# Maisie Maidan — The Good Soldier character guide

> Maisie Maidan in The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** poor Maisie, Maisie, Maidan, young Maidan

**First appearance:** 0000-part-i-i

## Snapshot

A young, lisping, submissive wife with a weak heart, followed by Edward from Burma to Nauheim, where she dies quietly of the trouble that was always going to kill her.

## Who they are

Maisie Maidan is barely twenty-three, married to a boy husband in Chitral, and so gentle that even Dowell remembers her as something wrapped in lavender. Edward's pursuit of her — sincere, he insists — becomes the scandal that first draws Florence and Leonora into their strange intimacy, after Leonora slaps her in a hotel corridor. Her death is the story's first quiet casualty, and the pattern for what follows.

## Relationships

### [Leonora Ashburnham](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_good_soldier_se/characters/leonora_ashburnham)

_rivalry_

Leonora resents Maisie as one of Edward's mistresses, seeing her as a rival for her husband's attention.

### [Edward Ashburnham](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_good_soldier_se/characters/edward_ashburnham)

_romantic_

A brief, sentimental affair where Edward idealizes Maisie as a pure, helpless woman.

### [John Dowell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_good_soldier_se/characters/john_dowell)

_social_

A casual acquaintance, with John observing Maisie as a minor figure in the circle of betrayals.

### [Florence Dowell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_good_soldier_se/characters/florence_dowell)

_social_

A superficial social connection, with Florence viewing Maisie as a rival for Edward's attention.

### [Leonora Ashburnham](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_good_soldier_se/characters/leonora_ashburnham)

_rivalry_

Leonora resents Maisie as one of Edward's mistresses, seeing her as a rival for her husband's attention.

### [Edward Ashburnham](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_good_soldier_se/characters/edward_ashburnham)

_romantic_

A brief, sentimental affair where Edward idealizes Maisie as a pure, helpless woman.

### [John Dowell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_good_soldier_se/characters/john_dowell)

_social_

A casual acquaintance, with John observing Maisie as a minor figure in the circle of betrayals.

## In the story

### [Chapter V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_good_soldier_se/chapters/part-i-v)

Maisie is described as ill and innocent, never Edward's mistress. She is slapped by Leonora after being found in Edward's room.

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_good_soldier_se/chapters/part-i-vi)

Dies of heart failure after writing a letter accusing Leonora of buying her for adultery.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_good_soldier_se/chapters/part-iii-iv)

Mentioned indirectly as part of the set of ladies; not a major focus in this chapter.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_good_soldier_se/chapters/part-iii-v)

Maisie is passionately in love with Edward, raves about him to Leonora, and her presence unsettles Edward, causing him to question his constancy.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_good_soldier_se/chapters/part-iv-i)

Referenced in the context of Edward's unfaithfulness to her memory and Leonora's plan to manage his affections.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_good_soldier_se/chapters/part-iv-v)

Mentioned in Leonora's litany of Edward's past affairs.

### [Chapter VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_good_soldier_se/chapters/part-iv-vi)

Mentioned as one of Edward's past entanglements.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_good_soldier_se/characters/maisie_maidan
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_good_soldier_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_good_soldier_se/characters