# Clotel — Clotel character guide > Clotel in Clotel by William Wells Brown. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Miss Clotel, poor Clotel, Clotel The **First appearance:** 0003-clotel ## Snapshot A quadroon beauty rumored to be Thomas Jefferson's daughter, she loves, loses, and schemes her way toward freedom while shielding her child and her rival from grief. ## Who they are Clotel is a fair-skinned enslaved woman whose beauty and near-white complexion let her pass as a free lady, a fact she turns into a weapon when she disguises herself as the invalid Mr. Johnson and books passage north. Her love for Horatio Green survives his abandonment, yet she refuses to answer his pleading letters and prays his new wife never learns she exists, choosing another woman's peace over her own heart. That self-denial, paired with her fierce devotion to her daughter Mary, drives the novel's central ache: a mother who can be sold away from her child at any moment. ## Relationships ### [Horatio Green](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/characters/horatio_green) _romantic_ Clotel and Horatio are lovers, with Horatio being the father of Clotel's child, though their relationship is marked by tragedy and betrayal. ### [William Wells Brown](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/characters/william_wells_brown) _psychological_ William Wells Brown, as the author and narrator, has a meta-textual relationship with Clotel, observing and chronicling her suffering and fate. ### [Georgiana Carlton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/characters/georgiana_carlton) _friendship_ Clotel and Georgiana share a bond of sympathy and mutual support, with Georgiana often showing kindness to Clotel despite their different social positions. ### [Mr. Green](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/characters/mr_green) _rivalry_ Mr. Green is antagonistic toward Clotel, representing the oppressive slaveholding class that seeks to control and exploit her. ### [William Wells Brown](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/characters/william_wells_brown) _psychological_ William Wells Brown, as the author and narrator, has a meta-textual relationship with Clotel, observing and chronicling her suffering and fate. ### [Horatio Green](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/characters/horatio_green) _romantic_ Clotel and Horatio are lovers, with Horatio being the father of Clotel's child, though their relationship is marked by tragedy and betrayal. ### [Georgiana Carlton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/characters/georgiana_carlton) _friendship_ Clotel and Georgiana share a bond of sympathy and mutual support, with Georgiana often showing kindness to Clotel despite their different social positions. ### [Horatio Green](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/characters/horatio_green) _romantic_ Clotel and Horatio are lovers, with Horatio being the father of Clotel's child, though their relationship is marked by tragedy and betrayal. ### [William Wells Brown](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/characters/william_wells_brown) _psychological_ William Wells Brown, as the author and narrator, has a meta-textual relationship with Clotel, observing and chronicling her suffering and fate. ## In the story ### [Clotel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/chapters/clotel) The protagonist, a beautiful and educated slave woman, daughter of Thomas Jefferson, who experiences love, betrayal, and a tragic end. ### [I: The Negro Sale](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/chapters/i-the-negro-sale) The beautiful quadroon daughter of Thomas Jefferson, sold at auction for $1,500 to Horatio Green. ### [Going to the South](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/chapters/ii-going-to-the-south) Mentioned as having visited the prison daily to see her mother and sister, but unaware of their departure. ### [The Quadroon’s Home](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/chapters/iv-the-quadroon-s-home) The quadroon heroine living in a secluded cottage with Horatio Green; she is a devoted mother to Mary and urges Horatio to move to a free country. ### [VIII: The Separation](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/chapters/viii-the-separation) Heartbroken upon learning of Horatio's marriage, she ends their relationship with dignity and refuses to participate in a secret affair. ### [XV: Today a Mistress, Tomorrow a Slave](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/chapters/xv-today-a-mistress-tomorrow-a-slave) Sold to Walker and then to Mr. French in Vicksburg; forced to cut her hair; suffers grief from separation from her daughter Mary. ### [Retaliation](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/chapters/xvii-retaliation) Referenced as Mary's mother and Horatio's former lover, her memory haunts Horatio. ### [XIX: Escape of Clotel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/chapters/xix-escape-of-clotel) Clotel, sold to Mr. French in Vicksburg, is treated with respectful gentleness by her new master but remains steadfast in her refusal to accept his advances. She plans and executes an escape disguised as a gentleman, with William's help. ### [A Ride in a Stagecoach](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/chapters/xxii-a-ride-in-a-stagecoach) Travels in disguise as an Italian or Spanish gentleman, heading to Richmond to find her daughter Mary. ### [The Arrest](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/chapters/xxiv-the-arrest) Returns to Richmond disguised as a gentleman to find her daughter Mary; arrested as a fugitive slave and imprisoned. ### [XXV: Death Is Freedom](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/chapters/xxv-death-is-freedom) The fugitive slave who escapes from the Washington prison and leaps to her death from the Long Bridge. ### [The Escape](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/chapters/xxvi-the-escape) Arrested while trying to rescue Mary; dies before Mary learns of her presence. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/characters/clotel - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/characters