Short Fiction · Character

My Father

A once-affectionate father whose sudden, unexplained coldness turns a daughter's happiest household into a place of frowning silence and dread.

supporting

Also known as my father

First appearance: a tale of the passions

As a supporting figure in Short Fiction, My Father is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

Guido's deceased father, whose capricious tyranny shaped Guido's rebellious nature.

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He and his daughter had shared sweet counsel, future travels, and unrestrained confidence — until a young man's visits began and the father watched them with restless anxiety. Then the visits stopped, and so did his warmth: he shunned her, answered her supplicating looks with anger, and drove her to tears and silence. His transformation is the story's first rupture, the moment joy becomes grief, and the daughter's helplessness before his unexplained change powers the narrative's early grief.

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Character Web

15 connections

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Relationship types

Other

Character groups

Duty vs. Desire
Diverse Ensemble
Trials of Loyalty
Mysterious Arrivals

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point
Aftermath
Closing

This is the story's dramatic climax because it represents the protagonist's final, desperate attempt to confro…

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In the story

My Father appears across 14 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

Transformation
Guido's deceased father, whose capricious tyranny shaped Guido's rebellious nature.
The Elder Son
The narrator's father, a widowed clergyman, dies of consumption after a period of intense emotional openness, leaving her a considerable fortune.
The Parvenue
The narrator's father, a land steward who becomes crippled in a fire and later pressures her for money.
I
A wealthy, passionate man who marries Diana, is devastated by her death, and abandons his child to become a solitary wanderer.
II
The narrator's father is absent but idealized; she cherishes his miniature and letter, dreaming of a future reunion.
III
Described as changed from his earlier grief, now all love and softness; he shares vivid memories of the narrator's mother and becomes her constant companion.
IV
The father is consumed by a mysterious sorrow, marked by melancholy, violent passions, and silent suffering; he avoids confiding in his daughter.
V
Mathilda's father, who reveals his unnatural passion for her, leading to a scene of intense emotional turmoil.
VI
Mathilda's father, who has confessed a forbidden passion and leaves the house before dawn, causing her anguish.
VII
Writes a confessional letter to Mathilda, revealing his guilty passion and his decision to banish himself forever.
VIII
The narrator's deceased father, whose guilty passion and suicide are the source of her trauma and isolation.
IX
Mentioned as the memory that was 'the life of my life' for the narrator, central to their enduring grief.
X
The narrator compares Woodville to her father, noting that Woodville is younger and less worn, and that her father's memory is a source of her guilt and isolation.
XII
The narrator's deceased father is the central figure in her reverie and her longing for reunion in an afterlife.

Chapter companion notes

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See My Father in a tale of the passions

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