# The Woman — Short Fiction character guide

> The Woman in Short Fiction by Daphne du Maurier.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** The woman, hers, your

**First appearance:** 0000-terror

## Snapshot

An unnamed woman whose small face, weeping under a pulled-down hat, haunts the narrator's memory and turns a chance meeting into the story he cannot stop telling.

## Who they are

She surfaces in Wardour Street on a rainy night, a girl whose one word — 'romance' — lodges in the narrator's mind for months and refuses to leave. She is glimpsed rather than known, her hat low, her face turned away, and that elusiveness is exactly what gives her power over him. Her presence turns an ordinary man's dull life into something he must confess aloud, even at a wedding.

## Relationships

### [Mrs. John Pearce](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_12_se/characters/mrs_john_pearce)

_social_

Mrs. John Pearce and The Woman share a social connection, possibly as friends or rivals in the same circle.

### [Monkton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_12_se/characters/monkton)

_social_

Monkton and The Woman are acquainted, possibly through the narrator's social circle.

### [Nurse](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_12_se/characters/nurse)

_professional_

The Nurse attends to The Woman, indicating a caretaker or medical role.

### [Kate](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_12_se/characters/kate)

_rivalry_

Kate and The Woman are likely romantic rivals or antagonists, given the narrator's divided attention.

## In the story

### [A Difference in Temperament](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_12_se/chapters/a-difference-in-temperament)

The wife who feels wounded by her husband's desire to go out alone and longs for complete emotional intimacy.

### [The Lover](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_12_se/chapters/the-lover)

The older, wealthy lover who is emotionally dependent on the narrator, offering him money, gifts, and devotion while he exploits her generosity.

### [The Supreme Artist](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_12_se/chapters/the-supreme-artist)

The young co-star of the actor, who interacts with him after the performance and questions him about the visit from the 'old lady.'

### [Frustration](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_12_se/chapters/frustration)

The bride who loses her wedding ring, finds a job as a daily companion, and faces the hardships of poverty.

### [Indiscretion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_12_se/chapters/indiscretion)

The young woman from Shropshire who was abandoned in London and encountered by the narrator in Wardour Street.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_12_se/characters/the_woman
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_12_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_12_se/characters