# Gil Blas — Character guide

> Key figures in Gil Blas by Alain-René Lesage.

- [Gil Blas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/gil_blas.md): Gil Blas arrives in the world with nothing but cunning and an appetite for advancement, hiring himself into households where he learns that masters are as corruptible as servants. Hired by a Sicilian count to reform a ho
- [Scipio](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/scipio.md): Scipio moves through the same servant corridors as Gil Blas, but where Gil calculates, Scipio schemes with a warmth that makes betrayal feel like camaraderie. His willingness to trade information—about masters, mistresse
- [Laura](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/laura.md): Laura commands the greenroom as confidently as the stage, fielding admirers and deflecting scandal with the same practiced ease. When Gil Blas reappears after abandoning her in Grenada, she punishes him with coldness, th
- [Don Alphonso de Leyva](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/don_alphonso.md): Don Alphonso moves through court and university circles with the ease of good birth, but his reputation for devotion to actresses complicates the picture. When Aurora asks Gil Blas to investigate his character, the repor
- [Fabricio](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/fabricio.md): Fabricio is the kind of companion who turns a simple con into a night of laughter and a night of laughter into an arrest. His scheme to recover a ring from a woman of dubious reputation succeeds beyond expectation, but h
- [Don Lewis Pacheco](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/don_lewis_pacheco.md): Don Lewis exists at first as a rumor—a name whispered in drawing rooms, a reputation for wit and womanizing that precedes him. Aurora's commission to Gil Blas turns him into a case to be solved, a character to be assesse
- [Aurora de Guzmán](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/aurora.md): Aurora de Guzmán moves in the genteel circles of Valladolid, where her beauty draws suitors and her sense of honor governs her heart. When Gil Blas reports that Don Lewis Pacheco has been keeping company with actresses, 
- [Don Raphael](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/don_raphael.md): Don Raphael moves through the novel's social world with the ease of a man who has learned to wear rank as a mask. Where Gil Blas stumbles into schemes and repents at leisure, Raphael seems always a step ahead, his courte
- [Blanche](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/blanche.md): Blanche is repeatedly described as unfortunate and wretched, a girl whose innocence is shadowed by the machinations of family honor and predatory men. Her vulnerability exposes the cruelty lurking beneath the polished su
- [Ambrose de Lamela](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/ambrose_de_lamela.md): Ambrose de Lamela operates from within the church, using the authority of the cloth to advance himself and to check Gil Blas's progress. His cunning is the more unsettling for its respectable disguise, and his rivalry fo
- [Doctor Sangrado](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/doctor_sangrado.md): Doctor Sangrado has built a thriving practice on professional jargon, a solemn face, and a few lucky cures, and he takes Gil Blas on as his young apprentice in the healing art. His method is simple: bleed the patient and
- [Fabricio Núñez](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/fabricio_nunez.md): Fabricio Núñez, whom Gil Blas first knew as a servant in Valladolid, reappears at Madrid dressed like a grandee and chatting familiarly with dukes and marquises. He lives in a single room partitioned into four, papered w
- [Leontio Siffredi](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/leontio_siffredi.md): Siffredi belongs to the class of rich commoners whose money buys them power but never the manners or generosity to wear it gracefully. His household is a small kingdom of ledgers and grudges, where Gil Blas learns that a
- [Don Matthias de Silva](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/don_matthias_de_silva.md): Don Matthias moves through Salamanca's night streets with the careless confidence of a man who has never had to earn his place. His friendships are warm, his sword is quick, and his judgment is unreliable — a combination
- [Don Rodrigo de Calderona](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/don_rodrigo_de_calderona.md): Calderona began as the Duke's servant and climbed to the post of principal secretary, where he now parcels out offices and governments at the whim of his own caprice. Proud as a peacock and shameless as a tax collector, 
- [Seraphina](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/seraphina.md): A beautiful and virtuous young woman, daughter of a nobleman.
- [Joseph Navarro](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/joseph_navarro.md): Navarro operates in the space between master and servant, where secrets are currency and loyalty is a bargaining chip. He is useful, ingratiating, and entirely unreliable — the kind of man who will carry your message and
- [Prince Enriquez](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/prince_enriquez.md): A young prince who falls in love with a commoner, causing court intrigue.
- [Don Alvar de Mello](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/don_alvar_de_mello.md): A Portuguese nobleman and friend of Gil Blas, known for his honor.
- [Lucretia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/lucretia.md): A beautiful and witty actress, friend of Laura.
- [Doña Helena de Galisteo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/dona_helena_de_galisteo.md): A noblewoman involved in a scandalous love affair.
- [Don Gastón de Cogollos](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/don_gaston_de_cogollos.md): A wealthy and eccentric nobleman who hires Gil Blas as a steward.
- [Master Gaspard](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/master_gaspard.md): A miserly and suspicious old man who employs Gil Blas.
- [Samuel Simon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/samuel_simon.md): A Jewish moneylender and merchant who deals with Gil Blas.
- [Don Felix de Mendoza](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/don_felix_de_mendoza.md): A young nobleman who impersonates another for romantic gain.
- [Count de Lemos](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/count_de_lemos.md): A powerful nobleman and patron of the arts in Madrid.
- [Camilla](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/camilla.md): A kind and virtuous woman who helps Gil Blas in need.
- [Doña Mergelina](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/dona_mergelina.md): A wealthy and eccentric widow who employs Gil Blas.
- [Beatrice](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/beatrice.md): A maid servant who becomes a confidante to Laura.
- [Don Blas de Combados](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/don_blas_de_combados.md): A lovesick nobleman who pursues Aurora.
- [Melchior Zapata](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/melchior_zapata.md): A poor poet and friend of Gil Blas, always seeking patronage.
- [Captain Rolando](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/captain_rolando.md): A boastful and impoverished old soldier who befriends Gil Blas.
- [Diego](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/diego.md): A young boy who serves as a page to various masters.
- [Doña Euphrasia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/dona_euphrasia.md): A beautiful but vain noblewoman who flirts with Gil Blas.
- [Catalina](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/catalina.md): A housekeeper and confidante to Laura.
- [Don Andrew de Tordesillas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/don_andrew_de_tordesillas.md): A nobleman who challenges Gil Blas to a duel over a misunderstanding.
- [Arsenia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/arsenia.md): An actress and friend of Laura, known for her sharp tongue.
- [Gabriel Salero](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/gabriel_salero.md): A poor but honest countinghouse clerk who helps Gil Blas.
- [Don Balthazar de Zúñiga](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/don_balthazar_de_zuniga.md): A powerful minister and rival to the Duke of Lerma.
- [Duke of Lerma](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/duke_of_lerma.md): The Duke of Lerma sits at the summit of Spanish power, a cardinal and prime minister whose favor can make a man's fortune overnight. But his mind is clay in the hands of Don Rodrigo de Calderona, and his administration i
- [Dame Jacintha](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/dame_jacintha.md): An old woman who serves as a go-between for lovers.
- [Count de Polán](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/count_de_polan.md): A nobleman who becomes a patron of Gil Blas.
- [Don Caesar de Leyva](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/don_caesar_de_leyva.md): A nobleman and father of Don Alphonso, involved in court politics.
- [Don Pompeyo de Castro](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/don_pompeyo_de_castro.md): A nobleman who befriends Gil Blas in prison.
- [Dame Lorenza Sephora](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/dame_lorenza_sephora.md): A wealthy widow who employs Gil Blas as a steward.
- [Balthasar Velasquez](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/balthasar_velasquez.md): A painter and friend of Gil Blas, known for his artistic temper.
- [Don Bernard de Castil Blazo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/don_bernard_de_castil_blazo.md): A nobleman who hires Gil Blas as a secretary for a short time.
- [Don Henry Philip de Guzmán](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/don_henry_philip_de_guzman.md): A young nobleman and friend of Gil Blas, involved in a love affair.
- [Don Ferdinand de Leyva](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/don_ferdinand_de_leyva.md): A nobleman and relative of Don Alphonso, involved in court intrigue.
- [Antonia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/antonia.md): A beautiful young woman courted by Don Felix.
- [Roger de Rada](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/roger_de_rada.md): A nobleman who becomes a rival of Gil Blas in love.
- [Pedrillo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/pedrillo.md): A young servant who accompanies Gil Blas on his travels.
- [Don Antonio Centellés](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/don_antonio_centelles.md): A nobleman who hires Gil Blas as a steward for his estate.
- [Ortiz](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/ortiz.md): A duenna who serves as a chaperone for young women.
- [Basil de Buenotrigo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/basil_de_buenotrigo.md): A simple-minded countryman who becomes a servant to Gil Blas.
- [Constance](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/constance.md): A princess who becomes involved in a political marriage plot.
- [Diego de la Fuenta](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/diego_de_la_fuenta.md): A wealthy farmer who employs Gil Blas as a tutor.
- [Don Alexo Segiar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/don_alexo_segiar.md): A nobleman involved in a legal dispute with Gil Blas.
- [Dorothea](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/dorothea.md): A young woman who helps Gil Blas in a romantic intrigue.
- [Don Bertrand Gómez del Ribero](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/don_bertrand_gomez_del_ribero.md): A nobleman who becomes a patron of Gil Blas.
- [Dame Leonarda](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/dame_leonarda.md): A housekeeper who serves various noble households.
- [Doña Mencía](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/dona_mencia.md): A noblewoman involved in a scandalous love affair.
- [Señor Rodriguez](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/se%C3%B1or_rodriguez.md): A lawyer who represents Gil Blas in legal matters.
- [Lewis Garcias](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/lewis_garcias.md): A licentiate and friend of Gil Blas, known for his learning.
- [Mascarini](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/mascarini.md): An Italian actor and friend of Laura's theatrical troupe.
- [Don Juan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/don_juan.md): A nobleman who becomes a rival of Gil Blas in love.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters