# Mary — Short Fiction character guide

> Mary in Short Fiction by Arthur Machen.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Aunt Marian, Marian

**First appearance:** 0000-the-great-god-pan

## Snapshot

Darnell's wife, whose quiet presence beneath the mulberry tree opens for him a world of secret woods and winding rivers beyond Shepherd's Bush.

## Who they are

Mary sits hand in hand with Darnell in the dusk, and as the ugly walls of Shepherd's Bush dissolve into shadow, she seems to know something of the secret of the wood and the valley shut in by high hills. Her relations share the modern world's instinctive horror of the true country, so her knowledge comes from no experience but from some deeper intuition. In her eyes Darnell sees water-pools in the still forest and hears the music of the winding river — she is the human anchor of his visions.

## Relationships

### [Uncle Robert](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_6_se/characters/uncle_robert)

_family_

Mary and Uncle Robert are clearly family, likely uncle and niece, with a warm familial bond.

### [Uncle Robert](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_6_se/characters/uncle_robert)

_family_

Mary and Uncle Robert are clearly family, likely uncle and niece, with a warm familial bond.

## In the story

### [The Great God Pan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_6_se/chapters/the-great-god-pan)

The young woman subjected to Raymond's experiment, left mentally and physically destroyed.

### [The Experiment](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_6_se/chapters/i-the-experiment)

Subject of the experiment; left a hopeless idiot after seeing the spirit world.

### [II: Mr. Clarke's Memoirs](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_6_se/chapters/ii-mr-clarke-s-memoirs)

The subject of Raymond's experiment; her terrified, convulsed face fades slowly from Clarke's memory.

### [IV: The Discovery in Paul Street](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_6_se/chapters/iv-the-discovery-in-paul-street)

Mary is recalled by Clarke when he sees the sketch; he remembers her role in Dr. Raymond's experiment and the phrase 'Mary will see the God Pan.'

### [The Fragments](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_6_se/chapters/viii-the-fragments)

Referenced as the original subject of Raymond's experiment; her eyes appeared in Helen's final agony.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_6_se/chapters/v)

The narrator's wife, who tearfully consents to the experiment and is transformed.

### [The Spare Room](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_6_se/chapters/i)

Aunt Marian's gift enables the Darnells to consider furnishing the spare room; her handkerchief is a token of affection.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_6_se/chapters/ii)

Listens intently to Darnell's story, her eyes full of wonder and anticipation.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_6_se/chapters/iii)

Aunt Marian, whose bizarre experiences and discovery of Uncle Robert's secret are recounted.

### [The Veil Grows Thin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_6_se/chapters/iv)

Senses a subtle but pervasive alteration in reality, struggles against impressions of another world, and worries about her husband's new obsession.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_6_se/characters/mary
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_6_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_6_se/characters