# The Getting of Wisdom — Character guide

> Key figures in The Getting of Wisdom by Henry Handel Richardson.

- [Laura Rambotham](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/laura_rambotham.md): Laura Rambotham is the novel's restless center: a clever, observant girl from a struggling country home who is sent to a Melbourne ladies' college and finds its hierarchies far harder to master than any lesson. Her defin
- [Pin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/pin.md): Pin is the little sister Laura leaves behind in the bush, and the holidays reunite them with a shock: the child has grown spindly, freckled, and, to Laura's eye, downright hideous. Where Laura is proud and sensitive, Pin
- [Evelyn Souttar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/evelyn_souttar.md): Evelyn Souttar moves through the school with the assurance of money and good looks, and Laura, hungry for a model, fastens onto her as an idol. The relationship carries the story's central ache: Laura's longing to be cho
- [Mother](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/mother.md): Mother is the hard-pressed widow holding the bush household together, stitching Laura's school dress herself and snapping at her daughter's defiance with the exhaustion of a woman who has sewn all day. Her relationship w
- [Bob](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/bob.md): A young man who flirts with Laura during her visit home, representing romantic temptation.
- [Mrs. Gurley](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/mrs_gurley.md): Mrs. Gurley is the presiding power of the ladies' college, the woman who escorts Laura into the dining room before fifty-five staring girls and whose bedroom sits conveniently above the piano where girls practise. Her ma
- [Tilly Macnamara](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/tilly_macnamara.md): Tilly Macnamara is the school's confident, boy-crazy type, wearing a stiff white collar and cuffs and swinging her shoulders atop a tightly laced waist as she and Laura go out to 'do the block' and meet a boy named Bob. 
- [Miss Chapman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/miss_chapman.md): Among the mistresses at the Ladies' College, Miss Chapman stands apart for the warmth she shows Laura, supervising evening lessons with a kindness the girl rarely meets elsewhere. Yet even her soft remark that little Lau
- [Maria Morell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/maria_morell.md): Maria moves through the Ladies' College with an assurance Laura envies, her cleverness and cutting humour marking her as someone to reckon with among the girls. Where Laura is raw and impulsive, Maria is guarded and sard
- [Godmother](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/godmother.md): Laura's godmother holds the purse strings that lift her out of the family's cramped, shabby world and into the Ladies' College, an act of generosity that comes with invisible strings. Warmth is not her currency; duty and
- [Sarah](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/sarah.md): The family's loyal servant who helps raise Laura and Pin.
- [Marina](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/marina.md): A dreamy, artistic schoolgirl who shares Laura's love of literature.
- [Mary Pidwall](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/mary_pidwall.md): A quiet, studious schoolgirl who becomes Laura's friend.
- [M. P.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/m_p.md): A mysterious, unnamed schoolgirl referred to only by initials in Laura's circle.
- [Lilith Gordon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/lilith_gordon.md): A glamorous, rebellious older girl who fascinates and intimidates Laura.
- [Cupid](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/cupid.md): A mischievous schoolgirl known for her pranks and sharp tongue.
- [Chinky](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/chinky.md): A schoolgirl with a foreign-sounding nickname, part of Laura's social set.
- [Miss Snodgrass](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/miss_snodgrass.md): A strict, humorless teacher at the school.
- [Miss Day](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/miss_day.md): A young, pretty teacher who is kind to the girls.
- [Inez](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/inez.md): A wealthy, fashionable schoolgirl who looks down on Laura.
- [Mr. Strachey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/mr_strachey.md): A local gentleman who hosts social events Laura attends.
- [Cousin Grace](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/cousin_grace.md): Laura's older cousin who visits and offers worldly advice.
- [Miss Isabella Shepherd](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/miss_isabella_shepherd.md): A teacher at the school, known for her piety and strictness.
- [Bertha Ramsay](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/bertha_ramsay.md): A schoolgirl who becomes a close friend of Laura's.
- [Miss Zielinski](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/miss_zielinski.md): A music teacher at the school, known for her eccentricity.
- [Dr. Pughson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/dr_pughson.md): The school's doctor, called in for student illnesses.
- [Miss Hicks](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/miss_hicks.md): A teacher at the school, known for her sharp temper.
- [Little Frank](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/little_frank.md): A young boy who appears briefly in Laura's home life.
- [Kate Horner](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/kate_horner.md): A schoolgirl who is part of Laura's social circle.
- [Leppie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/leppie.md): A schoolgirl with a nickname, part of Laura's cohort.
- [Lolo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters/lolo.md): A delicate, bird-like schoolgirl who is a friend of Laura's.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_getting_of_wisdom_se/characters