# Dr. Ledsmar — The Damnation of Theron Ware character guide > Dr. Ledsmar in The Damnation of Theron Ware by Harold Frederic. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** the doctor, That bear of a doctor **First appearance:** 0001-part-i-ii ## Snapshot A reclusive physician and amateur scientist whose cold, amused intelligence offers Theron a third path away from faith, and no comfort at all. ## Who they are Dr. Ledsmar lives alone with his experiments, his books, and his Chinese servant, and receives visitors with a bearish indifference that Theron mistakes for wisdom. He studies heredity and religion as curiosities, and his detached, faintly cruel observations give Theron a vocabulary for his own unbelief. He is the novel's coldest intelligence, and his friendship is less a gift than a mirror. ## Relationships ### [Theron Ware](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_damnation_of_theron_ware_se/characters/theron_ware) _friendship_ Dr. Ledsmar is a reclusive scientist who engages Theron in intellectual discussions about Darwinism and skepticism, further eroding Theron's faith. ### [Alice Ware](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_damnation_of_theron_ware_se/characters/alice_ware) _social_ Alice interacts with Dr. Ledsmar only peripherally, as she is uncomfortable with his atheistic views and his influence over her husband. ### [Father Forbes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_damnation_of_theron_ware_se/characters/father_forbes) _friendship_ Dr. Ledsmar and Father Forbes are intellectual sparring partners who debate science and religion with mutual respect, representing two sides of modern thought. ### [Celia Madden](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_damnation_of_theron_ware_se/characters/celia_madden) _friendship_ Celia and Dr. Ledsmar share a bond of intellectual curiosity, though she finds his cold rationalism less appealing than Father Forbes's warmth. ### [Theron Ware](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_damnation_of_theron_ware_se/characters/theron_ware) _friendship_ Dr. Ledsmar is a reclusive scientist who engages Theron in intellectual discussions about Darwinism and skepticism, further eroding Theron's faith. ### [Theron Ware](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_damnation_of_theron_ware_se/characters/theron_ware) _friendship_ Dr. Ledsmar is a reclusive scientist who engages Theron in intellectual discussions about Darwinism and skepticism, further eroding Theron's faith. ### [Father Forbes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_damnation_of_theron_ware_se/characters/father_forbes) _friendship_ Dr. Ledsmar and Father Forbes are intellectual sparring partners who debate science and religion with mutual respect, representing two sides of modern thought. ### [Alice Ware](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_damnation_of_theron_ware_se/characters/alice_ware) _social_ Alice interacts with Dr. Ledsmar only peripherally, as she is uncomfortable with his atheistic views and his influence over her husband. ### [Father Forbes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_damnation_of_theron_ware_se/characters/father_forbes) _friendship_ Dr. Ledsmar and Father Forbes are intellectual sparring partners who debate science and religion with mutual respect, representing two sides of modern thought. ### [Celia Madden](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_damnation_of_theron_ware_se/characters/celia_madden) _friendship_ Celia and Dr. Ledsmar share a bond of intellectual curiosity, though she finds his cold rationalism less appealing than Father Forbes's warmth. ### [Celia Madden](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_damnation_of_theron_ware_se/characters/celia_madden) _friendship_ Celia and Dr. Ledsmar share a bond of intellectual curiosity, though she finds his cold rationalism less appealing than Father Forbes's warmth. ## In the story ### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_damnation_of_theron_ware_se/chapters/part-i-vii) Dines with Father Forbes, offers Theron advice on Assyriology and German scholarship, and scrutinizes him. ### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_damnation_of_theron_ware_se/chapters/part-i-viii) Hosts Theron, discusses Catholic vs. Protestant views, and criticizes Celia's organ playing. ### [Chapter X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_damnation_of_theron_ware_se/chapters/part-i-x) Discussed by Celia and Theron; Celia calls him a beast and accuses him of heartless science. ### [Chapter XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_damnation_of_theron_ware_se/chapters/part-ii-xi) Mentioned only in passing as someone Theron has not seen for weeks; not directly present in the chapter. ### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_damnation_of_theron_ware_se/chapters/part-ii-xiii) Sent Theron a parcel of books including works by Renan, which Theron has been reading secretly. ### [Chapter XXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_damnation_of_theron_ware_se/chapters/part-iii-xxi) Hosts Theron and delivers a cynical monologue about women's superstition and their attraction to priests. He dismisses Celia Madden as a 'bundle of egotism, ignorance, and redheaded lewdness' and feigns a painful shoulder to end the visit. ### [XXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_damnation_of_theron_ware_se/chapters/part-iv-xxvi) Mentioned by Theron as expressing intellectual contempt for Celia; Forbes dismisses the rivalry as a game. ### [XXX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_damnation_of_theron_ware_se/chapters/part-iv-xxx) Celia mentions that Theron tried to get Dr. Ledsmar to gossip about her, and that the doctor will no longer have him in his house. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_damnation_of_theron_ware_se/characters/dr_ledsmar - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_damnation_of_theron_ware_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_damnation_of_theron_ware_se/characters