If I Had a Father · Character
Miss Lacordère
A wary, sharp-tongued young woman scraping by in a shabby stairwell world, Miss Lacordère guards her friend Susan and herself against the smooth-tongued gentlemen who ruin girls.
supporting
Also known as Mattie Miss Lacordère, Gervaise Miss Lacordère
First appearance: act i
As a supporting figure in If I Had a Father, Miss Lacordère is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.
Known to her intimates as Mattie, she lives by her wits in a tenement where the rent is always a week behind and every polished stranger is a threat. She is fiercely protective of Susan, warning her that fine speeches and gold chains hide the same careless cruelty, yet her own past is shadowed by a man she keeps running from. When a boy named Bill reports a gentleman asking after a 'Mattie,' her composure cracks, and the dread of being found begins to pull her toward the story's central question of who a father is and whether one is ever coming.
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Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.
- Setup
- Breaking point
This is the dramatic climax because Sir Walter Gervaise’s confession—"I am his father"—reverses the entire emo…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
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