# Sonia — Futility character guide

> Sonia in Futility by William Gerhardie.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** The real Sonia

**First appearance:** 0005-i

## Snapshot

Sharp-tongued and fed up, she corrects Fanny Ivanovna's Russian and threatens to marry just to escape a house that never stops quarrelling.

## Who they are

Sonia is one of Nikolai Vasilievich's daughters, stranded in the Mohovaya flat where her father and Fanny Ivanovna fight like cat and dog, worse when guests are present. She is sardonic and impatient, mocking Fanny's malapropisms and declaring she is sick of home and will run away by marrying. Her running commentary on the household's quarrels and her father's wish to marry again makes her the family's clearest, most disabused witness.

## Relationships

### [Nikolai Vasilievich](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se/characters/nikolai_vasilievich)

_romantic_

Nikolai shares a tender but complicated romantic bond with Sonia, marked by mutual longing.

### [Fanny Ivanovna](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se/characters/fanny_ivanovna)

_rivalry_

Fanny and Sonia are hostile rivals, each trying to undermine the other in Nikolai's eyes.

### [Andrei Andreiech](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se/characters/andrei_andreiech)

_friendship_

Andrei and Sonia are warm friends who often discuss their mutual concerns about Nikolai.

### [Andrei Andreiech](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se/characters/andrei_andreiech)

_friendship_

Andrei and Sonia are warm friends who often discuss their mutual concerns about Nikolai.

### [Fanny Ivanovna](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se/characters/fanny_ivanovna)

_rivalry_

Fanny and Sonia are hostile rivals, each trying to undermine the other in Nikolai's eyes.

### [Fanny Ivanovna](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se/characters/fanny_ivanovna)

_rivalry_

Fanny and Sonia are hostile rivals, each trying to undermine the other in Nikolai's eyes.

### [Nikolai Vasilievich](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se/characters/nikolai_vasilievich)

_romantic_

Nikolai shares a tender but complicated romantic bond with Sonia, marked by mutual longing.

### [Nikolai Vasilievich](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se/characters/nikolai_vasilievich)

_romantic_

Nikolai shares a tender but complicated romantic bond with Sonia, marked by mutual longing.

## In the story

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se/chapters/i)

The narrator thinks of Sonia, one of the three sisters who departed for Shanghai.

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

The eldest sister, aged sixteen, who introduces herself first.

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

Expresses disgust at the constant quarreling between Nikolai Vasilievich and Fanny Ivanovna, threatens to run away by marrying, and shows open hostility toward her father.

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

Comments on how horribly Eisenstein cried, then follows the narrator out of the room.

### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se/chapters/viii)

Supports Nina's plea to Fanny, echoing the request to see Magda.

### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se/chapters/ix)

Present at the theatre in the box opposite the narrator's party.

### [The Narrator's First Intervention](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se/chapters/x)

On the balcony laughing; the narrator plans to marry her to Baron Wunderhausen.

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

One of the three sisters; plays the piano with an agreeable touch of feeling.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se/chapters/i)

Travels with Nikolai Vasilievich's party.

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

Nicknamed 'Miss Moon' by Fanny, described as deceitful for lying about visiting their mother when they actually went to a dance.

### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se/chapters/viii)

Participates in jazzing and is addressed by Nina.

### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se/chapters/ix)

Sonia is humiliated by Baron Wunderhausen's flight and his false title, and she considers divorce, showing interest in Holdcroft.

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

Greets the narrator at the door and interacts with him in the drawing-room.

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

Sonia is at the Olenins' chatting with the three American boys.

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se/chapters/vi)

One of the three sisters; mentioned as having lost patience with Fanny Ivanovna and Nikolai Vasilievich.

## Links

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