# Laura — Gil Blas character guide

> Laura in Gil Blas by Alain-René Lesage.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Lovely Laura

**First appearance:** 0010-vii

## Snapshot

A sharp-tongued actress who turns every stage—on and off the boards—into a performance, and every man into an audience she can manage.

## Who they are

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, then summons him back with a note that reminds him who holds the upper hand. Her gift for reinvention—brother, widow, wronged woman—reveals the improvisational genius that makes her both a survivor and a mirror of Gil Blas's own opportunism.

## Relationships

### [Gil Blas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/gil_blas)

_romantic_

Gil Blas and Laura share a passionate but tumultuous romantic relationship, marked by infidelity and reconciliation.

### [Gil Blas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/gil_blas)

_romantic_

Gil Blas and Laura share a passionate but tumultuous romantic relationship, marked by infidelity and reconciliation.

### [Gil Blas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/gil_blas)

_romantic_

Gil Blas and Laura share a passionate but tumultuous romantic relationship, marked by infidelity and reconciliation.

## In the story

### [Gil Blas becomes the darling of the fair sex, and makes an interesting acquaintance.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/chapters/v)

A theatrical waiting-woman who poses as a highborn lady; she meets Gil Blas in disguise and later reveals her true identity at Arsenia's, accepting him as an admirer.

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

Laura proposes Gil Blas as a steward for her mistress Arsenia and convinces him that actresses rank with nobility.

### [Much such another as the foregoing](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/chapters/x)

Accompanies Gil Blas to the theatre, gossips scandalously about the actors and actresses, and later explains the mercenary nature of the noblemen's attentions.

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

Provides a satirical portrait of Señor Carlos Alonso de la Ventoleria, describing his vanity and affectation.

### [Gil Blas acquires a relish for the theatre, and takes a full swing of its pleasures, but soon becomes disgusted.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/chapters/xii)

Gil Blas's companion; she engages in deceitful relationships and is described as young, pretty, and loose.

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

An actress with whom Gil Blas had a relationship; he leaves her despite still loving her.

### [Gil Blas goes to the play at Grenada](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/chapters/vi)

Now an actress named Estella in Grenada, she pretends Gil Blas is her brother to the Marquis de Marialva.

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

Narrates her own story of returning to Spain, becoming an actress, and her romantic entanglements.

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

Gil Blas's sister, an actress in Grenada, who introduces him to the theatre company and arranges his introduction to the Marquis de Marialva.

### [The Marquis de Marialva gives a commission to Gil Blas—That faithful secretary acquits himself of it as shall be related.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/chapters/x)

Pretends to be Gil Blas's sister; receives the Marquis's portrait and jewels, and proposes marriage to Gil Blas after accumulating wealth.

### [A Thunderbolt to Gil Blas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/chapters/xi)

Referred to as Estella; her true identity as a former servant is revealed, causing Gil Blas to abandon her.

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

Now known as Estella, an actress in Toledo and aunt (actually mother) of Lucretia; reunites with Gil Blas and explains her past.

### [Santillane makes his report to the minister, who commissions him to send for Lucretia—The first appearance of that actress before the court.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/chapters/ii)

Mentioned in Gil Blas's report as part of Lucretia's backstory, though not present in the chapter's action.

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

Lucretia's aunt and mentor; initially reluctant but later tries to persuade Lucretia; eventually retires to a convent in penance.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters/laura
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/gil_blas_se/characters