# Ellen — News from Nowhere character guide > Ellen in News from Nowhere by William Morris. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Neighbour Ellen, neighbour Ellen, Ellen yonder **First appearance:** 0004-v-children-on-the-road ## Snapshot A luminous young woman who wants the past explained to her, not as nostalgia but as a warning for the children she hopes to raise. ## Who they are Ellen stands slightly apart from the easy contentment around her, pressing the narrator to make history clear because she fears what forgetting it might cost. Her beauty and earnestness unsettle him, and their conversations on the river carry an intimacy that neither quite names. She matters because she alone in the new society treats the past as something still dangerous and worth understanding. ## Relationships ### [Clara](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/characters/clara) _friendship_ Clara and Ellen share a sisterly bond, with Clara often protective and affectionate toward Ellen. ### [Dick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/characters/dick) _friendship_ Dick and Ellen have a warm, platonic friendship, with Dick showing admiration for Ellen's spirit. ### [Clara](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/characters/clara) _friendship_ Clara and Ellen share a sisterly bond, with Clara often protective and affectionate toward Ellen. ### [Dick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/characters/dick) _friendship_ Dick and Ellen have a warm, platonic friendship, with Dick showing admiration for Ellen's spirit. ## In the story ### [The Guest House and the Breakfast Therein](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/chapters/iii-the-guest-house-and-the-breakfast-therein) One of the three young women; she brings roses and strawberries, and later reveals she is forty-two though she looks twenty. ### [IV: A Market by the Way](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/chapters/iv-a-market-by-the-way) A beautiful woman in a light-green dress, tall and dark-haired, who smiles kindly at the narrator and Dick before disappearing through a gate. ### [XVI: Dinner in the Hall of the Bloomsbury Market](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/chapters/xvi-dinner-in-the-hall-of-the-bloomsbury-market) Ellen is not present in this chapter. ### [XXII: Hampton Court and a Praiser of Past Times](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/chapters/xxii-hampton-court-and-a-praiser-of-past-times) Ellen delivers a passionate speech defending the present world of beauty, work, and direct experience, criticizing past literature for its focus on sham troubles and neglect of the poor. ### [XXIII: An Early Morning by the Runnymede](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/chapters/xxiii-an-early-morning-by-the-runnymede) Ellen defends the new society passionately, contrasting the freedom and beauty of the present with the misery of the past, and is later seen as a fairy-like figure in the garden. ### [XXIV: Up the Thames: The Second Day](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/chapters/xxiv-up-the-thames-the-second-day) Ellen is thoughtful and abstracted, with a strange wild beauty that captivates the narrator. ### [XXVII: The Upper Waters](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/chapters/xxvii-the-upper-waters) Ellen joins the party unexpectedly, having rowed after them from Runnymede, and interacts warmly with the group. ### [XXVIII: The Little River](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/chapters/xxviii-the-little-river) Claims the Guest as her companion, speaks of her impending move to Cumberland, and admits she has followed him to ask questions. ### [A Resting-Place on the Upper Thames](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/chapters/xxix-a-resting-place-on-the-upper-thames) Ellen sits next to the guest, initiates a discussion about the ugliness of rich men's houses, and articulates the connection between inequality and the death of art. She also expresses a wish to understand history and pass on knowledge to her children. ### [The Journey's End](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/chapters/xxx-the-journey-s-end) Ellen rows alongside the narrator, engages in conversation about the river's past, and proposes that he stay with them. ### [XXXI: An Old House Amongst New Folk](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/chapters/xxxi-an-old-house-amongst-new-folk) Leads the Guest to the old house, expresses her love for the earth and the house, and warns the Guest against excessive musing. ### [The Feast's Beginning … The End](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/chapters/xxxii-the-feast-s-beginning-the-end) Ellen is seated opposite the Guest at the feast, smiling and engaged in conversation with neighbours. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/characters/ellen - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/characters