# Aglaia — Short Fiction character guide

> Aglaia in Short Fiction by Ivan Bunin.

**Role:** major

**First appearance:** 0026-aglaia

## Snapshot

Once a young bride with charm in her very boots, Aglaia has become Madame Maraud—Constantine's perfect hostess, whose tranquil soul is about to be tested.

## Who they are

Fourteen years in colonial Constantine have transformed the woman who once sailed in the Auvergne: silver threads her hair, her skin has grown golden and transparent, and she governs her household with impeccable, slightly excessive tidiness. Everyone agrees there is no better mother or more charming companion than Madame Maraud, and her husband believes her soul utterly tranquil and open to him. Yet a single earlier incident—an Arab juggler who hypnotized her almost completely in Tunis—hints at a morbid suggestibility beneath her refined composure, a fault line that the arrival of Emile Du-Buis will find.

## Relationships

### [Father Rodion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_30_se/characters/father_rodion)

_psychological_

Aglaia is deeply influenced or manipulated by Father Rodion, creating a dynamic of spiritual or emotional dependency.

## In the story

### [Aglaia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_30_se/chapters/aglaia)

Born Anna, orphaned by smallpox, raised by sister Katherine, becomes a nun under Father Rodion, dies after three years of severe asceticism.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_30_se/characters/aglaia
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_30_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_30_se/characters