# Richard Bonamy — Jacob's Room character guide

> Richard Bonamy in Jacob's Room by Virginia Woolf.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Bonamy, Mr. Bonamy, Poor old Bonamy, Dick Bonamy

**First appearance:** 0002-iii

## Snapshot

Jacob's fastidious, secretive Cambridge friend, fonder of Jacob than of anyone in the world, and never able to say so plainly.

## Who they are

Bonamy is silent, fastidious, at ease only with one or two men of his own taste — and Jacob Flanders is emphatically not one of them. He watches Jacob's romantic vein and stupidity with exasperated tenderness, playing affectionate spaniel while Jacob takes control with a Latin word. His unspoken devotion gives the novel its sharpest portrait of love that can only be expressed as observation, and it is Bonamy who will stand in Jacob's room at the end.

## Relationships

### [Jacob Flanders](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jacobs_room_se/characters/jacob_flanders)

_friendship_

Bonamy is Jacob's closest male friend, sharing intellectual camaraderie and a subtle, unspoken emotional intimacy.

### [Jacob Flanders](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jacobs_room_se/characters/jacob_flanders)

_friendship_

Bonamy is Jacob's closest male friend, sharing intellectual camaraderie and a subtle, unspoken emotional intimacy.

### [Jacob Flanders](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jacobs_room_se/characters/jacob_flanders)

_friendship_

Bonamy is Jacob's closest male friend, sharing intellectual camaraderie and a subtle, unspoken emotional intimacy.

## In the story

### [Chapter V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jacobs_room_se/chapters/v)

Jacob's friend, present in the room during their conversation about Beethoven and Tennyson.

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

Mentioned as Clara's current dance partner, with a Wellington nose that Clara finds unmarriageable.

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

Bonamy is mentioned as Jacob's companion for evening walks, with whom he takes the air and discusses the world.

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

Argues with Sanders in his rooms, breaking a coffeepot.

### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jacobs_room_se/chapters/xii)

Receives Jacob's letter, reflects on Jacob's romantic nature and his own literary tastes, is fond of Jacob.

### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jacobs_room_se/chapters/xiii)

Sarcastic and bitter, feeling Jacob's distance and his own unrequited affection.

### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jacobs_room_se/chapters/xiv)

Stands in Jacob's room, marveling at the disorder and reflecting on Jacob's failure to return.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jacobs_room_se/characters/richard_bonamy
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jacobs_room_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jacobs_room_se/characters