# Misery — Poetry character guide

> Misery in Poetry by Langston Hughes.

**Role:** minor

**Also known as:** ma

**First appearance:** 0056-troubled-woman

## Who they are

Personified sorrow, addressed in blues poems.

## Relationships

### [Baby Albert](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_15_se/characters/baby_albert)

_family_

Baby Albert is closely tied to Misery, likely as a child or dependent figure in a tragic family dynamic.

### [Ma Lord](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_15_se/characters/ma_lord)

_psychological_

Ma Lord and Misery share a tense, possibly spiritual or oppressive relationship, with Misery as a suffering subject.

### [Ma Jesus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_15_se/characters/ma_jesus)

_family_

Ma Jesus and Misery appear in a maternal-suffering bond, possibly a mother and child or spiritual caretaker.

### [Ma Jesus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_15_se/characters/ma_jesus)

_family_

Ma Jesus and Misery appear in a maternal-suffering bond, possibly a mother and child or spiritual caretaker.

### [Baby Albert](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_15_se/characters/baby_albert)

_family_

Baby Albert is closely tied to Misery, likely as a child or dependent figure in a tragic family dynamic.

## In the story

### [The Weary Blues](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_15_se/chapters/the-weary-blues)

The emotional state embodied in the blues lyrics, personified as a companion.

### [Listen Here Blues](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_15_se/chapters/listen-here-blues)

The consequence warned against—men will bring you misery.

### [Misery](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_15_se/chapters/misery)

Personified as the speaker's companion and the blues itself.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_15_se/characters/misery
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_15_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_15_se/characters