# Mildred Douglas — The Hairy Ape character guide

> Mildred Douglas in The Hairy Ape by Eugene O’Neill.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mildred, Mildred Protesting, Douglas, Miss Douglas

**First appearance:** 0004-scene-ii

## Snapshot

A millionaire's daughter slumming for sensation, who wears a white dress into the stokehole and recoils from Yank as if from a beast.

## Who they are

Mildred is a restless heiress who slaps her aunt, mocks her own chastity, and descends into the ship's fiery pit seeking something real to feel. Her horror at Yank's blackened, gorilla-like form is instinctive and absolute, and it brands him with a shame he cannot shake. Her brief, careless glance becomes the hinge on which Yank's whole identity turns, exposing the chasm between her world and his.

## In the story

### [Dramatis Personae](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hairy_ape_se/chapters/dramatis-personae)

Listed as a character in the dramatis personae.

### [The Hairy Ape: A Comedy of Ancient and Modern Life in Eight Scenes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hairy_ape_se/chapters/the-hairy-ape)

A wealthy, sheltered young woman whose visit to the stokehole and horrified reaction to Yank triggers the central conflict.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hairy_ape_se/characters/mildred
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hairy_ape_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hairy_ape_se/characters