# Suzanne Walter — Bel Ami character guide

> Suzanne Walter in Bel Ami by Guy de Maupassant.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Susan, Susan Walter, Walter, Susan the Marquis de Cazolles

**First appearance:** 0005-vi

## Snapshot

The younger Walter daughter, raised in wealth and piety, whose hand becomes a prize in the marriage market that Duroy learns to play with cold precision.

## Who they are

Suzanne Walter moves through her parents' salon as a sheltered heiress, her future a matter of negotiation between money, religion, and social ambition. She is the object of her mother's anxious matchmaking and, later, of Duroy's calculating courtship, which treats her less as a person than as a rung on the ladder. Her innocence and her fortune together make her the perfect mirror for the novel's central question: what is marriage worth when it is only a transaction?

## Relationships

### [George Duroy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bel_ami_se/characters/george_duroy)

_romantic_

George cynically seduces and elopes with Suzanne, the young daughter of his boss, to secure his fortune and social position.

### [Madeleine Forestier](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bel_ami_se/characters/madeleine_forestier)

_social_

Madeleine and Suzanne are acquaintances from the same social circles, with Madeleine viewing Suzanne as a naive young girl.

### [George Duroy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bel_ami_se/characters/george_duroy)

_romantic_

George cynically seduces and elopes with Suzanne, the young daughter of his boss, to secure his fortune and social position.

### [George Duroy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bel_ami_se/characters/george_duroy)

_romantic_

George cynically seduces and elopes with Suzanne, the young daughter of his boss, to secure his fortune and social position.

### [Madeleine Forestier](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bel_ami_se/characters/madeleine_forestier)

_social_

Madeleine and Suzanne are acquaintances from the same social circles, with Madeleine viewing Suzanne as a naive young girl.

## In the story

### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bel_ami_se/chapters/xi)

Madame Walter's younger daughter, described as a pretty, doll-like girl.

### [Chapter XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bel_ami_se/chapters/xiii)

Duroy enjoys her playful and witty company, which provides a relief from the attentions of her mother.

### [XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bel_ami_se/chapters/xv)

One of the Walters' daughters, who takes Clotilde to see her room, showing her role in the social event.

### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bel_ami_se/chapters/xvi)

Promises Duroy she will wait before accepting any marriage proposal.

### [Chapter XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bel_ami_se/chapters/xvii)

Innocent and infatuated, she agrees to Duroy's risky plan and elopes with him.

### [Chapter XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bel_ami_se/chapters/xviii)

The bride, described as a charming doll. Her marriage to Duroy is the central event of the chapter.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bel_ami_se/characters/suzanne_walter
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bel_ami_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bel_ami_se/characters