# Mrs. Barton Trafford — Cakes and Ale character guide

> Mrs. Barton Trafford in Cakes and Ale by W. Somerset Maugham.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Barton Trafford, Barton, Mrs. Trafford, Mrs. Barton

**First appearance:** 0000-i

## Snapshot

A soft-voiced literary hostess who 'makes' reputations, takes the young Driffields up, and drops them the moment scandal touches the house.

## Who they are

Small, boneless, dressed in discreet black silk with jangling beads, she glides through Chelsea drawing rooms dispensing patronage and quiet judgments. She is genuinely kind in manner and entirely strategic in effect, and her arrival at a party hushes the room. When Rosie runs off, Mrs. Trafford's sympathy curdles into a decisive withdrawal—her tea-table announcement to the narrator is the novel's first hard lesson in how literary society handles its embarrassments.

## In the story

### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cakes_and_ale_se/chapters/xiv)

Treats Rosie condescendingly; Rosie dislikes her.

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

Supports Driffield during the scandal, declaring 'The Cup of Life' a masterpiece and maintaining faith in his future.

### [XIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cakes_and_ale_se/chapters/xix)

Sends the telegram and orchestrates the narrator's mission to Blackstable.

### [Chapter XX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cakes_and_ale_se/chapters/xx)

Meets the narrator at Victoria Station to hear the news; expresses concern that the scandal might interfere with Edward Driffield's work.

### [XXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cakes_and_ale_se/chapters/xxii)

Described as a devoted but manipulative patron who managed Driffield's career and reputation.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cakes_and_ale_se/characters/mrs_barton_trafford
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cakes_and_ale_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cakes_and_ale_se/characters