# Gerald Wentworth — The Perpetual Curate character guide > Gerald Wentworth in The Perpetual Curate by Margaret Oliphant. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** Mrs. Wentworth, Gerald, Gerald Wentworth **First appearance:** 0003-ii ## Snapshot Frank's elder brother, a married clergyman whose easy laughter and conventional career conceal a burden he never quite sets down. ## Who they are Gerald Wentworth is the elder son who chose the safe path — a wife, a living, a respectable clerical career — while his younger brother Frank scrapes by as a Perpetual Curate. Imaginative and warm, he has a gift for shaking off misery and taking up the conversation, so that even his own sisters read his gloom as mere domestic trouble with Louisa and dismiss him with a shrug. His letters to Frank arrive full of his own anxieties, oblivious to the crises pressing on the man he addresses, and that very obliviousness makes him a quiet study in how the comfortable fail the struggling. ## Relationships ### [Frank Wentworth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_perpetual_curate_se/characters/frank_wentworth) _family_ Gerald is Frank's younger brother, a naval officer who shares a close and supportive bond with Frank. ### [Louisa](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_perpetual_curate_se/characters/louisa) _family_ Gerald and Louisa are brother and sister, sharing a close and affectionate sibling bond. ### [Frank Wentworth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_perpetual_curate_se/characters/frank_wentworth) _family_ Gerald is Frank's younger brother, a naval officer who shares a close and supportive bond with Frank. ### [Frank Wentworth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_perpetual_curate_se/characters/frank_wentworth) _family_ Gerald is Frank's younger brother, a naval officer who shares a close and supportive bond with Frank. ### [Louisa](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_perpetual_curate_se/characters/louisa) _family_ Gerald and Louisa are brother and sister, sharing a close and affectionate sibling bond. ### [Louisa](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_perpetual_curate_se/characters/louisa) _family_ Gerald and Louisa are brother and sister, sharing a close and affectionate sibling bond. ## In the story ### [The Perpetual Curate](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_perpetual_curate_se/chapters/the-perpetual-curate) Frank's brother, whose conversion to Catholicism causes family conflict. ### [Chapter X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_perpetual_curate_se/chapters/x) Subject of Louisa's panicked letter; reportedly saying 'awful things' and possibly losing his reason or abandoning his duty. ### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_perpetual_curate_se/chapters/xi) Mentioned by Leonora as likely to go mad or do worse with his crotchets; married Louisa. ### [Chapter XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_perpetual_curate_se/chapters/xv) The subject of Louisa's distress; his decision to convert to Catholicism threatens the family's stability. ### [Chapter XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_perpetual_curate_se/chapters/xvi) The elder brother, resolved to convert to Catholicism despite the anguish it causes his wife and family. ### [Chapter XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_perpetual_curate_se/chapters/xvii) The subject of the family's distress; intends to convert to Catholicism and leave his wife, Louisa. ### [XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_perpetual_curate_se/chapters/xviii) Listens patiently to his father and brother's arguments about his conversion, but remains resolute in his decision. ### [XIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_perpetual_curate_se/chapters/xix) Defends his decision to convert to Catholicism, but shows relief and distraction; later inquires about Jack. ### [XXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_perpetual_curate_se/chapters/xxvii) Writes to Frank about his crisis over converting to Catholicism and the impossibility of becoming a layman; his letter is self-absorbed and barely acknowledges Frank's troubles. ### [XXIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_perpetual_curate_se/chapters/xxix) Mentioned in the newspaper paragraph as having converted to Catholicism, but Frank denies it. ### [Mr. Wentworth's Day of Reckoning](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_perpetual_curate_se/chapters/xxxv) Arrives unexpectedly from Mrs. Hadwin's; shows Frank an anonymous letter; offers support and urges Frank to explain himself to the Rector. ### [XXXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_perpetual_curate_se/chapters/xxxviii) Gerald is now a simple Catholic layman, having left the priesthood. He stands silent and pale, viewed with awe by the people of Prickett's Lane, and feels his career is over. ### [Chapter XL](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_perpetual_curate_se/chapters/xl) Defends his conversion to Catholicism; urges Tom Wodehouse to repent and leave his old associates. ### [XLI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_perpetual_curate_se/chapters/xli) Present at breakfast; his decision to convert has made the rectory vacancy a pressing issue. ### [XLIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_perpetual_curate_se/chapters/xliv) Gerald looks at Frank with raised eyebrows, showing disdain for worldly concerns like love and marriage. ### [Mr. Wentworth's Evening and Jack's Farewell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_perpetual_curate_se/chapters/xlvi) Present at dinner, receives a comic glance from Jack but makes no response. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_perpetual_curate_se/characters/gerald_wentworth - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_perpetual_curate_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_perpetual_curate_se/characters