# Mrs. Kennaston — The Cream of the Jest character guide

> Mrs. Kennaston in The Cream of the Jest by James Branch Cabell.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mrs. Felix Kennaston

**First appearance:** 0001-the-cream-of-the-jest

## Snapshot

Kennaston's practical wife, who reads the newspaper notices of his novel with deep seriousness and gently suggests he write something more up-to-date and profitable.

## Who they are

Kathleen Kennaston is the competent mistress of the household, preoccupied with gasoline engines and clipping-bureaus, who has lived beside her husband's abilities without quite crediting them. She defers reading Men Who Loved Alison on various pretexts and treats it as a private joke that she alone has not read the book everyone discusses, a humor Kennaston finds neither funny nor wifely. Her cheerful suggestion that he write something dealing with real life, and make money from it, exposes the gulf between his dream-values and her domestic ones, making her the quiet counterweight to everything the sigil offers him.

## In the story

### [I: Palliation of the Gambit](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cream_of_the_jest_se/chapters/i-palliation-of-the-gambit)

Mentioned as part of the Kennastons, the couple known to the narrator through shallow intimacy.

### [IX: Beyond Use and Wont Fares the Road to Storisende](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cream_of_the_jest_se/chapters/ix-beyond-use-and-wont-fares-the-road-to-storisende)

Dines alone with Kennaston; they share a taciturn meal and discuss only small daily happenings.

### [Of Idle Speculations in a Library](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cream_of_the_jest_se/chapters/x-of-idle-speculations-in-a-library)

Kathleen Kennaston is described as disliking books due to her past work as a lecturer and journalist.

### [XIII: Suggesting Themes of Universal Appeal](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cream_of_the_jest_se/chapters/xiii-suggesting-themes-of-universal-appeal)

Reacts to Kennaston's success with practical concerns, suggests he write about real life, and deflects his philosophical musings with talk of household matters and social snubs.

### [XX: Of Divers Fleshly Riddles](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cream_of_the_jest_se/chapters/xx-of-divers-fleshly-riddles)

Observes Kennaston with anxious distrust as he withdraws from everyday affairs.

### [Evolution of a Vestryman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cream_of_the_jest_se/chapters/xvii-evolution-of-a-vestryman)

Delighted by Kennaston's decision to be confirmed.

### [XXIX: Of Poetic Love: Treated with Poetic Inefficiency](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cream_of_the_jest_se/chapters/xxix-of-poetic-love-treated-with-poetic-inefficiency)

Kathleen, Kennaston's wife, returns from the South; he meets her train and receives her cool kiss.

### [XXXV: Treats of Witches, Mixed Drinks, and the Weather](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cream_of_the_jest_se/chapters/xxxv-treats-of-witches-mixed-drinks-and-the-weather)

Engages in small talk about household chores and travel plans; later criticized by Moira for her use of makeup.

### [Sundry Disclosures of the Press](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cream_of_the_jest_se/chapters/xxxvi-sundry-disclosures-of-the-press)

Referred to as Kathleen; her hidden possession of the sigil half reveals her connection to Ettarre.

### [Considerations Toward Sunset](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cream_of_the_jest_se/chapters/xxxvii-considerations-toward-sunset)

Referenced as Kathleen, his wife, whose youth and virtues shaped the character of Ettarre.

### [One Way of Elusion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cream_of_the_jest_se/chapters/xxxviii-one-way-of-elusion)

Kathleen refuses to acknowledge the sigil, discarding it in the wastebasket and steering the conversation toward trivialities, effectively choosing the mundane over the mystical.

### [Past Storisende Fares the Road of Use and Wont](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cream_of_the_jest_se/chapters/xxxix-past-storisende-fares-the-road-of-use-and-wont)

Continues her social duties alongside Felix; remains a 'not unfriendly mystery' to him.

### [XL: Which Mr. Flaherty Does Not Quite Explain](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cream_of_the_jest_se/chapters/xl-which-mr-flaherty-does-not-quite-explain)

Dies in her sleep; had hidden the sigil pieces; suspected her husband's mental state but loved him.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cream_of_the_jest_se/characters/mrs_kennaston
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cream_of_the_jest_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cream_of_the_jest_se/characters