Character guide

James Mavor Morell

major

Also known as Morell, Jimmy, Reverend James Mavor Morell

Morell presides over St. Dominic's Parsonage as preacher, husband, and local celebrity, so assured of his own eloquence that he forgets to ask what the collection raised. His confidence curdles into something more fragile when Eugene Marchbanks, the young poet he generously sheltered, turns out to see Candida more clearly than he does. His marriage, his self-image, and his famous heroics all become the play's real subject.

Eugene Marchbanks

major

Also known as Marchbanks, Mr. Marchbanks

Sheltered by Morell out of Christian charity, Eugene treats the parsonage as a stage for his ecstasies, sprawling at Candida's feet and confessing that doing wrong makes him happy. He is half child, half rival—genuinely spiritual, genuinely theatrical, and unable to say a true word without striking an attitude. His presence forces the Morells to stop performing virtue and start asking what love actually requires.

Candida Morell

major

Also known as Candy, Mrs. Morell

Candida manages children, servants, and her husband's ego with the same practical economy, noticing that Morell spoke so well he forgot to count the collection. She refuses Eugene's poses while honoring whatever is real in him, insisting she is not afraid so long as he speaks his true self. Her clear-eyed judgment, not the men's rhetoric, becomes the standard by which the play weighs love, work, and worth.

Proserpine Garnett

supporting

Also known as Miss Proserpine Garnett, Miss Garnett, Prossy, Pross

Prossy keeps the parson's pamphlets, letters, and schedule in order from her little table by the window, her loyalty to Morell edged with a private, unspoken feeling. Her brisk manner and occasional sarcasm guard a position that leaves her watching the household's emotional weather from the margins. She matters as the play's quiet counterweight: someone who serves a man's cause without being dazzled by his sermons.

Alexander Mill

supporting

Also known as Lexy, Mr. Lexy Mill, Mr. Mill

Lexy Mill belongs to the parsonage's working world of meetings, collections, and Christian Socialist enthusiasm, taking his cues from Morell with the devotion of a junior disciple. His naivety and eagerness make him a useful mirror for the older man's rhetoric, showing how easily conviction is inherited rather than earned. He grounds the play's early scenes in the everyday machinery of the parish.

Mr. Burgess

supporting

Also known as Burgess

Burgess arrives at the parsonage as family and as a reminder of the commercial London that Morell's sermons denounce, cheerfully unbothered by the contradiction. His coarser instincts and good-natured pragmatism expose the gap between Morell's ideals and the ordinary economics of a household. He matters as the play's earthy counterpoint, someone who loves Candida without needing a theory about her.

Maria

minor

The Morells' maid, appears briefly in household scenes.