# Don Cesare — The Charterhouse of Parma character guide

> Don Cesare in The Charterhouse of Parma by Stendhal.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** the excellent Priore Don Cesare, the good Don Cesare, the worthy Don Cesare

**First appearance:** 0010-ix

## Snapshot

A kindly prior and jailer at the Farnese Tower whose gentle conscience makes him a reluctant accomplice to both cruelty and rescue.

## Who they are

Don Cesare serves as chaplain and custodian within the Farnese Tower, a man whose natural goodness sits uneasily beside the grim machinery of his brother General Fabio Conti's prison. He becomes the quiet channel through which Clelia and Fabrizio communicate, risking his own position out of compassion rather than conviction. His presence humanises the citadel and shows how even within an instrument of tyranny, decency can survive and quietly undermine it.

## In the story

### [XXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_charterhouse_of_parma_se/chapters/xxii)

Receives fine books from Fabrizio and shows them to Clelia, unaware of the hidden love notes.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_charterhouse_of_parma_se/characters/don_cesare
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_charterhouse_of_parma_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_charterhouse_of_parma_se/characters