# Orlando — Orlando character guide > Orlando in Orlando by Virginia Woolf. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Lord Orlando, the Lady Orlando, the luckless Orlando **First appearance:** 0004-i ## Snapshot A noble-born dreamer who would rather write poetry than love or fight, and who wakes one day to find his body has become a woman's. ## Who they are 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. ## Relationships ### [Nicholas Greene](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_se/characters/nicholas_greene) _professional_ Nicholas Greene is a poet whom Orlando hosts and later criticizes, representing a shifting dynamic of patronage and literary rivalry. ### [Queen Elizabeth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_se/characters/queen_elizabeth) _romantic_ Queen Elizabeth becomes infatuated with the young Orlando, bestowing favors and affection with a possessive, almost maternal romantic interest. ### [Marmaduke Bonthrop Shelmerdine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_se/characters/marmaduke_bonthrop_shelmerdine) _romantic_ Shelmerdine is Orlando's androgynous, adventurous husband, sharing a deep, mystical, and equal romantic bond. ### [Captain Bartolus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_se/characters/captain_bartolus) _professional_ Captain Bartolus is the ship captain who transports Orlando to Constantinople, serving as a competent but distant professional figure. ### [King James](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_se/characters/king_james) _social_ King James is a patron and acquaintance who enjoys Orlando's company at court, but their relationship remains formal and transactional. ### [Mrs. Bartholomew](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_se/characters/mrs_bartholomew) _professional_ Mrs. Bartholomew is a housekeeper or servant at Orlando's estate, managing domestic affairs with loyalty and efficiency. ### [Mr. Dupper](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_se/characters/mr_dupper) _professional_ Mr. Dupper is a steward or secretary to Orlando, handling legal and business matters with dutiful formality. ### [Sasha](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_se/characters/sasha) _romantic_ Sasha is a Russian princess who captivates Orlando with her wild beauty and freedom, leading to a passionate but ultimately heartbreaking affair. ### [Sir Nicholas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_se/characters/sir_nicholas) _friendship_ Sir Nicholas is a friend or courtier who shares a cordial, supportive relationship with Orlando over many years. ### [Mrs. Nelly](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_se/characters/mrs_nelly) _professional_ Mrs. Nelly is a maid or servant who attends to Orlando's personal needs, showing loyalty and familiarity. ### [Mr. Addison](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_se/characters/mr_addison) _social_ Mr. Addison is a literary figure and acquaintance who engages with Orlando in intellectual conversation, representing the literary society of the time. ### [Mrs. Grimsditch](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_se/characters/mrs_grimsditch) _professional_ Mrs. Grimsditch is a long-serving housekeeper at Orlando's estate, embodying steadfast domestic service and maternal care. ## In the story ### [Orlando](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_se/chapters/orlando) Protagonist of the biography, a nobleman who later becomes a woman and lives through several centuries. ### [Frontispiece](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_se/chapters/frontispiece) Depicted as a boy, the central figure of the narrative. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_se/chapters/i) A sixteen-year-old nobleman, handsome and passionate, who practices swordplay, writes poetry, and is favored by Queen Elizabeth I. ### [Chapter II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_se/chapters/ii) Retreats into solitude after disgrace and grief, wanders his haunted house, and struggles with philosophical questions about love and truth. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_se/chapters/iii) Serves as Ambassador to Constantinople, receives a dukedom, experiences a sex change, and later lives with gipsies before returning to England. ### [Chapter IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_se/chapters/iv) Returns to London as a woman, reflects on the influence of clothes on gender identity, and navigates society while seeking life and a lover. ### [Chapter V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_se/chapters/v) Struggles with Victorian constraints, attempts to finish her poem, and marries Shelmerdine. ### [Chapter VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_se/chapters/vi) Completes her poem, travels to London, and grapples with the many selves that constitute her identity. ### [List of Illustrations](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_se/chapters/list-of-illustrations) Appears in multiple illustrations: as a boy, as Ambassador, on return to England, about 1840, and at present time. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_se/characters/orlando - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_se/characters