Elena Barry-Smith

Unknown Narrator

Elena is a sophisticated woman with whom the narrator shares flirtation and romantic tension.

Unknown Narrator

Elena is a sophisticated woman with whom the narrator shares flirtation and romantic tension.

Unknown Narrator

Elena is a sophisticated woman with whom the narrator shares flirtation and romantic tension.

II

Revealed to be married to Ned Lethbury; she is torn between her love for the narrator and her religious and marital obligations.

XI: He Postures Among Chimney-Pots

Elena is the young American woman the narrator meets on the roof during the hotel fire; they discuss Helen of Troy and ideal beauty.

III

The woman with the narrator on the roof; she is frightened and nearly falls, but is saved by the narrator.

V

An American Southerner who was staying at the hotel with her mother; she is calm and witty during the fire, and engages with the narrator's ideas about Helen.

IV

The woman he loved, now with Von Anspach; the narrator struggles with the thought of her as 'Von Anspach's harlot.'

XX: He Dines Out, Impeded by Superstitions

Elena is present at the dinner; the narrator confesses his love to her despite her marriage.

I

The woman the narrator loves; they meet again at a dinner party, and she is married.

II

Mentioned as having married a man named Barry-Smith, which triggers the narrator's bitter reflections.

III

Revealed to be a widow; she engages in a flirtatious conversation with the narrator, teasing him about his proposal.

He Is Urged to Desert His Galley

Elena confronts the narrator about his condescension toward her mother and their class differences, ultimately ending their relationship.

I

Elena is a widow in Liège, later seen wearing pink in her private apartments, and rents a house on Regis Avenue with her mother.

II

Mentioned as Mrs. Vokins's daughter, but not directly featured in this chapter.

III

Described as exceptionally beautiful, disciplined in her beauty regimen, and the object of universal admiration in Lichfield.

IV

Unusually beautiful that night; she mixes drinks for the narrator and extracts a promise of silence about their intimate conversation.

V

Elena is wealthy, beautiful, and mutable; she agrees to marry the narrator but retracts her decision the next morning.

VI

Declares her love for the narrator but refuses to marry him due to their incompatible backgrounds and his intellectual preoccupations.

VII

Elena confronts the narrator about his class prejudice and his hurtful treatment of her mother, ultimately slapping him and rejecting his patronizing marriage proposal.

VIII

Mentioned as the one who humiliated the narrator with some justice, and who would forgive him if he asked.

He Cleans the Slate

The narrator sends her a sonnet-sequence originally written for Stella; she responds with an unsigned photograph of an infant.

I

The narrator is trying to forget Elena, who will not read his letters.

IV

Marries Warwick Risby in Washington without announcement; the narrator meets her and her husband at the Provises'.

V

Possibly the sender of the photograph, though not confirmed.

I

The narrator thinks about Elena Risby upon waking, indicating lingering feelings.

II

Mentioned as a woman who rejected the narrator for Warwick Risby.

IV

Elena is the subject of the narrator's earlier infatuation, which he confessed to Bettie in a letter.

V

Mentioned as having slapped Robin, which Bettie resents.