# Mistress Telimena — Pan Tadeusz character guide

> Mistress Telimena in Pan Tadeusz by Adam Mickiewicz.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Telimena, aunt Telimena, Madam Telimena, Fair Telimena

**First appearance:** 0004-book-i-home-keeping

## Snapshot

A worldly Petersburg widow with a mirror for a counsellor, she hunts two young men through the drawing-room as coolly as the men hunt hares.

## Who they are

Telimena governs Sophia's education and the household's social weather, dispensing perfumes, pomades, and pointed advice with equal fluency. She weighs the Count's fortune against Thaddeus's innocence, calculating which heart is worth the siege, and she is not above arranging the board to suit herself. Her intrigues threaten to entangle the young lovers and split the young men, making her the quiet engine of the poem's romantic complications.

## In the story

### [Pan Tadeusz, Book 2: The Last Foray in Lithuania](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pan_tadeusz_se/chapters/pan-tadeusz)

Telimena orchestrates romantic intrigue, flirts with both Thaddeus and the Count, and is rescued from the bear.

### [Book I: Home-Keeping](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pan_tadeusz_se/chapters/book-i-home-keeping)

Enters the supper in a fine gown; accidentally touches Thaddeus as she takes her seat.

### [Book II: The Castle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pan_tadeusz_se/chapters/book-ii-the-castle)

Tells a Petersburg anecdote during breakfast.

### [Book III: Flirting](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pan_tadeusz_se/chapters/book-iii-flirting)

Argues against the proposed marriage, asserts her guardianship over Sophia, and later flirts with the Count.

### [Book IV: Diplomacy and the Chase](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pan_tadeusz_se/chapters/book-iv-diplomacy-and-the-chase)

Mentioned in the context of the romantic confusion from the previous night; her plans are indirectly referenced.

### [Book V: Diplomacy and the Chase](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pan_tadeusz_se/chapters/book-v-diplomacy-and-the-chase)

Plans her romantic strategy, considering the Count and Thaddeus as her quarry; later instructs Sophia on entering society.

### [Book VIII: The Foray](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pan_tadeusz_se/chapters/book-viii-the-foray)

Emotionally confronts Thaddeus, accuses him of betrayal, and threatens to curse him after he rejects her marriage proposal.

### [Book IX: The Battle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pan_tadeusz_se/chapters/book-ix-the-battle)

Joins the Judge and Sophia in pleading for mercy toward the captured nobles.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pan_tadeusz_se/characters/telimena
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pan_tadeusz_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pan_tadeusz_se/characters