# Martinon — Sentimental Education character guide

> Martinon in Sentimental Education by Gustave Flaubert.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Baptiste Martinon

**First appearance:** 0007-chapter-i

## Snapshot

A plump, prudent law student who knows when to disappear, and who will trade sentiment for position without ever seeming to hurry.

## Who they are

Martinon is the schoolfellow Frederick rediscovers cramming for the bench in a shabby boarding-house, a well-fed young man with regular features and a talent for being elsewhere when trouble starts. When a lecture erupts into a riot, he slips away while Frederick stays to watch, and the contrast is the whole man: cautious, respectable, and quietly ambitious. He matters as the counterweight to Frederick's drift, the friend who will end up with the career and the connections that the romantic hero keeps failing to secure.

## Relationships

### [Frederick Moreau](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sentimental_education_se/characters/frederick_moreau)

_friendship_

Martinon is a fellow student and friend, though Frederick views him as a dull and conventional rival in society.

## In the story

### [Sentiment and Passion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sentimental_education_se/chapters/sentiment-and-passion)

Frederick's old schoolfellow, content with his simple life; Frederick envies his happiness.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sentimental_education_se/characters/martinon
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sentimental_education_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sentimental_education_se/characters