# Monna Brigida — Romola character guide

> Monna Brigida in Romola by George Eliot.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Brigida, Monna

**First appearance:** 0007-v-the-blind-scholar-and-his-daughter

## Snapshot

Romola's plump, fifty-five-year-old cousin, torn between her rouge and her conscience, who submits to being good the way she submits to growing old — reluctantly and with complaints.

## Who they are

Monna Brigida is the surviving thread of Romola's family, a vain but warm-hearted woman who fusses over her complexion and her soul in equal measure. Under Savonarola's Florence she wavers between Piagnone austerity and her old love of finery, and Romola's gentle teasing about her good-natured face lands where flattery never could. Her small vanities and real affection keep Romola tethered to ordinary human tenderness as the city turns severe.

## In the story

### [XIII: The Shadow of Nemesis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/xiii-the-shadow-of-nemesis)

Monna Brigida accompanies Romola to San Marco, showing her loyalty and support, while also expressing her own pragmatic views on family grudges.

### [XV: The Dying Message](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/xv-the-dying-message)

Accompanies Romola to San Marco and waits outside the chapter-house.

### [XLIX: The Pyramid of Vanities](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/xlix-the-pyramid-of-vanities)

Romola's cousin, whom she is to fetch so they can watch the events from a reserved window.

### [LI: Monna Brigida's Conversion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/li-monna-brigida-s-conversion)

Monna Brigida undergoes a forced conversion, giving up her rouge, false hair, and embroidered biretta under pressure from the Piagnoni boys, and resolves to become a Piagnone.

### [LVIII: A Final Understanding](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/lviii-a-final-understanding)

Accompanies Romola and goes out to gather news about the council's decision.

### [LXX: Meeting Again](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/lxx-meeting-again)

Welcomes Romola and the children into her home, though with some reluctance.

### [Epilogue](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/epilogue)

Asleep in the room, having aged with soft white hair, no longer finding fault with Tessa.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/characters/brigida
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/characters