# Horatio Green — Clotel character guide

> Horatio Green in Clotel by William Wells Brown.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** young Green, Horatio

**First appearance:** 0010-vii-the-poor-whites-south

## Snapshot

A young man of ambition who loves Clotel, marries a proud white wife for position, and goes pale whenever the past rolls past him in a barouche.

## Who they are

Horatio Green is the man whose uneasy slumbers murmur Clotel's name, whose lips quiver and face turns deadly pale when he sees her and their child on the street. He chose ambition over the woman he truly loved, and now endures the wintry chill of his wife's polite propriety while sending remittances and begging letters Clotel never answers. His cowardice and lingering guilt make him the novel's portrait of respectable Northern complicity, a man who feels everything and dares to do almost nothing.

## Relationships

### [Clotel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/characters/clotel)

_romantic_

Clotel and Horatio are lovers, with Horatio being the father of Clotel's child, though their relationship is marked by tragedy and betrayal.

### [Gertrude](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/characters/gertrude)

_romantic_

Gertrude is Horatio's wife, and their relationship is strained by Horatio's prior involvement with Clotel.

### [Mr. Green](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/characters/mr_green)

_family_

Mr. Green is Horatio's father, and their relationship involves filial duty and conflict over Horatio's choices.

### [Clotel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/characters/clotel)

_romantic_

Clotel and Horatio are lovers, with Horatio being the father of Clotel's child, though their relationship is marked by tragedy and betrayal.

### [Clotel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/characters/clotel)

_romantic_

Clotel and Horatio are lovers, with Horatio being the father of Clotel's child, though their relationship is marked by tragedy and betrayal.

## In the story

### [Clotel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/chapters/clotel)

A young white man who begins a relationship with Clotel and later marries Gertrude, betraying Clotel.

### [I: The Negro Sale](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/chapters/i-the-negro-sale)

The young white man who purchases Clotel at the auction, intending to make her his mistress.

### [The Quadroon’s Home](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/chapters/iv-the-quadroon-s-home)

The young white man who has installed Clotel in a cottage; his political ambitions and attraction to Gertrude begin to erode his commitment to Clotel.

### [VIII: The Separation](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/chapters/viii-the-separation)

Struggles with guilt and shame as he prepares to marry Gertrude while still loving Clotel; he attempts to propose a continued liaison but is rejected.

### [XV: Today a Mistress, Tomorrow a Slave](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/chapters/xv-today-a-mistress-tomorrow-a-slave)

Defeated in politics and estranged from his wife; agrees to sell Clotel and her child under pressure from his father-in-law.

### [Retaliation](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/chapters/xvii-retaliation)

Deeply humiliated and distressed by his wife's treatment of Mary, his daughter with Clotel, but unable to intervene.

### [The Escape](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/chapters/xxvi-the-escape)

Mary's father; absent during Clotel's arrest, loses feeling for his child.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/characters/horatio_green
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/characters