# Satan — Lolly Willowes character guide

> Satan in Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** the Devil, The Devil

**First appearance:** 0002-iii

## Snapshot

The Devil, who comes to Laura not as a terror but as a quiet gentleman offering the freedom no one else thought to give her.

## Who they are

In Great Mop, Satan appears less as a cloven-hoofed tempter than as a courteous, undemanding presence—someone who takes Laura seriously and asks nothing of her in return. He is the counterweight to everything the Willowes family represents: duty, usefulness, the small spare-room, the husband she was meant to find. His bargain is the story's central dare, and the question he raises—whether a woman may belong to herself—is what makes Laura's quiet rebellion so unsettling and so exhilarating.

## Relationships

### [Laura Willowes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lolly_willowes_se/characters/laura_willowes)

_psychological_

Satan is Laura's diabolical patron and liberator, who offers her freedom from societal constraints in a pact of witchcraft.

### [Titus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lolly_willowes_se/characters/titus)

_psychological_

Satan acknowledges Titus as Laura's familiar, using the cat as a link in his pact with her.

### [Laura Willowes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lolly_willowes_se/characters/laura_willowes)

_psychological_

Satan is Laura's diabolical patron and liberator, who offers her freedom from societal constraints in a pact of witchcraft.

### [Laura Willowes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lolly_willowes_se/characters/laura_willowes)

_psychological_

Satan is Laura's diabolical patron and liberator, who offers her freedom from societal constraints in a pact of witchcraft.

## In the story

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

Described as a huntsman and naturalist who has been pursuing Laura; she speaks to him about women and witchcraft.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lolly_willowes_se/characters/satan
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lolly_willowes_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lolly_willowes_se/characters