Felix Kennaston

La Beale Ettarre

Felix is obsessively in love with the idealized La Beale Ettarre, who is both his muse and a projection of his desires.

Kathleen Saumarez

Felix is romantically entangled with Kathleen, a real-world counterpart to his fictional ideal.

Muriel Allardyce

Muriel is a social acquaintance of Felix, part of his real-world circle in Lichfield.

Avis Blagden

Avis Blagden is a neighbor and social contact of Felix, involved in mundane local affairs.

Alison

Alison is Felix's wife, representing his domestic reality and emotional anchor.

Horvendile

Horvendile is Felix's dream-self or alter ego, embodying his creative and heroic fantasies.

Cromwell

Cromwell appears as a historical adversary to Felix's dream-identity, representing conflict.

Adam

Adam is a minor but loyal figure in Felix's dream world, serving as a helper.

La Beale Ettarre

Felix is obsessively in love with the idealized La Beale Ettarre, who is both his muse and a projection of his desires.

Avis Blagden

Avis Blagden is a neighbor and social contact of Felix, involved in mundane local affairs.

Kathleen Saumarez

Felix is romantically entangled with Kathleen, a real-world counterpart to his fictional ideal.

Adam

Adam is a minor but loyal figure in Felix's dream world, serving as a helper.

The Cream of the Jest

The protagonist, whose experiences in both waking and dream worlds form the core of the narrative.

I: Palliation of the Gambit

The central figure whose unexplained transformation from a tolerable poet to a genius is the subject of the chapter.

Book Second

Protagonist whose inner life and romantic idealization are central to the chapter's themes.

VIII: Of a Trifle Found in Twilight

Walks in twilight at Alcluid, musing on his unhappiness in his own country and the unsatisfactory ending he has given to the story of Ettarre and Guiron; discovers and pockets a broken metal disk.

IX: Beyond Use and Wont Fares the Road to Storisende

Immerses himself in writing 'Men Who Loved Alison,' living the life of Horvendile and finding the dream world more real than his waking life.

Of Idle Speculations in a Library

Sits in his library, pondering his identity and the books around him; examines the sigil he found.

XI: How There Was a Light in the Fog

Protagonist who dreams of meeting Ettarre and reflects on the sigil and Beatricê Cenci.

XII: Of Publishing: With an Unlikely Appendix

Completes his romance 'The Audit at Storisende,' endures multiple rejections, revises the manuscript, and eventually sees it published as 'Men Who Loved Alison.'

XIII: Suggesting Themes of Universal Appeal

Reflects on the vulgarization of his dream and the drollery of public notoriety; engages in a tense breakfast conversation with his wife about his book and domestic trivialities.

XIV: Peculiar Conduct of a Personage

Attends a luncheon with a famous personage and other notable men, feels out of place, and is later mystified by the personage's cryptic remarks about the sigil and white pigeons.

XV: Of Vain Regret and Wonder in the Dark

Dreams as the rogue Vanringham, experiencing a noble sorrow and recognizing the dream as such.

Book Third

Deeply absorbed in his dreams of Ettarre, losing interest in diurnal existence.

XVI: They Come to a High Place

Dreams of meeting Ettarre on a high place, feels exultant and powerful, but cannot touch her.

XVII: Of the Sigil and One Use of It

Discovers the sigil's power and learns to prolong his dreams of Ettarre by using a candle's reflection.

XVIII: Treats of a Prelate and, in Part, of Pigeons

Visits the prelate, discusses his sigil and his book, and is warned against delving into forbidden knowledge.

XIX: Local Laws of Nephelococcygia

The dreamer, who experiences consistent dream laws and discovers his dream appearance differs from his waking self.

XX: Of Divers Fleshly Riddles

Grows increasingly detached from his diurnal life and identity; reflects on the isolation of human consciousness.

XXI: In Pursuit of a Whisper

Nightly adventures with Ettarre; visits Napoleon, Shakespeare, and Pilate; reads his uncle's books; suspects other writers shared his divided life.

XXII: Of Truisms: Treated Reasonably

Reflects on the nature of reality and success, finding fulfillment in his dream experiences.

Book Fourth

Continues to lose interest in diurnal life, finding greater meaning in his dream encounters.

XXIII: Economic Considerations of Piety

The dreamer who witnesses historical scenes from his bed, reading the 'truthful history' through his sigil.

Deals with Pen Scratches

Observes the burning of the Alexandrian library and other acts of literary destruction, philosophizing on the value of art and the insignificance of individual deeds.

XXV: Byproducts of Rational Endeavor

The observer who moves through these historical scenes, witnessing the byproducts of human striving.

XXVI: “Epper Si Muove”

The central consciousness of the chapter, reflecting on history, evolution, and the purpose of life.

Evolution of a Vestryman

Develops a theory of God as an artist, becomes a vestryman, and reflects on the disappointment of fulfilled desires.

XXVIII: The Shallowest Sort of Mysticism

Debates with Harrowby about the nature of reality, asserting that humans can only know appearances and that belief is a human privilege.

Book Fifth

The narrator whose soul's delight is measured in dreams rather than waking life.

XXIX: Of Poetic Love: Treated with Poetic Inefficiency

Reflects on his dreams of loving Ettarre, his past affairs, and encounters Muriel Allardyce at the train station.

XXX: Cross-Purposes in Spacious Times

The dreamer, who experiences a puzzling dream as a cardsharp named Lionel Branch and awakens crying 'Valentia!'

XXXI: Horvendile to Ettarre: At Whitehall

Appears as Horvendile, questioning Ettarre about the nature of power and regretting his lack of historical knowledge.

XXXII: Horvendile to Ettarre: At Vaux-le-Vicomte

Mentions the setting and historical figures; his dream self (Horvendile) speaks.

Horvendile to Ettarre: In the Conciergerie

Experiences the dream as Horvendile, seeing Ettarre and the guillotine.

Of One Enigma That Threatened to Prove Allegorical

Appears as an aged king in the dream, lamenting the inevitability of death and the emptiness of worldly pursuits.

XXXV: Treats of Witches, Mixed Drinks, and the Weather

Visits with his wife; shows sudden interest in witchcraft and the Sabbat, but otherwise seems withdrawn and uncommunicative.

Book Sixth

Continues to be consumed by his dream experiences and the sigil, losing interest in diurnal life.

Sundry Disclosures of the Press

Discovers the missing half of the sigil in his wife's bathroom and realizes Kathleen is Ettarre.

Considerations Toward Sunset

Walks at sunset, reflects on his life, marriage, and the inspiration for his fictional Ettarre.

One Way of Elusion

Kennaston attempts to speak of the sigil with Kathleen but is met with denial; he resigns himself to the separation of his dream life from waking reality.

Past Storisende Fares the Road of Use and Wont

Reflects on his literary career and married life, expressing a mix of contentment and wistfulness.

XL: Which Mr. Flaherty Does Not Quite Explain

Portrayed as a flawed, dream-driven man; his wife dies; he remains unshaken in his faith in the sigil's lesson.