# Mrs. Scrimser — Hudson River Bracketed character guide

> Mrs. Scrimser in Hudson River Bracketed by Edith Wharton.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** old Mrs. Scrimser, Dear Mrs. Scrimser, Euphoria Mrs. Scrimser, Mrs. Loraine Scrimser

**First appearance:** 0004-i

## Snapshot

Vance's grandmother, a prairie evangelist whose irrepressible optimism and 'message' for New York collide with a city that finds her neither new nor necessary.

## Who they are

Mrs. Loraine Scrimser arrives in New York billed as 'God's Confidant,' convinced that her spiritual vision will find receptive ears, only to discover that fashionable audiences regard her as a curiosity rather than a prophet. She dreams of using her lecture tour's proceeds to buy a little house in Euphoria where Vance and Laura Lou can live with her, and her tenderness toward her grandson is genuine and unguarded. Her failure to read the room, and Vance's anguished recognition that her 'message' is neither new nor wanted, becomes one of the novel's sharpest studies of the gap between provincial sincerity and metropolitan sophistication.

## Relationships

### [Vance Weston](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/characters/vance_weston)

_psychological_

Mrs. Scrimser is a manipulative older woman who exerts a possessive, almost obsessive influence over Vance's career and personal life.

### [Halo Tarrant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/characters/halo_tarrant)

_rivalry_

Halo and Mrs. Scrimser are antagonists, competing for influence over Vance's life and affections.

### [Laura Lou](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/characters/laura_lou)

_psychological_

Laura Lou is manipulated and overshadowed by Mrs. Scrimser, who sees her as an obstacle in controlling Vance.

### [Vance Weston](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/characters/vance_weston)

_psychological_

Mrs. Scrimser is a manipulative older woman who exerts a possessive, almost obsessive influence over Vance's career and personal life.

### [Vance Weston](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/characters/vance_weston)

_psychological_

Mrs. Scrimser is a manipulative older woman who exerts a possessive, almost obsessive influence over Vance's career and personal life.

### [Halo Tarrant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/characters/halo_tarrant)

_rivalry_

Halo and Mrs. Scrimser are antagonists, competing for influence over Vance's life and affections.

### [Halo Tarrant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/characters/halo_tarrant)

_rivalry_

Halo and Mrs. Scrimser are antagonists, competing for influence over Vance's life and affections.

### [Laura Lou](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/characters/laura_lou)

_psychological_

Laura Lou is manipulated and overshadowed by Mrs. Scrimser, who sees her as an obstacle in controlling Vance.

### [Laura Lou](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/characters/laura_lou)

_psychological_

Laura Lou is manipulated and overshadowed by Mrs. Scrimser, who sees her as an obstacle in controlling Vance.

## In the story

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

Vance's grandmother, who listens to his outburst but interprets it as a call to preach in the Alsop Avenue church.

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

Vance's grandmother; supports his desire to go East, recalling that wanting something badly is close to happiness.

### [XXXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/chapters/xxxvii)

Arrives in New York as a prophetess for the 'Seekers,' speaking at Mrs. Spear's home.

### [XXXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/chapters/xxxviii)

Aged and weary but optimistic, she negotiates a lecture tour with Bunty Hayes to pay off debts and help Vance, though she fails to understand his moral objections.

### [XLII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/chapters/xlii)

Offers Vance money from her lecturing tour, but he decides not to share this with Laura Lou.

### [XLIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/chapters/xliii)

Sends a letter boasting of her lecture tour success and encloses promotional materials, revealing her embrace of religious commercialism.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/characters/mrs_scrimser
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/characters