# Gladys Farmer — One of Ours character guide

> Gladys Farmer in One of Ours by Willa Cather.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Gladys

**First appearance:** 0004-i

## Snapshot

A Frankfort schoolteacher who has watched Claude since high school, believing he might be the one generous man who escapes the world Bayliss Wheeler rules.

## Who they are

Gladys teaches the children of dead men and has built a private philosophy from it: everything beautiful—love, leisure, art—is locked up, and successful men like Bayliss hold the keys. She has sacrificed small pleasures, even a trip to the opera, to keep her salary and her standing. Claude is her one hope, the strong boy with the finer strain who might succeed without turning hard; if he marries Enid and goes heavy and broken like Mr. Royce, her whole theory of life collapses.

## Relationships

### [Claude Wheeler](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/one_of_ours_se/characters/claude_wheeler)

_romantic_

Claude feels a wistful, unfulfilled romantic attraction to the intelligent and artistic Gladys, who represents a life he cannot have.

### [Bayliss Wheeler](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/one_of_ours_se/characters/bayliss_wheeler)

_romantic_

Bayliss courts Gladys with a dull, possessive persistence, but she finds him stifling and unappealing.

### [Claude Wheeler](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/one_of_ours_se/characters/claude_wheeler)

_romantic_

Claude feels a wistful, unfulfilled romantic attraction to the intelligent and artistic Gladys, who represents a life he cannot have.

### [Claude Wheeler](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/one_of_ours_se/characters/claude_wheeler)

_romantic_

Claude feels a wistful, unfulfilled romantic attraction to the intelligent and artistic Gladys, who represents a life he cannot have.

### [Bayliss Wheeler](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/one_of_ours_se/characters/bayliss_wheeler)

_romantic_

Bayliss courts Gladys with a dull, possessive persistence, but she finds him stifling and unappealing.

### [Bayliss Wheeler](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/one_of_ours_se/characters/bayliss_wheeler)

_romantic_

Bayliss courts Gladys with a dull, possessive persistence, but she finds him stifling and unappealing.

## In the story

### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/one_of_ours_se/chapters/xvi)

Gladys is the object of Bayliss's courtship; she is a talented musician and old friend of Claude, but her poverty makes her vulnerable to Bayliss's advances.

### [XIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/one_of_ours_se/chapters/xix)

Joins the sleigh party; shows composure despite Claude's resentment; expresses weariness and a desire to travel.

### [Book II: Enid](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/one_of_ours_se/chapters/book-ii-enid)

Gladys represents an alternative, more compatible partner for Claude, highlighting the contrast with Enid.

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/one_of_ours_se/chapters/vi)

Observes Claude's proposal and reflects on his future and her own constrained life.

### [Building the House](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/one_of_ours_se/chapters/x)

Gladys visits the new house with Enid and feels a poignant sadness. Claude senses her sensibility and longs to warn her against marrying his brother Bayliss.

### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/one_of_ours_se/chapters/xii)

Sends flowers for the wedding via Silent Irv; remembered as kind to Irv in school.

### [Book III: Sunrise on the Prairie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/one_of_ours_se/chapters/book-iii-sunrise-on-the-prairie)

A local woman who represents an alternative path for Claude, symbolizing unfulfilled possibilities.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/one_of_ours_se/chapters/ii)

Claude considers Gladys as one of the 'children of the moon' with unappeased longings and a confidant in the moon.

### [Chapter VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/one_of_ours_se/chapters/vii)

Meets Claude at the schoolhouse; she is thoughtful and grave about the war, and Claude notes the gossip risk of visiting her.

### [Homecoming in Uniform](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/one_of_ours_se/chapters/x)

Waves to Claude from a car at the station.

### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/one_of_ours_se/chapters/xii)

Receives Claude in her parlour, admits she has always admired him, and decides to save her house from taxes.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/one_of_ours_se/characters/gladys_farmer
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/one_of_ours_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/one_of_ours_se/characters