# Margaret Leonard — Look Homeward, Angel character guide

> Margaret Leonard in Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Margaret Leonard, Leonard, Margaret

**First appearance:** 0005-part-i-i

## Snapshot

The Altamont schoolteacher whose fierce, exacting love of learning gives Eugene his first glimpse of a world beyond Altamont's small cruelties.

## Who they are

Margaret Leonard runs her classroom with the same stern, protective discipline she brings to her marriage to the school's principal, John Dorsey. She is drawn to Eugene's hunger for books, and her encouragement becomes one of the few forces that treats his ambition as a gift rather than an affliction. In a town that measures worth in property and gossip, she stands for the life of the mind, and her faith in Eugene quietly shapes the direction he will eventually take.

## Relationships

### [Eugene Gant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/characters/eugene_gant)

_psychological_

Margaret Leonard is Eugene's teacher and mentor, who awakens his literary ambitions and becomes an idealized, almost spiritual mother figure.

### [Eugene Gant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/characters/eugene_gant)

_psychological_

Margaret Leonard is Eugene's teacher and mentor, who awakens his literary ambitions and becomes an idealized, almost spiritual mother figure.

### [Eugene Gant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/characters/eugene_gant)

_psychological_

Margaret Leonard is Eugene's teacher and mentor, who awakens his literary ambitions and becomes an idealized, almost spiritual mother figure.

## In the story

### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-ii-xvi)

First appears in the chapter; she identifies Eugene's talent and is later seen at the schoolhouse, frail and with a deformed finger.

### [Chapter XXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-ii-xxiii)

Teaches Eugene Shakespeare and other poetry; introduces him to sonnets and plays.

### [XXIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-ii-xxiv)

Margaret Leonard is a nurturing yet firm presence, showing tender sternness toward Eugene. She reads to children and interacts with Eugene with hidden laughter and affection.

### [XXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-ii-xxv)

Emotionally supports England's entry into the war, gives Eugene books by young soldiers, and reads Rupert Brooke's sonnet.

### [XXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-iii-xxviii)

Bids Eugene a tearful farewell, expressing deep love and belief in his genius.

### [XXXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-iii-xxxi)

Looks thin and ill but radiates tranquil patience; laughs off Eugene's attempt to confess about Laura, telling him he doesn't know what love is.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/characters/margaret_leonard
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/characters