# Sir Hugo — Futility character guide

> Sir Hugo in Futility by William Gerhardie.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Whereon, old Hugo, Whereon Sir Hugo

**First appearance:** 0005-i

## Snapshot

An Englishman whose arrival stirs the narrator into a midnight frenzy of matchmaking, rearranging lovers, divorces, and fortunes as if the whole cast were his to sort.

## Who they are

Sir Hugo's presence in the story provokes the narrator into a comic bout of Napoleonic scheming, drawing columns, arrows, and circles to pair off Nina, Sonia, Nicholas, Fanny, and the rest. He is the catalyst for the novel's most revealing set piece: a would-be puppet-master deciding who should marry whom and who should support the multitudinous dependents. His arrival exposes how much of the book's comedy lies in the gap between tidy plans and ungovernable Russian lives.

## In the story

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se/chapters/iii)

Serves Fanny Ivanovna ice cream, talks to young girls, and is described as nervous and constantly saying 'Splendid!'

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se/chapters/iv)

Listens to Fanny Ivanovna's autobiography; reacts with a look suggesting 'damned bad staff work.'

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se/chapters/v)

Observes the Admiral's pig-hunting with approval, calling it 'splendid'.

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se/chapters/vii)

Writing a letter to apologize for misspelling a name, then reviewing old minutes during the coup; criticized for his love of detail and exactitude.

### [The Spring Dinner and the Waiting Game](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se/chapters/x)

Engages in a heckling debate with Captain Larkin about discipline and diplomacy.

### [Chapter XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se/chapters/xi)

Attempts to clarify the Allied mission, reveals Kniaz's full name.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se/chapters/ii)

Travels with the narrator as far as Colombo, then departs for Singapore on a mission of advice.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se/characters/sir_hugo
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se/characters