# Barbara — Short Fiction character guide

> Barbara in Short Fiction by Thomas Hardy.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** dear Barbara

**First appearance:** 0002-destiny-and-a-blue-cloak

## Snapshot

A woman whose affections are pulled between a returned explorer and her titled betrothed, she must meet a midnight summons she cannot refuse.

## Who they are

Barbara — called Rosalys in the drawing-rooms around her — sits betrothed to Lord Parkhurst while the sun-dried traveler Jim Durrant, once her soldier, reappears at dinner as if risen from the dead. Her pallor and strange smiles betray a history no one at the table suspects, and his whispered demand for a midnight meeting at Ambrose Towers forces her toward an understanding she has dreaded for years. Her composure under scrutiny is the story's central, brittle performance.

## Relationships

### [Lord Uplandtowers](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters/lord_uplandtowers)

_romantic_

Barbara is the object of Lord Uplandtowers' obsessive romantic pursuit, which borders on psychological manipulation.

### [Mr. Willowes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters/mr_willowes)

_romantic_

Barbara and Mr. Willowes are lovers, their relationship a source of happiness but also social danger.

### [Lord Uplandtowers](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters/lord_uplandtowers)

_romantic_

Barbara is the object of Lord Uplandtowers' obsessive romantic pursuit, which borders on psychological manipulation.

## In the story

### [First Night](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/first-night)

The shepherd boy (Bill Mills) who watches the secret meeting from the hut; he is young and often falls asleep on duty.

### [Second Night](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/second-night)

The Duchess, wife of the Duke, who receives a letter from her cousin Fred and meets him once but avoids the second meeting.

### [XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/xvii)

Not present in this chapter.

### [Dame the Second](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/dame-the-second)

Barbara is the central figure of this chapter, a young woman who elopes with Edmond Willowes but is unable to accept his disfigurement after a fire.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters/barbara
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters