# Russ Brissenden — Martin Eden character guide

> Russ Brissenden in Martin Eden by Jack London.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Brissenden

**First appearance:** 0025-xxiv

## Snapshot

A tubercular, sardonic poet who reads Martin's verse, calls him a poet, and urges him to serve Beauty rather than prostitute it to magazines.

## Who they are

Brissenden arrives as the one person in Martin's new world who takes his writing seriously — and the one who refuses to take the world seriously. He tells Martin to leave fame and coin alone, to go back to his ships and sea, insisting that joy lies in the doing, not the success. His contempt for bourgeois cities and magazine editors is total, and his flash of divination about the 'pale, shrivelled, female thing' behind the Love-cycle nearly gets him throttled. He matters because he offers Martin an alternative to Ruth's respectability: art for its own sake, at whatever cost.

## Relationships

### [Martin Eden](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/martin_eden_se/characters/martin_eden)

_friendship_

Russ is Martin's intellectual and artistic confidant, a fellow writer who understands his struggles but also warns him about the futility of seeking validation from the bourgeoisie.

### [Martin Eden](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/martin_eden_se/characters/martin_eden)

_friendship_

Russ is Martin's intellectual and artistic confidant, a fellow writer who understands his struggles but also warns him about the futility of seeking validation from the bourgeoisie.

### [Martin Eden](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/martin_eden_se/characters/martin_eden)

_friendship_

Russ is Martin's intellectual and artistic confidant, a fellow writer who understands his struggles but also warns him about the futility of seeking validation from the bourgeoisie.

## In the story

### [XXXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/martin_eden_se/chapters/xxxi)

Brissenden meets Martin at the Grotto, displaying his sharp wit, intellectual depth, and capacity for liquor, impressing Martin with his conversational brilliance.

### [XXXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/martin_eden_se/chapters/xxxii)

Visits Martin, brings whiskey and a book; criticizes bourgeois society and advises Martin to abandon magazines for beauty.

### [XXXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/martin_eden_se/chapters/xxxiii)

Martin would have borrowed money from him, but Brissenden has disappeared for two weeks.

### [Chapter XXXIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/martin_eden_se/chapters/xxxiv)

Returns unexpectedly, bringing books and whiskey, providing Martin with companionship.

### [XXXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/martin_eden_se/chapters/xxxv)

Shares his poem 'Ephemera' with Martin, refuses to submit it to magazines, and gives Martin a hundred-dollar bill from his winnings at the races.

### [Chapter XXXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/martin_eden_se/chapters/xxxvi)

Leads Martin to the 'real dirt,' introducing him to Kreis, Norton, and other thinkers; he falls asleep on the ferry afterward.

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

Referenced as having advised Martin against magazine publication; his epithets 'bourgeois' and 'trader's den' echo in Martin's mind.

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

Sick and drinking heavily, urges Martin to attend the socialist meeting and give a speech, hoping it will give Martin a sanction for existence.

### [XXXIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/martin_eden_se/chapters/xxxix)

Brissenden visits Martin, encourages him to physically confront the cub reporter, and later lies sick in his hotel, unable to help Martin with his troubles.

### [XL](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/martin_eden_se/chapters/xl)

Found dead by suicide; his poem 'Ephemera' is posthumously published in The Parthenon with great fanfare.

### [XLI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/martin_eden_se/chapters/xli)

His poem 'Ephemera' is posthumously exploited by the press and public, causing Martin great sadness; Martin reflects on Brissenden's correct judgment of the literary world.

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

Referenced as having spoiled Martin for steam beer and companionship; his death contributes to Martin's loneliness.

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

Martin feels his popularity is a disgrace and treason to Brissenden, who was torn to pieces by the crowd.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/martin_eden_se/characters/russ_brissenden
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/martin_eden_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/martin_eden_se/characters