# Peter Blagden — The Cords of Vanity character guide > Peter Blagden in The Cords of Vanity by James Branch Cabell. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Mr. Blagden, Mr. Peter Blagden **First appearance:** 0005-i-writing ## Snapshot A wealthy, cynical older man who marries Stella and regards the narrator's romantic posturing with the weary amusement of someone who has seen it all before. ## Who they are Blagden enters the social world as Stella's eventual husband, a man of money and settled disillusion who treats sentiment as a slightly embarrassing hobby of the young. His sardonic composure throws the narrator's feverish self-dramatizing into relief, and his marriage to Stella turns the narrator's longing into something more complicated than courtship. He matters because he represents the future the narrator's temperament is drifting toward — comfortable, ironic, and quietly hollow. ## Relationships ### [Unknown Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/characters/unknown_narrator) _friendship_ Peter is a close male friend and confidant of the narrator, often involved in social and romantic intrigues. ### [Stella Musgrave](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/characters/stella_musgrave) _friendship_ Peter and Stella share a friendly rapport, often interacting within the narrator's social orbit. ### [Unknown Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/characters/unknown_narrator) _friendship_ Peter is a close male friend and confidant of the narrator, often involved in social and romantic intrigues. ### [Unknown Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/characters/unknown_narrator) _friendship_ Peter is a close male friend and confidant of the narrator, often involved in social and romantic intrigues. ### [Stella Musgrave](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/characters/stella_musgrave) _friendship_ Peter and Stella share a friendly rapport, often interacting within the narrator's social orbit. ## In the story ### [III: He Earns a Stickpin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/iii-he-earns-a-stickpin) Peter is the narrator's rival for Stella and marries her, asking the narrator to be best man. ### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/v) Peter is described as the only nephew of a wealthy uncle, seven years older than the narrator, and notoriously dissipated, yet likeable. ### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/viii) Peter asks the narrator to be his best man, fidgets nervously before the wedding, and marries Stella. ### [IV: He Talks with Charteris](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/iv-he-talks-with-charteris) Stella's new husband, who has just been married and departed with his bride. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/i) Peter Blagden is mentioned as having just been married and departing with his wife, rice-pelted and entrained. ### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/vii) Mentioned as Stella's husband; the narrator recalls being fond of him. ### [He Baits Upon the Journey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/xiii-he-baits-upon-the-journey) Mentioned as Stella's husband, who is in Washington on business and is succeeding in his legal career; the narrator teases Stella about Peter's weight. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/iii) Stella's husband, a lawyer doing well in Washington; his past dissipation is mentioned, and Stella claims credit for reforming him. ### [XIV: He Participates in a Brave Jest](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/xiv-he-participates-in-a-brave-jest) Peter is found drunk and broken by the narrator, having secretly relapsed into drinking; he is unable to be at Stella's bedside. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/iii) Peter has disappeared, relapsed into drinking, and is found by the narrator in a state of collapse. ### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/iv) Mentioned as the subject of the narrator's lies; Stella believes he has achieved great success in the Western Railway case. ### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/v) Mentioned as the dependable man Stella chose to marry. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/i) Peter is described with vacant red-rimmed eyes at the funeral. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/ii) Mentioned as alive after Stella's death. ### [He Plays the Improvident Fool](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/xix-he-plays-the-improvident-fool) Mentioned by Lizzie as an example of a man who married for money and lied to his wife, drawing a parallel to the narrator's engagement. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/iii) Mentioned as the man Stella married, a source of the narrator's pain. ### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/iv) Mentioned as a negative example of a man who married Stella for her money and lied to her. ### [He Reviles Destiny and Climbs a Wall](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/xxiii-he-reviles-destiny-and-climbs-a-wall) Now wealthy and gout-ridden, Peter hosts the narrator at Gridlington and argues with him about gardening and the heiress. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/i) Now wealthy and gout-ridden, he is visited by the narrator at Gridlington. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/ii) Peter, the narrator's friend and host, suffers from gout and criticizes the narrator's mercenary intentions. ### [XXIV: He Reconciles Sentiment and Reason](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/xxiv-he-reconciles-sentiment-and-reason) Mentioned as the host whose estate Townsend is visiting and who gave him the cigarette case. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/ii) Townsend's host, whose estate adjoins the Hugonin property; his cigarette-case serves as a prop in the conversation. ### [XXV: He Advances in the Attack on Selwoode](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/xxv-he-advances-in-the-attack-on-selwoode) Host at Gridlington; engages in teasing banter with Townsend about his fortune-hunting and love life. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/i) Peter teases the narrator about his fortune-hunting, laughs at his own jokes, and is described as bloated and gout-ridden; he was the man Stella loved. ### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/iv) Mentioned as commenting at luncheon about people who are never on time for meals. ### [He Assists in the Diversion of Birds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/xxvi-he-assists-in-the-diversion-of-birds) Mentioned as the wealthy man whose identity Townsend borrowed; his cigarette case caused the initial misunderstanding. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/ii) Mentioned as the wealthy man Avis initially thought Townsend was. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/iii) Discusses his loneliness and preference for tranquility; considers traveling abroad to escape fortune-hunters. ### [He Participates in Sundry Confidences](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/xxviii-he-participates-in-sundry-confidences) Mentioned as the man Avis is marrying; his letter is referenced. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/ii) Marries Avis; the narrator receives a letter from him justifying his actions. ### [He Allows the Merits of Imperfection](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/xxix-he-allows-the-merits-of-imperfection) Stella's widower; now remarried, wealthy, and known for his sprees; the narrator reflects on how Stella loved him. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/ii) Peter is now a wealthy man in Lichfield, remarried, and no longer expected to become a great lawyer. He is remembered fondly but has forgotten Stella. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/characters/peter_blagden - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/characters