# Irene — The Little White Bird character guide

> Irene in The Little White Bird by J. M. Barrie.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Miss Irene

**First appearance:** 0001-ii-the-little-nursery-governess

## Snapshot

A young woman who becomes a governess and later marries, her fortunes woven into the narrator's early chapters and the book's quiet social world.

## Who they are

Irene moves through the early chapters as a governess and then a wife, her life unfolding alongside the narrator's stories and the Gardens' small society. She is connected to the domestic and romantic currents that the narrator observes with a mixture of sympathy and detachment. Her presence helps ground the book's fantastical flights in the ordinary hopes and arrangements of its human characters.

## Relationships

### [David](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_little_white_bird_se/characters/david)

_romantic_

David shares a tender, romantic connection with Irene, marked by youthful affection.

### [William Paterson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_little_white_bird_se/characters/william_paterson)

_social_

Irene and William Paterson are acquaintances, connected through their social circle.

### [David](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_little_white_bird_se/characters/david)

_romantic_

David shares a tender, romantic connection with Irene, marked by youthful affection.

### [William Paterson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_little_white_bird_se/characters/william_paterson)

_social_

Irene and William Paterson are acquaintances, connected through their social circle.

### [David](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_little_white_bird_se/characters/david)

_romantic_

David shares a tender, romantic connection with Irene, marked by youthful affection.

## In the story

### [VII: The Last of Timothy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_little_white_bird_se/chapters/vii-the-last-of-timothy)

Mentioned as part of the plan to procure David's outfit.

### [The Inconsiderate Waiter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_little_white_bird_se/chapters/viii-the-inconsiderate-waiter)

William's bold and talkative daughter, who accompanies the party to Surrey and interacts with the narrator.

### [XI: The Runaway Perambulator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_little_white_bird_se/chapters/xi-the-runaway-perambulator)

David's nurse, who brings him to the narrator's rooms and warns against removing his socks.

### [XII: The Pleasantest Club in London](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_little_white_bird_se/chapters/xii-the-pleasantest-club-in-london)

The little nurse, proud of her cap and streamers, is strict and jealous, but also deeply caring; she tells the Cinderella story with heartfelt emotion and secretly dreams of becoming a lady.

### [The Grand Tour of the Gardens](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_little_white_bird_se/chapters/xiii-the-grand-tour-of-the-gardens)

Irene has authority over the omnibuses that bound the Gardens, stopping them with a finger to allow safe crossing.

### [An Interloper](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_little_white_bird_se/chapters/xix-an-interloper)

Called out by David in a cautious whisper during the night.

### [XX: David and Porthos Compared](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_little_white_bird_se/chapters/xx-david-and-porthos-compared)

David's nurse, referred to as 'the girl Irene'; complains about the narrator's lack of severity with David.

### [William Paterson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_little_white_bird_se/chapters/xxi-william-paterson)

Mentioned as someone David shouts to attract attention, contrasting with how he whistles to Paterson.

### [XXIII: Pilkington’s](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_little_white_bird_se/chapters/xxiii-pilkington-s)

Irene is mentioned as someone the narrator could go sit with when David and Oliver exclude him.

### [XXIV: Barbara](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_little_white_bird_se/chapters/xxiv-barbara)

Irene appears in the narrator's adventure story, discovering news of Barbara's birth inside a shark.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_little_white_bird_se/characters/irene
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_little_white_bird_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_little_white_bird_se/characters