# Magda — Short Fiction character guide

> Magda in Short Fiction by Hjalmar Söderberg.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0001-short-fiction

## Snapshot

The young woman whose fervent kisses at a sickbed ignite a stepmother's fury and a dying son's last, stubborn claim on life.

## Who they are

Magda is the girl caught embracing the young invalid when his stepmother bursts in, and she is flung from the house with curses and threats. Her slender wrist in that iron grasp becomes the image the feverish young man cannot shake, and his whispered wish to make her his bride sets the household's quiet war in motion. She matters because everything the invalid still wants from the world is bound up in her name.

## Relationships

### [Frederick Richard Fant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_29_se/characters/frederick_richard_fant)

_romantic_

Frederick Richard Fant and Magda share a romantic relationship, possibly secret or strained.

### [Wetzmann](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_29_se/characters/wetzmann)

_rivalry_

Magda and Wetzmann are rivals, clashing over personal or professional matters.

## In the story

### [Short Fiction](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_29_se/chapters/short-fiction)

Frederick's love interest, whose secret visits lead to tragedy.

### [The Chimney-Sweeper's Wife](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_29_se/chapters/the-chimney-sweeper-s-wife)

The charwoman's daughter, fifteen and just confirmed, who reads to Frederick and shares a kiss with him. She is beaten to death by Mrs. Wetzmann.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_29_se/chapters/ii)

The woman who appears suddenly, kisses the narrator, and kisses his tattoo.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_29_se/chapters/v)

The black-clad woman mourning by the coffin, who realizes she loved the deceased most and weeps over his hand.

### [The Kiss](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_29_se/chapters/the-kiss)

The young girl on the promontory, who contemplates slapping him but is swept away by the kiss.

### [Margot](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_29_se/chapters/margot)

Magda is mentioned in a story within the chapter about a guileless girl who died of brain fever, paralleling Margot's fate.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_29_se/chapters/iv)

The girl who believed the man's explanation and later became his wife.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_29_se/characters/magda
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_29_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_29_se/characters