# Elinor Mortimer — Melmoth the Wanderer character guide

> Elinor Mortimer in Melmoth the Wanderer by Charles Robert Maturin.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Elinor, Mortimer, Nell Gwynne

**First appearance:** 0007-vi

## Who they are

A woman whose devotion survives a dead lover, a stolen inheritance, and a family secret that poisons every hope she ever held.

## Relationships

### [John Melmoth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/melmoth_the_wanderer_se/characters/john_melmoth)

_romantic_

Elinor Mortimer is deeply in love with John Melmoth, but their relationship is marked by his coldness and her tragic devotion.

### [Margaret Mortimer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/melmoth_the_wanderer_se/characters/margaret_mortimer)

_family_

Elinor and Margaret Mortimer are mother and daughter, bound by shared grief and Margaret's protective care over Elinor.

### [John Melmoth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/melmoth_the_wanderer_se/characters/john_melmoth)

_romantic_

Elinor Mortimer is deeply in love with John Melmoth, but their relationship is marked by his coldness and her tragic devotion.

### [Margaret Mortimer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/melmoth_the_wanderer_se/characters/margaret_mortimer)

_family_

Elinor and Margaret Mortimer are mother and daughter, bound by shared grief and Margaret's protective care over Elinor.

### [Margaret Mortimer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/melmoth_the_wanderer_se/characters/margaret_mortimer)

_family_

Elinor and Margaret Mortimer are mother and daughter, bound by shared grief and Margaret's protective care over Elinor.

## In the story

### [Elinor's Spiritual and Emotional Struggle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/melmoth_the_wanderer_se/chapters/xxx)

Elinor is depicted in profound emotional and spiritual turmoil, torn between her love for John Sandal and the religious exhortations of her dying aunt.

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

Suffers from mortal heartbreak; meets Sandal one last time in the woods, realizes his smile is not for her; witnesses his wedding from concealment and departs in mourning.

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

Grieves her aunt, lives in seclusion, attends Margaret in childbirth, and later cares for the insane John Sandal.

### [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/melmoth_the_wanderer_se/chapters/endnotes)

Referenced in a note suggesting that some characters were unacquainted with her story.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/melmoth_the_wanderer_se/characters/elinor_mortimer
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/melmoth_the_wanderer_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/melmoth_the_wanderer_se/characters