The Cream of the Jest · Character

La Beale Ettarre

The radiant lady of Storisende, betrothed to Sir Guiron and pursued by Maugis, whose beauty and elusive grace haunt Horvendile and shadow every woman Kennaston has loved.

major

Also known as Ettarre, Dame Ettarre, La

First appearance: II: Introduces the Ageless Woman

As a major figure in The Cream of the Jest, La Beale Ettarre is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

Introduced as the central figure, compared to the Phoenix, embodying unparalleled grace and beauty.

In the storyBook FirstOpen this moment free

La Beale Ettarre is the sister of Count Emmerick and the center of a notable marriage-feast, a woman whose big blue eyes have troubled many men's sleep and whose happiness is shadowed only by the surviving menace of Maugis d'Aigremont. She pities Horvendile's hopeless love with genuine tenderness, yet cannot return it, and her serene certainty about virtue and nobility quietly rebukes his irony. As the figure Kennaston's imagination keeps circling, she is the inaccessible ideal whose various historical guises give the novel its recurring question: whether the woman we dream of can ever be the woman we marry.

See La Beale Ettarre in Book First Book page

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Character Web

25 connections

A slice of how La Beale Ettarre sits in the book — open the reader for the full interactive map.

Relationship types

Romantic
Friendship
Rivalry
Other

Character groups

Poictesme chivalric figures
Protagonist

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Narrative arc

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

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point
Aftermath
Closing

This passage marks the dramatic climax because it reveals the central paradox of Kennaston’s existence: his dr…

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Relationships

Felix Kennaston
romantic · positive
Felix is obsessively in love with the idealized La Beale Ettarre, who is both his muse… How this plays out →
Horvendile
romantic · positive
Maugis d'Aigremont
friendship · positive
Alison
rivalry · negative
Adam
friendship · positive
Cromwell
rivalry · negative
Count Emmerick
friendship · positive
Horvendile
romantic · positive
Felix Kennaston
romantic · positive
Felix is obsessively in love with the idealized La Beale Ettarre, who is both his muse… How this plays out →
Alison
rivalry · negative
Maugis d'Aigremont
friendship · positive
Horvendile
romantic · positive

Felix Kennaston
Felix is obsessively in love with the idealized La Beale Ettarre, who is both his muse and a projection of his desires.
Horvendile
Horvendile is a chivalric admirer of La Beale Ettarre, bound by courtly love and devotion.
Maugis d'Aigremont
La Beale Ettarre and Maugis are courteous allies within the dream narrative, bound by chivalric codes.
Alison
Alison resents La Beale Ettarre as the idealized rival for Felix's emotional and creative attention.
Adam
Adam serves La Beale Ettarre with loyalty in the dream world.
Cromwell
Cromwell is an antagonist figure who opposes La Beale Ettarre in the historical dream sequences.
Count Emmerick
Count Emmerick is a noble ally to La Beale Ettarre in the dream narrative.
Horvendile
Horvendile is a chivalric admirer of La Beale Ettarre, bound by courtly love and devotion.
Felix Kennaston
Felix is obsessively in love with the idealized La Beale Ettarre, who is both his muse and a projection of his desires.
Alison
Alison resents La Beale Ettarre as the idealized rival for Felix's emotional and creative attention.
Maugis d'Aigremont
La Beale Ettarre and Maugis are courteous allies within the dream narrative, bound by chivalric codes.
Horvendile
Horvendile is a chivalric admirer of La Beale Ettarre, bound by courtly love and devotion.

Relationship notes

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See La Beale Ettarre in II: Introduces the Ageless Woman

In the story

La Beale Ettarre appears across 28 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

Book First
Introduced as the central figure, compared to the Phoenix, embodying unparalleled grace and beauty.
II: Introduces the Ageless Woman
The ageless woman, Count Emmerick's sister, betrothed to Sir Guiron. Watches from the turrets, fears Maugis, and pities Horvendile.
Of the Double-Dealer’s Traffic with a Knave
Desired by Maugis; she is preparing to marry Sir Guiron.
V: How the Double-Dealer Was of Two Minds
Awakens to find Horvendile has betrayed the castle; she bravely asserts that heaven will defend the right.
VI: Treats of Maugis d’Aigremont’s Pottage
Grieves Guiron's apparent death, shrieks at Maugis, and fears Horvendile's madness.
VII: Journey's End: With the Customary Unmasking
Receives the half sigil from Horvendile and reunites with Guiron after Maugis's death.
Book Second
The inaccessible 'She' of the epigraph, representing the idealized beloved and object of Kennaston's fictions.
VIII: Of a Trifle Found in Twilight
Ettarre is the heroine of Kennaston's romance; he has ended her love-business with Guiron, and the found disk is woven into the tale as her breast-ornament.
XI: How There Was a Light in the Fog
Appears in Kennaston's dream, discussing dreams and the sigil of Scoteia.
XIV: Peculiar Conduct of a Personage
Mentioned as holding the other half of the sigil.
XV: Of Vain Regret and Wonder in the Dark
Appears as the woman in the dream; her loveliness is revealed when the door opens.
Book Third
The ethereal figure Kennaston yearns for, appearing in his dreams.
XVI: They Come to a High Place
Awaits Kennaston by a stone balustrade, speaks of waiting long, and is puzzled by his inability to touch her.
XVII: Of the Sigil and One Use of It
The object of Kennaston's dreams; touching her causes the dream to end.
XIX: Local Laws of Nephelococcygia
Present in every dream, she is the central figure of Kennaston's dreamworld, though she does not recall his book's events.
XX: Of Divers Fleshly Riddles
Referenced as the one who ended Kennaston's lifelong loneliness.
XXI: In Pursuit of a Whisper
Accompanies Kennaston on his nightly journeys to see cities and historical figures.
XXII: Of Truisms: Treated Reasonably
Touching Ettarre ends the dream, allowing Kennaston to dismiss distasteful existences.
Book Fourth
Appears in Kennaston's dreams, embodying the ideal he pursues.
XXIX: Of Poetic Love: Treated with Poetic Inefficiency
The object of Kennaston's idealized love in his dreams; he momentarily sees her in Muriel's face.
XXX: Cross-Purposes in Spacious Times
The unattainable ideal; appears disguised as the boy Master Skirlaw in Kennaston's dream, but vanishes when he tries to touch her.
XXXI: Horvendile to Ettarre: At Whitehall
Present at Whitehall, reveals her role in inspiring powerful men and the secret of the mirror.
XXXII: Horvendile to Ettarre: At Vaux-le-Vicomte
The silent listener; Horvendile addresses her throughout, expressing jealousy and adoration.
Horvendile to Ettarre: In the Conciergerie
Explains that all women reflect her beauty and that the dream is ending.
Of One Enigma That Threatened to Prove Allegorical
Appears as death or the ghost of a dead loved one, offering Kennaston a moment of poignant emotion.
Sundry Disclosures of the Press
Identified as the dream counterpart of Kathleen; Kennaston reflects on never having touched her hands or lips.
Considerations Toward Sunset
The fictional character in Kennaston's book, revealed to be inspired by his wife.
One Way of Elusion
Referenced as the dream counterpart of Kathleen; her truth that 'All men I must evade at the last' is realized in this chapter.

Chapter companion notes

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See La Beale Ettarre in II: Introduces the Ageless Woman

See La Beale Ettarre in Book First