Character guide

Mr. Slope

major

Also known as Obadiah Slope, the Rev. Mr. Slope, Slope

Slope arrives at the palace as chaplain and immediately becomes the engine of the new regime, courting Eleanor Bold and scheming for the hospital and the deanery. He hates Dr. Grantly not out of passion but because he foresaw the necessity of fighting him, and he fights with cunning when courage will not serve. His ambition is the wedge that splits Barchester into warring camps, making him the novel's most watchable villain.

Eleanor Bold

major

Also known as Eleanor, Nelly, Mrs. Bold, the Widow Bold

Eleanor mourns John Bold with a devotion that clings even to his faults, and pours her remaining love into their infant son. Her fortune and her beauty make her a target for suitors — most alarmingly Mr. Slope — while her father and brother-in-law argue over her future as though she were a pawn. Her quiet refusal to be managed is the moral center around which the novel's courtships turn.

Mr. Arabin

major

Also known as Francis Arabin, the Rev. Francis Arabin, Lazarus

Arabin is the new vicar of St. Ewold's, a bookish man whom the archdeacon enlists in the fight against Slope. His apparent gaiety during Eleanor's troubles irritates her family, who suspect him of indifference or worse, while he quietly doubts that she cares for Slope at all. His clear-eyed counsel and his own unspoken feelings make him the hinge on which the novel's romantic and ecclesiastical plots both swing.

Mr. Harding

major

Also known as Harding, Mr. Precentor Harding, the Master of Lazarus

Harding has lost Hiram's Hospital and now finds himself proposed for the deanery by friends who plot his future without consulting him. He is shuffled between Plumstead and Barchester, his mild protests drowned out by the archdeacon's triumph and his daughter's urgency. His humility and his refusal to scheme make him the moral touchstone against which the ambitions of Slope and Mrs. Proudie are measured.

Dr. Proudie

major

Also known as Bishop Proudie, the Bishop of Barchester

Proudie is nominally the head of the diocese, but his wife manages his household and Slope manages his business, leaving him to murmur 'hum, ha' while others decide. He is not a bad man, only a weak one, and his weakness is the vacuum into which Mrs. Proudie and Slope both pour their ambitions. His passivity shapes the entire struggle, since whoever controls the bishop effectively controls Barchester.

Mrs. Proudie

major

Also known as Mrs. Proudie Victrix

Mrs. Proudie presides over the palace with the confidence of a woman who knows she is the real bishop, dispensing patronage and snubbing the Signora Neroni with equal relish. She and Slope begin as allies and end as rivals, and their contest over Hiram's Hospital becomes the test of who truly rules Barchester. Her triumph is complete and her methods are merciless, making her the most formidable force in the novel's social world.

Archdeacon Grantly

major

Also known as Dr. Grantly, Mr. Grantly, the Archdeacon

Dr. Grantly commands the clerical establishment of Barchester with the assurance of a man who has never imagined it otherwise, and the arrival of Bishop Proudie and his chaplain Slope threatens everything he holds dear. He is genuinely attached to his protégé Mr. Arabin, yet his anxiety over Arabin's rumored entanglement with the Signora Neroni torments him almost as much as Slope's ascent, and his wife's sharper eyes only deepen his misery. His schemes to protect the hospital and block his enemies drive much of the novel's early maneuvering.

Signora Neroni

supporting

Also known as Madeline Vesey Neroni, La Signora Neroni, Madeline

Carried into every drawing-room on a sofa she insists upon securing in advance, Madeline Neroni turns the bishop's reception and Miss Thorne's fête into theaters for her own amusement, targeting parsons old and young, sanctified and worldly. Her ambition is sensation—to have clergymen at her feet and every parson's wife sent home in a green fit of jealousy—and her physical helplessness only sharpens her power over those who pity and desire her. Her flirtation with Mr. Arabin becomes a scandal that threatens his reputation and the Archdeacon's plans.

Bertie Stanhope

supporting

Also known as Ethelbert Stanhope, young Stanhope

Ethelbert Stanhope, with his silken beard, light blue eyes, and strange dress, is unlike any man Eleanor Bold has known, and his easy familiarity draws her into a friendship she never suspects is dangerous. His sister Charlotte orchestrates every intimacy, hoping to entrap Eleanor's fortune for her brother, though Bertie himself is less schemer than amiable drifter. He matters because he embodies the Stanhope family's seductive impropriety—the charm that makes Eleanor's innocence precarious.

Charlotte Stanhope

supporting

Also known as Charlotte, Stanhope

Charlotte Stanhope is the practical intelligence behind the Stanhope household, encouraging her father's neglect of his livings, her mother's idleness, her sister's scandals, and her brother's uselessness, all so she may remain mistress and manager. She befriends Eleanor Bold with calculated warmth, engineering constant contact with Bertie and believing that familiarity will make retreat impossible. Her blindness to Eleanor's actual character—her assumption that no woman could be playful with Bertie and still be innocent—makes her a quietly dangerous force in the novel's middle.

Miss Thorne

supporting

Also known as Thorne

Miss Thorne invites all the country round to a breakfast on the lawn at Ullathorne—tents, archery, fiddlers, races, and every game she can trace to the good days of Queen Elizabeth—and the party becomes the novel's great social collision. She is mortified when the Signora Neroni demands to bring Mr. Slope, fearing Mr. Arabin will be offended, and apologizes almost in tears, only to be reassured that Arabin will meet his rival with pleasure. Her anxious hospitality gathers every faction of Barchester onto one lawn, where the plot's tensions flare into the open.

Mr. Thorne

supporting

Also known as Wilfred Thorne

Mr. Thorne shares Ullathorne with his sister and observes the ecclesiastical maneuvering around him with the detachment of a man whose estates are his own and whose comfort matters more than controversy. He declines to participate much in Miss Thorne's regret over the age's inferiority, feeling that a full suit of chain-armour would add little to his personal comfort. His quiet, ironic presence at the Ullathorne fête provides a counterpoint to the ambition and intrigue consuming the clergymen around him.

Mr. Quiverful

supporting

Also known as Quiverful, the Rev. Mr. Quiverful

Mr. Quiverful of Puddingdale is a poor clergyman whose overflowing household makes the wardenship of Hiram's Hospital look less like preferment than survival. He and his wife must trudge or beg rides into Barchester while the archdeacon's brougham sweeps past, and the contrast stings. His candid hunger for the post turns the novel's clerical politics into a question of bread, not merely doctrine.

Mrs. Quiverful

supporting

Also known as Mrs. Quiverful of Puddingdale

Mrs. Quiverful manages a vicarage bursting with children and a husband whose prospects rest on other men's whims. Too stout to walk to Barchester and too proud to explain herself to Farmer Subsoil, she arrives at the palace with an umbrella and a grievance. Her blunt, practical assault on the bishop's door exposes how much of the novel's ecclesiastical maneuvering is really about money and mouths to feed.

Dr. Stanhope

supporting

Also known as Dr. Vesey Stanhope, old Stanhope

Dr. Vesey Stanhope holds a comfortable stall in the cathedral but has long preferred Como to his duties, leaving his livings to run themselves. His clever daughter Charlotte has encouraged his indolence and quietly smothered his occasional wish to come home, since his church income is all he has. His return drags the beautiful, scandalous Madeline and the idle Bertie into Barchester society, unsettling the town's clerical equilibrium.

Mrs. Stanhope

minor

Also known as Stanhope

Dr. Stanhope's wife, an invalid living abroad.

Mary Bold

minor

Also known as Mary, Molly

John Bold's sister and Eleanor's close friend.

Johnny Bold

minor

Also known as Johnny, Little Johnny Bold

Eleanor and John Bold's infant son.

Dr. Gwynne

minor

Also known as the great Dr. Gwynne

The Master of Lazarus College, Oxford, a friend of Mr. Harding.

Mr. Plomacy

minor

Also known as old Plomacy, the great Mr. Plomacy

The steward at Ullathorne, managing the estate.

Mrs. Grantly

minor

Also known as Mrs. Grantly

The Archdeacon's wife, a sensible and kind woman.

Harry Greenacre

minor

Also known as young Greenacre

A young farmer who courts one of the Lookaloft girls.

Mrs. Greenacre

minor

Also known as good Mrs. Greenacre

Harry Greenacre's mother, a respectable farmer's wife.

Lady De Courcy

minor

Also known as the Countess de Courcy, the Lady Margaretta

An aristocratic woman who visits Ullathorne.

Dr. Trefoil

minor

Also known as poor Dr. Trefoil, the Dean

The elderly Dean of Barchester, whose death precipitates events.

Olivia Proudie

minor

Also known as Olivia

One of Dr. and Mrs. Proudie's daughters.

John Bold

minor

Also known as Mr. John Bold, John Bold the Younger, the late Mr. Bold

Eleanor's deceased husband, a reforming surgeon.

Mr. Towers

minor

Also known as Tom Towers, the indefatigable Mr. Towers

A powerful journalist for The Jupiter newspaper.

Mrs. Lookaloft

minor

Also known as Lookaloft

A pretentious farmer's wife who aspires to gentility.

Mr. Lookaloft

minor

Also known as Mr. Augustus Lookaloft, Gussy

Mrs. Lookaloft's husband, a farmer.

Sir Omicron Pie

minor

Also known as Sir Omicron

A celebrated London physician called to attend the dying dean.

Miss Trefoil

minor

Also known as the learned Miss Trefoil

The learned but eccentric sister of the late Dean.

Mr. Newman

minor

Also known as Newman

A London lawyer consulted by Mr. Harding.

Mr. Stiles

minor

A lawyer's clerk who assists Mr. Newman.

Mr. Rerechild

minor

A Barchester surgeon attending Mrs. Bold's confinement.

Mr. Foster

minor

Also known as Frank Foster

A friend of Bertie Stanhope in London.

Mrs. Phillips

minor

The wife of a lawyer, a friend of Mrs. Quiverful.

Mr. Staple

minor

Also known as Tom Staple, Staple

A lawyer in Barchester.

Sir Nicholas Fitzwhiggin

minor

Also known as Nicholas

A baronet and friend of the Thornes.

Mr. Q.

minor

Also known as Q.

One of Mr. Quiverful's many children.

Augusta Proudie

minor

Also known as Augusta

Another daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Proudie.

Netta Proudie

minor

Also known as Netta

A daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Proudie.

Griselda Grantly

minor

Also known as Griselda

The Archdeacon's beautiful and cold daughter.

Mrs. Clantantram

minor

Also known as old Mrs. Clantantram

An elderly lady of Barchester society.

Mrs. Guffern

minor

A friend of Mrs. Proudie.

Dr. Fillgrave

minor

A Barchester physician, rival to Dr. Proudie's medical choices.

Bob Stubbs

minor

Also known as Stubbs

A young man who marries one of the Lookaloft girls.

John Hiram

minor

Also known as Hiram, old Hiram

The 12th-century founder of Hiram's Hospital.

Mr. Arabin's Tutor

minor

Also known as the tutor of Lazarus

The tutor at Lazarus College, Oxford.

Paulo Neroni

minor

Also known as Signor Neroni

The Signora's estranged husband, an Italian scoundrel.

The Honourable George

minor

Also known as George De Courcy

A son of the Countess De Courcy.

Sir Harkaway Gorse

minor

A baronet mentioned at the Ullathorne sports.

Mr. Josiah Jones

minor

Also known as Jones

A clergyman mentioned in passing.

Mrs. Arabin

minor

Mr. Arabin's mother, mentioned briefly.

Mrs. Slope

minor

Mr. Slope's mother, mentioned in his background.

Betsey Rusk

minor

Also known as Elizabeth

Mrs. Proudie's maid.

Kitty

minor

Also known as Dear Kitty

A young woman mentioned in a letter.

Lotte

minor

A maid in the Stanhope household.

Julia

minor

Also known as little Miss Julia

A child at the Ullathorne sports.

Monica

minor

A friend of Charlotte Stanhope.

Margaretta

minor

Also known as Lady Margaretta

A daughter of the Countess De Courcy.

Susan

minor

Also known as Sue

A maid at the Grantly household.

Thomas

minor

Also known as Tom

A servant at Plumstead rectory.

Farmer Greenacre

minor

Also known as Mr. Greenacre

Harry Greenacre's father, a farmer.

Dominie Sampson

minor

Also known as Sam

A character from Scott's Guy Mannering, alluded to.

Mr. Dean

minor

A clergyman mentioned in passing.

The Servant

minor

An unnamed servant at the palace.

The Priestess

minor

A metaphorical reference to Mrs. Proudie.

The Master of the House

minor

A generic reference to Dr. Proudie.

The Doctor

minor

A generic reference to Dr. Proudie.

The Master

minor

A generic reference to the Master of Lazarus.

Papa

minor

Also known as Dear Papa

Eleanor's affectionate term for her father, Mr. Harding.

Mamma

minor

A term used by the Proudie children for Mrs. Proudie.

The Stanhopes

minor

Also known as Stanhopes

The family collectively, often referred to as a unit.

The Lookalofts

minor

Also known as Lookalofts

The family collectively.

The Quiverfuls

minor

Also known as Quiverfuls

The family collectively.

The Proudies

minor

Also known as Proudies

The family collectively.

The Grantlys

minor

Also known as Grantlys

The family collectively.

The De Courcys

minor

Also known as De Courcys

The aristocratic family.