Also known as Mr. Albemarle

A friend of Gumbril's from Oxford, encountered in London.

Toto

minor

Also known as Poor Toto, Mr. Toto

A flamboyant young man who attends parties.

Lancing

minor

A young man who appears at social gatherings and parties.

Clew

minor

Also known as Mr. Clew, Little Mr. Clew

A small, nervous man who works with Boldero on the trousers venture.

Zoe

minor

Also known as Zoe mou

A young woman at Bojanus's party who briefly interacts with Gumbril.

Bruin Opps

minor

Also known as Opps, Bruin

A large, jovial man who appears at social gatherings.

Jim Baum

minor

Also known as James

An American acquaintance of the group, known for his wealth.

Mallard

minor

Also known as Mr. Mallard

A friend of Gumbril Senior, encountered at a restaurant.

Reverend Pelvey

minor

Also known as The Reverend Pelvey

A clergyman who appears at a social function.

Molly

minor

Also known as giggling Molly, the Marie Laurencin

A young woman at a party, known for her laughter.

Aunt Aggie

minor

Also known as Poor Aunt Aggie

Theodore Gumbril's elderly aunt, living in the country.

Great Sclopis

minor

A historical figure referenced in conversation about art.

Pelvey

minor

Also known as Mr. Pelvey, oboe Pelvey

A musician who plays the oboe at a gathering.

Margaret

minor

Also known as The Husband Margaret

A woman mentioned in passing at a social event.

Roger

minor

A young man briefly mentioned in conversation.

Mrs. Speegle

minor

A woman who hosts a social gathering.

Tony Lamb

minor

Also known as Tony, the Lamb

A young man known for his gentle nature.

Nil Viveash

minor

Also known as Nil

Myra Viveash's deceased husband, mentioned in passing.

Mrs. Goldie

minor

A woman briefly mentioned in a letter or conversation.