# Walter Bidlake — Point Counter Point character guide

> Walter Bidlake in Point Counter Point by Aldous Huxley.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Walter, Bidlake, Walt Whitman

**First appearance:** 0001-ii

## Who they are

A sensitive young writer torn between his mistress and his wife.

## Relationships

### [Lucy Tantamount](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/point_counter_point_se/characters/lucy_tantamount)

_romantic_

Lucy is a cold, manipulative seductress who toys with Walter's affections, leading to a destructive and one-sided obsession.

### [Marjorie Carling](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/point_counter_point_se/characters/marjorie_carling)

_romantic_

Marjorie is Walter's long-suffering, devoted mistress whom he neglects and emotionally abandons for Lucy.

### [Dennis Burlap](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/point_counter_point_se/characters/dennis_burlap)

_friendship_

Dennis and Walter are literary acquaintances and rivals, sharing a superficial friendship marked by mutual envy and hypocrisy.

### [Spandrell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/point_counter_point_se/characters/spandrell)

_rivalry_

Spandrell despises Walter's sentimental weakness and competes with him for Lucy's attention, viewing him with contempt.

### [Lucy Tantamount](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/point_counter_point_se/characters/lucy_tantamount)

_romantic_

Lucy is a cold, manipulative seductress who toys with Walter's affections, leading to a destructive and one-sided obsession.

### [Lucy Tantamount](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/point_counter_point_se/characters/lucy_tantamount)

_romantic_

Lucy is a cold, manipulative seductress who toys with Walter's affections, leading to a destructive and one-sided obsession.

### [Marjorie Carling](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/point_counter_point_se/characters/marjorie_carling)

_romantic_

Marjorie is Walter's long-suffering, devoted mistress whom he neglects and emotionally abandons for Lucy.

### [Marjorie Carling](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/point_counter_point_se/characters/marjorie_carling)

_romantic_

Marjorie is Walter's long-suffering, devoted mistress whom he neglects and emotionally abandons for Lucy.

### [Spandrell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/point_counter_point_se/characters/spandrell)

_rivalry_

Spandrell despises Walter's sentimental weakness and competes with him for Lucy's attention, viewing him with contempt.

### [Dennis Burlap](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/point_counter_point_se/characters/dennis_burlap)

_friendship_

Dennis and Walter are literary acquaintances and rivals, sharing a superficial friendship marked by mutual envy and hypocrisy.

### [Dennis Burlap](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/point_counter_point_se/characters/dennis_burlap)

_friendship_

Dennis and Walter are literary acquaintances and rivals, sharing a superficial friendship marked by mutual envy and hypocrisy.

### [Spandrell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/point_counter_point_se/characters/spandrell)

_rivalry_

Spandrell despises Walter's sentimental weakness and competes with him for Lucy's attention, viewing him with contempt.

## In the story

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/point_counter_point_se/chapters/i)

Struggles with guilt and resentment toward Marjorie, torn between duty and his obsession with Lucy Tantamount.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/point_counter_point_se/chapters/v)

Listens skeptically to Illidge's complaints; his past letters to Marjorie reveal his shy, tender courtship, contrasting with his current cruelty.

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

Obsessively searches for Lucy at the party, feeling a mix of love and intellectual hatred toward her.

### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/point_counter_point_se/chapters/xi)

Misery watching Lucy with Cuthbert; guilt over Marjorie; feels his desires and Lucy's power intensely.

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

Returns home late to Marjorie after being with Lucy; breaks down emotionally when confronted by Marjorie.

### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/point_counter_point_se/chapters/xiii)

Resolves to end his affair with Lucy and be faithful to Marjorie, but is confronted by Marjorie's detection of Lucy's perfume and leaves to find Lucy.

### [XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/point_counter_point_se/chapters/xv)

Torn between guilt toward Marjorie and obsessive passion for Lucy; tries to justify his love for both women, but is increasingly distressed by the falsity of his relationship with Marjorie.

### [XXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/point_counter_point_se/chapters/xxi)

Blushes at Philip's reference to his romantic folly, silently recalls his first meeting with Lucy Tantamount.

### [XXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/point_counter_point_se/chapters/xxv)

Recipient of Lucy's letters; she chides him for his 'yammering' and jealousy, yet expresses desire for his presence.

### [XXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/point_counter_point_se/chapters/xxvii)

Son of John and Janet, born during John's brief domestic convalescence.

### [Chapter XXX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/point_counter_point_se/chapters/xxx)

Returns home pale and distressed after reading Lucy's letter; rejects Marjorie's pity and isolates himself.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/point_counter_point_se/characters/walter_bidlake
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/point_counter_point_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/point_counter_point_se/characters