# Arthur de Rochefide — Béatrix character guide

> Arthur de Rochefide in Béatrix by Honoré de Balzac.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Arthur, poor Arthur

**First appearance:** 0003-part-ii-the-drama

## Snapshot

Béatrix's hapless husband, a well-meaning nobleman of modest abilities whose weakness makes him the perfect victim of his wife's ambitions and infidelities.

## Who they are

Arthur de Rochefide is the decent but ineffectual aristocrat whose marriage to the beautiful, restless Béatrix becomes a slow humiliation. Lacking the force of character to command his wife's respect or restrain her passions, he drifts toward the role of complaisant husband that Parisian society expects. His pathos sharpens the novel's critique of a marriage market that pairs spirited women with mediocre men, and his fate measures the real cost of Béatrix's romantic self-indulgence.

## Relationships

### [Madame Schontz](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/b_atrix_se/characters/madame_schontz)

_romantic_

Arthur de Rochefide, Béatrix's estranged husband, becomes involved with Madame Schontz as a lover.

### [Maxime de Trailles](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/b_atrix_se/characters/maxime_de_trailles)

_social_

Arthur de Rochefide and Maxime de Trailles are fellow members of the Parisian high society and gambling circles.

### [Maxime de Trailles](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/b_atrix_se/characters/maxime_de_trailles)

_social_

Arthur de Rochefide and Maxime de Trailles are fellow members of the Parisian high society and gambling circles.

### [Madame Schontz](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/b_atrix_se/characters/madame_schontz)

_romantic_

Arthur de Rochefide, Béatrix's estranged husband, becomes involved with Madame Schontz as a lover.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/b_atrix_se/characters/arthur_de_rochefide
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/b_atrix_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/b_atrix_se/characters