# Mrs. Garstin — The Painted Veil character guide

> Mrs. Garstin in The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** VII Mrs. Garstin

**First appearance:** 0003-i

## Snapshot

Kitty's socially ambitious mother, whose relentless campaign to marry off her daughters has shaped Kitty's vanity and her fear of becoming unwanted.

## Who they are

Mrs. Garstin presides over a London household organized around getting her daughters suitably settled, and her disappointment in Kitty is a pressure Kitty has felt since girlhood. She is shrewd, domineering, and unsentimental, and her heavy silences speak louder than her words. Her ambition is the engine behind Kitty's hasty marriage to Walter, and the memory of her judgment shadows Kitty's choices long after she has left England.

## Relationships

### [Kitty Fane](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_painted_veil_se/characters/kitty_fane)

_family_

A manipulative mother-daughter relationship driven by Mrs. Garstin's social ambition and Kitty's resentment.

### [Bernard Garstin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_painted_veil_se/characters/bernard_garstin)

_family_

A passive, submissive husband dominated by his ambitious and controlling wife.

## In the story

### [The Painted Veil](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_painted_veil_se/chapters/the-painted-veil)

Kitty's ambitious and domineering mother, who pressures her daughters into advantageous marriages.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_painted_veil_se/chapters/iii)

Kitty imagines her mother's disdain for Dorothy Townsend's family background.

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_painted_veil_se/chapters/vi)

Photograph shows her as ambitious and controlling; blamed for Kitty's marriage.

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_painted_veil_se/chapters/vii)

Described as hard, cruel, managing, ambitious, parsimonious, and stupid; she drives her husband's career and social climbing.

### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_painted_veil_se/chapters/viii)

Mrs. Garstin is ambitious and calculating, pushing Kitty to marry well and growing exasperated as Kitty's chances diminish.

### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_painted_veil_se/chapters/ix)

Mrs. Garstin questions Kitty about Walter, expressing displeasure at Kitty's lack of interest and revealing her urgency to marry off her daughter.

### [X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_painted_veil_se/chapters/x)

Kitty dreads her mother's reaction to her unmarried state, though Mrs. Garstin does not appear directly.

### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_painted_veil_se/chapters/xi)

Though not present in the scene, Kitty's thoughts about her mother's expectations and sharp tongue influence her decision to accept Walter's proposal.

### [XXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_painted_veil_se/chapters/xxv)

Kitty thinks of her mother with a shiver, fearing the social disgrace of a divorce.

### [XXXIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_painted_veil_se/chapters/xxxiv)

Kitty considers but rejects the idea of returning to her mother, who would be unwelcoming.

### [LXXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_painted_veil_se/chapters/lxxviii)

Kitty receives a letter from her mother, who later dies after an operation.

### [LXXIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_painted_veil_se/chapters/lxxix)

Deceased; Kitty views her body and reflects on her domineering, ambitious nature.

### [LXXX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_painted_veil_se/chapters/lxxx)

Deceased; her death and the irony of her never knowing of her husband's appointment are discussed.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_painted_veil_se/characters/mrs_garstin
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_painted_veil_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_painted_veil_se/characters