# Mrs. Forrester — Cranford character guide

> Mrs. Forrester in Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** dear Mrs. Forrester

**First appearance:** 0000-i-our-society

## Snapshot

A kind, shabbily dressed widow whose genteel poverty and generous hospitality embody Cranford's proud art of elegant economy.

## Who they are

Mrs. Forrester is one of Cranford's poorer gentlewomen, hiding her straitened means behind cheerful parties and a brave pretense of plenty, even as she secretly bakes the cakes her guests pretend not to notice. Her terror of ghosts and her fluttery, good-hearted excitability make her both comic and touching, especially when rumors of burglars and foreign spies unsettle the town. She matters because her quiet dignity under pinched circumstances captures the novel's tender satire of genteel poverty and its affection for small, stubborn kindnesses.

## In the story

### [Our Society](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cranford_se/chapters/i-our-society)

A lady who gives a party in her small dwelling, where the tea-tray is brought out from under the sofa, illustrating the genteel concealment of poverty.

### [Visiting](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cranford_se/chapters/vii-visiting)

Supports relaxing exclusivity, argues that 'Fitz' implies aristocratic connection.

### [IX: Signor Brunoni](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cranford_se/chapters/ix-signor-brunoni)

Expected at Miss Matty's evening party.

### [X: The Panic](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cranford_se/chapters/x-the-panic)

Hosts the evening party where fears are shared; theorizes that the robbers are French spies and that Signor Brunoni is a Frenchman in disguise.

### [XI: Samuel Brown](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cranford_se/chapters/xi-samuel-brown)

Prepares her famous bread-jelly for the sick conjuror, demonstrating her kindness.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cranford_se/characters/mrs_forrester
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cranford_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cranford_se/characters