The Cords of Vanity · Character

Ned Lethbury

A friend of the narrator, a young man about town.

minor

Also known as Lethbury, Teddy

Ned Lethbury's tie to Unknown Narrator is one of the pressures that moves The Cords of Vanity—worth meeting in the text, not only on a cast list.

Mentioned as a handsome man with waxed mustachios whose example prompts the narrator to ask Stella to sit out a dance.

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With Unknown Narrator (friendship): Ned is a friend and fellow member of the narrator's social circle. With Unknown Narrator (friendship):…

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Character Web

6 connections

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Relationship types

Character groups

+1 more in the full Character Web

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

In this scene, the emotional peak occurs when Elena physically strikes the narrator after his social blunder,…

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Unknown Narrator
friendship · positive
Ned is a friend and fellow member of the narrator's social circle. How this plays out →
Unknown Narrator
friendship · positive
Ned is a friend and fellow member of the narrator's social circle. How this plays out →

Relationship notes

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Ned Lethbury appears across 6 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

I: He Sits Out a Dance
Mentioned as a handsome man with waxed mustachios whose example prompts the narrator to ask Stella to sit out a dance.
II
Mr. Lethbury is noted as a handsome man with waxed mustachios and whiskers, whose example prompts the narrator to ask Stella to sit out a dance.
He Duels with a Stupid Woman
The drunken, brutish husband of Amelia, who is fumbling at the gate at the end of the chapter.
II
Elena's husband, an embezzler and drunkard, who is currently the manager of the Imperial Dramatic Company.
III
Drunkenly fumbles with the gate latch, speaking to it plaintively as if it were a lost child.
VIII
Caught by police that summer; his trial at Chiswick is mentioned.

Chapter companion notes

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