The House of Rimmon · Characters
Character guide
Key figures in The House of Rimmon by Henry van Dyke Jr..
Skim names here — open a free preview to see character cards and Character Web beside the page as you read.
Hazael
major
Also known as Naaman, Hazael Naaman, Lord Naaman
Naaman is the man the King honors and the people love, a soldier whose absence from his own house is measured in hours of moonlight. His garden holds a small, hideous image of Rimmon and a tower whose shadow falls across it, while his wife waits and a high priest slips through the trees. The scorn he shows Rezon, and the hatred it earns him, sets the whole drama quietly burning before he ever appears.
Ruahmah
major
Also known as Ruahmah Master, Saballidin, Saballidin Ruahmah
Ruahmah belongs to the same charged world of Damascus where priests, kings, and generals trade favors and grudges. Carrying the aliases Saballidin and Master, this figure's standing places them near the levers of power rather than at its edges. Their choices and loyalties matter early because the struggle over Naaman's house needs allies who can move between its factions.
Rezon Rimmon
major
Also known as Rimmon, Rezon, Enter Rezon, mighty Rimmon, Rezon Dead
Rezon keeps the House of Rimmon, whose square tower casts its shadow across Naaman's garden, and he wields a rod tipped with star and thunderbolt. He repays Naaman's scorn with double hatred, yet he kneels before Tsarpi's beauty and needs her as much as she needs his promises. His midnight errand in the garden ignites the rivalry that drives the play's first acts.
Tsarpi
supporting
Also known as Rezon Tsarpi
Tsarpi rules the terrace of Naaman's palace while her husband haunts the camp, arranging her curls and dismissing her maids with careless authority. She wants everything that lifts her beauty to a higher throne: what a priest can promise, what a man can give, what a god can bestow. Her midnight meeting with Rezon, and the bargain she strikes, turns the household's private neglect into public danger.
Shumakim
supporting
Also known as Shumakim Fie, Shumakim Bitterly
Shumakim moves through the drama's confrontations with a temper that surfaces in clipped, bitter speech. Where others calculate, this character feels the sting of slights and lets it show, making them a barometer of the grudges simmering around Naaman and the House of Rimmon. Their outbursts matter because they force hidden resentments into the open before the plot can quietly resolve them.
Benhadad
supporting
Also known as Benhadad Repent, Benhadad Rising, Benhadad Sinking, Benhadad Agitated, Benhadad Lingering
Benhadad sits at the head of a kingdom whose stability depends on generals like Naaman and priests like Rezon, and his bearing shifts with every turn of fortune. He lingers, repents, rises, and sinks by turns, a sovereign whose personal wavering mirrors the realm's precarious balance. His decisions weigh on the middle of the story, where loyalty, faith, and power must be sorted out at the highest level.
Elisha
supporting
Also known as Elisha saith
Elisha stands outside the courtly machinery of Naaman's Damascus — no leopard-skin mantle, no bronze rod, no interest in flattering the powerful. His authority comes from elsewhere, and it unsettles a world that measures power in ritual and rank. When the story's central crisis arrives, he is the one figure whose response cannot be predicted or purchased, making him the quiet hinge on which the drama's meaning turns.
Naaman
minor
Also known as Naaman Child
A character possibly distinct from Hazael, with a limited but notable role.
Khamma
supporting
Also known as Khamma Mistress, Khamma All, Khamma Hush
Khamma moves through the moonlit garden with the easy familiarity of a servant who knows every corner of her mistress's life, teasing Nubta about the stars while keeping one ear tuned for the clatter of Naaman's horse. She is loyal to Tsarpi but not blind, and her watchfulness places her at the edge of secrets she was never meant to hold. Her presence gives the household its texture — the gossip, the laughter, the small evasions that make the coming betrayal feel lived-in rather than staged.
The High Priest
supporting
Also known as The High Priest
Robed in leopard-skin and armed with a rod shaped like a star at one end and a thunderbolt at the other, the High Priest of Rimmon embodies the fusion of religion and political appetite that defines Damascus. He moves through the garden as both supplicant and schemer, bending the rituals of his god to serve a private grievance against Naaman. His presence raises the stakes of every scene he enters, because what he blesses, he also intends to use.
Saballidin Lady
minor
Also known as Saballidin
A female character, possibly a lady of the court, with limited appearances.
Rakhaz
minor
Also known as Rakhaz Peace, RAKHAZ
A character who appears in scenes, possibly a guard or official.
Nubta
minor
Also known as Nubta Lady
A lady character, possibly a servant or noble, with a small role.
Gehazi
minor
A servant or attendant, possibly of Elisha, with a brief appearance.
Wounded Soldier
minor
A soldier who appears wounded, adding to the war atmosphere.
Izdubhar
minor
A named character, possibly a hero or legendary figure, with a brief mention.
Kharimati
minor
A named character with a very limited presence.
Immeru
minor
A named character, possibly a priest or official, with a minor role.
Addu
minor
A named character, possibly a deity or person, with a brief mention.
Barku
minor
A named character with a very limited role.