Character guide

Orlando

major

Also known as Lord Orlando, the Lady Orlando, the luckless Orlando

Orlando moves through Elizabethan courts, Turkish embassies, and English drawing rooms with the same restless, poetic hunger, outliving everyone he meets. His biographer keeps complaining that he neither loves nor kills as a proper subject should, only thinks and imagines, which makes him slippery to pin down. That very elusiveness is the point: Orlando is a three-century experiment in what a self becomes when it refuses to sit still.

Sasha

supporting

Sasha arrives at the Elizabethan court as part of the Muscovite embassy, all dark curls and reckless laughter, and Orlando falls for her with an intensity that rearranges his whole sense of himself. She is elusive, possibly unfaithful, and utterly uninterested in the decorum that governs everyone around her. Her betrayal, when it comes, teaches Orlando the first hard lesson about love that the rest of the book keeps testing.

Nicholas Greene

supporting

Also known as Mr. Nicholas Greene, Nick Greene, Mr. Greene, old Greene

Greene is the literary lion of the age, invited to Orlando's table, flattered by his host, and quietly contemptuous of the noble amateur who wants so badly to be taken seriously as a writer. He embodies everything treacherous about the republic of letters: charm in the drawing room, knife in the review. His judgment shapes Orlando's relationship to poetry for centuries, and the wound never quite closes.

Marmaduke Bonthrop Shelmerdine

supporting

Also known as Bonthrop, Shelmerdine

Shelmerdine is a man of action dropped into a book about a person of thought, and the mismatch is the joke and the tenderness of the whole Victorian section. He and Orlando discover, to their mutual astonishment, that each has a streak of the other's sex in them, which is why they can love without pretending. He matters because he proves Orlando can be known, not just admired or pursued.

Queen Elizabeth

supporting

Also known as old Queen Elizabeth, Elizabeth, Betty

Elizabeth rules the opening world of the book, dispensing favor and jealousy in equal measure, and Orlando's boyish beauty earns him a place near her throne. Her attention is flattering and dangerous, a reminder that in this court love and power are the same currency. When she dies, she takes an entire era of Orlando's life with her, and the book begins its long slide through time.

Archduchess Harriet Griselda

supporting

Also known as the Archduchess, the Archduchess Harriet, the Archduchess Harriet Griselda of Finster-Aarhorn

Harriet first appears in Constantinople, looming in Orlando's doorway with an infatuation that Orlando finds suffocating and slightly absurd. She follows him back to England, undeterred by indifference or geography, and her persistence becomes one of the book's running jokes about desire that will not take no for an answer. What she actually is, and what she wants, is one of the quieter surprises Woolf saves for the middle of the story.

King James

minor

Also known as old King James, King Jamie, James

The Scottish king who succeeds Elizabeth and favors Orlando.

Ben Jonson

minor

A playwright and rival to Shakespeare in Orlando's literary circle.

Mrs. Grimsditch

minor

Also known as good old Mrs. Grimsditch, good old Grimsditch, Grimsditch

The loyal housekeeper at Orlando's country estate.

Mr. Dupper

minor

A minor poet and hanger-on in Orlando's literary circle.

Mrs. Nelly

minor

Also known as Nell

A woman associated with Orlando's domestic life.

Mr. Addison

minor

Also known as Addison

A writer and critic who visits Orlando in the 18th century.

Sir Nicholas

minor

A courtier or nobleman in Orlando's social circle.

Mrs. Bartholomew

minor

Also known as Bartholomew

A woman who appears in Orlando's household.

Captain Bartolus

minor

Also known as Bartolus

A sea captain encountered during Orlando's travels.

Marched Basket

minor

Also known as Basket

A servant or minor functionary in Orlando's estate.

Louise

minor

A servant or companion who appears in Orlando's household.

Eusebius Chubb

minor

A minor literary figure encountered by Orlando.

Lady Margaret O'Brien O'Dare O'Reilly Tyrconnel

minor

Also known as the Lady Margaret

A noblewoman who interacts with Orlando in society.

Shakespeare

minor

The playwright whom Orlando admires and briefly meets.

John Fenner Brigge

minor

Also known as Brigge

A minor character associated with Orlando's later life.

Madame du Deffand

minor

Also known as Old Madame du Deffand, Madame

A French salonnière who hosts Orlando in Paris.

Shelley

minor

Also known as Shel

The Romantic poet, briefly referenced in Orlando's literary world.

Lady R.

minor

Also known as old Lady R.

A minor noblewoman in Orlando's acquaintance.

Sir Thomas Browne

minor

Also known as Thomas Browne, Browne

A 17th-century writer whose works Orlando reads.

Christopher Marlowe

minor

Also known as Kit Marlowe, Kit

A playwright contemporary to Shakespeare, mentioned in passing.

Purity

minor

Also known as Lady of Purity

An allegorical figure who appears in Orlando's visions.

Miss Penelope Hartopp

minor

Also known as Miss Penelope

A young woman in Orlando's social circle.

Lady Chastity

minor

An allegorical figure in Orlando's symbolic journey.

Rustum el Sadi

minor

Also known as old Rustum, Rustum

A gypsy leader who hosts Orlando in Turkey.

The Muscovite

minor

A Russian envoy or figure in the Elizabethan court.

John Dryden

minor

Also known as Mr. Dryden, Dryden

A poet and playwright of the Restoration era.

Queen Victoria

minor

Also known as Victoria

The reigning monarch during Orlando's Victorian years.

Miss Nellie Boxall

minor

Also known as Mistress Nell, Nell

A servant in Orlando's Victorian household.

Mrs. Greene

minor

Also known as Greene

The wife of Nicholas Greene, briefly mentioned.

King Charles

minor

Also known as The King, Charles

A monarch referenced in Orlando's historical timeline.

Lord Chesterfield

minor

An 18th-century statesman and writer, mentioned in passing.

Joe Stubbs

minor

Also known as Stubbs, Joe

A minor character in Orlando's household.

Lord O.

minor

Also known as the Lord O.

A nobleman briefly encountered by Orlando.

James Boswell

minor

Also known as Mr. Boswell

The biographer of Samuel Johnson, mentioned in passing.

John Donne

minor

Also known as Donne

A metaphysical poet whose works Orlando admires.

Jonathan Swift

minor

Also known as Mr. Swift

The satirist, briefly referenced in Orlando's literary circle.

Marshall & Snelgrove

minor

Also known as Marshall, Snelgrove

A department store mentioned in Orlando's Victorian life.

Mr. F. L. Lucas

minor

Also known as Mr. L.

A minor literary figure in Orlando's later years.

Twitchett

minor

A servant or minor character in Orlando's household.

Mrs. Stewkley

minor

A woman in Orlando's social or domestic circle.

Sukey

minor

A servant in Orlando's household.

Lieutenant Brigge

minor

A military officer associated with Orlando's later life.

Marquis of C.

minor

Also known as Mr. M., the Marquis C.

A nobleman encountered in Orlando's social world.