# Captain Shotover — Heartbreak House character guide

> Captain Shotover in Heartbreak House by George Bernard Shaw.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** The Captain, Captain, old Captain Shotover, Captain Shotover Looking, Captain Shotover Stopping, Captain Shotover Shouting, Captain Shotover Since Easter, Captain Shotover Guinness, Captain Shotover Dunn, The Captain Dunn

**First appearance:** 0033-heartbreak-house

## Snapshot

A half-mad retired sea captain who invents death-dealing explosives while presiding over a household drifting toward collapse.

## Who they are

Shotover rules Heartbreak House with rum, nautical bluster, and a pistol he keeps for burglars and daughters alike. He has spent a lifetime seeking a 'seventh degree of concentration' and now senses his household, like Europe, is a ship without a helmsman. His erratic wisdom and prophetic outbursts give the play its moral weather, making him both its comic relic and its clearest seer.

## Relationships

### [Ellie Dunn](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/heartbreak_house_se/characters/ellie_dunn)

_psychological_

Captain Shotover forms a strange, almost mystical bond with Ellie, seeing her as a kindred spirit and potential heir to his wisdom and cynicism.

### [Hesione Hushabye](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/heartbreak_house_se/characters/hesione_hushabye)

_family_

Captain Shotover is Hesione's eccentric and disapproving father, often clashing with her frivolous lifestyle.

### [Mazzini Dunn](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/heartbreak_house_se/characters/mazzini_dunn)

_social_

Captain Shotover regards Mazzini with a mixture of contempt and pity, seeing him as a weak and foolish man.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/heartbreak_house_se/characters/captain_shotover
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/heartbreak_house_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/heartbreak_house_se/characters