# Lady Adeline Amundeville — Don Juan character guide

> Lady Adeline Amundeville in Don Juan by Lord Byron.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Adeline, Lady Adeline, the Lady Adeline, sweet Adeline

**First appearance:** 0018-canto-xiii

## Snapshot

A polished English hostess who takes Juan under her wing, advises him to marry, and cannot quite decide what she wants for herself.

## Who they are

Lady Adeline Amundeville runs the social machinery of the English cantos, arranging guests, matches, and morals with practiced grace. Her interest in Juan is intense but ambiguous — part maternal, part matchmaking, part something she will not name — and her marriage to the stolid Lord Henry leaves her restless. She matters because she embodies the poem's English target: virtue that is mostly performance, and a heart that keeps its own accounts.

## In the story

### [Canto XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_juan_se/chapters/canto-xiii)

Introduced as the high-born, beautiful, and chaste wife of Lord Henry, described as the 'Queen-Bee' of society.

### [Canto XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_juan_se/chapters/canto-xiv)

Resolves to intervene in Juan's potential affair with the Duchess, showing maternal concern and social vigilance.

### [Canto XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_juan_se/chapters/canto-xv)

Described as pure, bright, and of the 'purest vintage'; she is interested in Don Juan's history and shows a mix of ingenuousness and social awareness.

### [Canto XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_juan_se/chapters/canto-xvi)

Sings the ballad of the Black Friar and watches Juan's reactions closely.

### [Canto XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_juan_se/chapters/canto-xvii)

The hostess, assembled with the company for breakfast.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_juan_se/characters/lady_adeline
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_juan_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_juan_se/characters