# Anna Brangwen — The Rainbow character guide > Anna Brangwen in The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Anna, Anna Lensky, Anna Theresa Lensky, Anna Victrix **First appearance:** 0002-i-how-tom-brangwen-married-a-polish-lady ## Snapshot Anna Lensky arrives at the Marsh as a Polish child and grows into a proud, theatrical young woman who signs her name with a flourish and perches on graveyard walls like a white peacock. ## Who they are Anna Lensky arrives at the Marsh as a Polish child and grows into a proud, theatrical young woman who signs her name with a flourish and perches on graveyard walls like a white peacock. Her marriage to Will Brangwen begins in passion and settles into a long contest between her need to possess and his need to escape into church and craft. As Ursula's mother, she embodies the older generation's answer to the same hunger her daughter will refuse to accept. ## Relationships ### [Ursula Brangwen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/characters/ursula_brangwen) _family_ Anna is Ursula's mother, with a complex bond of love, frustration, and mutual understanding. ### [Lydia Brangwen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/characters/lydia_brangwen) _family_ Anna is Lydia's daughter, and their relationship is marked by generational tension and underlying affection. ### [Will Brangwen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/characters/will_brangwen) _romantic_ Anna and Will are husband and wife, their marriage oscillating between passionate union and bitter conflict. ### [Lydia Brangwen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/characters/lydia_brangwen) _family_ Anna is Lydia's daughter, and their relationship is marked by generational tension and underlying affection. ### [Ursula Brangwen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/characters/ursula_brangwen) _family_ Anna is Ursula's mother, with a complex bond of love, frustration, and mutual understanding. ### [Ursula Brangwen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/characters/ursula_brangwen) _family_ Anna is Ursula's mother, with a complex bond of love, frustration, and mutual understanding. ### [Will Brangwen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/characters/will_brangwen) _romantic_ Anna and Will are husband and wife, their marriage oscillating between passionate union and bitter conflict. ### [Lydia Brangwen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/characters/lydia_brangwen) _family_ Anna is Lydia's daughter, and their relationship is marked by generational tension and underlying affection. ## In the story ### [The Rainbow](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/chapters/the-rainbow) Daughter of Tom and Lydia; experiences alienation in girlhood, meets and marries Will Brangwen, and becomes mother to Ursula. ### [III: Childhood of Anna Lensky](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/chapters/iii-childhood-of-anna-lensky) Anna is the central focus of the chapter, depicted as a spirited, independent child who forms a close bond with her stepfather Tom Brangwen. She enjoys accompanying him on trips and displays a haughty, domineering personality. ### [IV: Girlhood of Anna Brangwen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/chapters/iv-girlhood-of-anna-brangwen) Anna is the central figure of the chapter, depicted as a shy, wild, and proud child who grows into a restless young woman. She feels alienated from ordinary people and seeks escape from the suffocating intimacy of her parents' home, eventually finding passion and purpose in her relationship with Will Brangwen. ### [Wedding at the Marsh](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/chapters/v-wedding-at-the-marsh) The bride, radiant and self-absorbed in her wedding spectacle, marries Will Brangwen. ### [Anna Victrix](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/chapters/vi-anna-victrix) Embraces her role as wife and mother, finding contentment in domesticity and asserting her dominance as 'Anna Victrix'. ### [VII: The Cathedral](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/chapters/vii-the-cathedral) Finds fulfillment in motherhood, nursing her child and expecting another, and asserts dominance in her marriage with Will. ### [VIII: The Child](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/chapters/viii-the-child) Will's wife, who exists in a 'violent trance of motherhood.' She abandons moral positions alongside Will, engaging in a purely sensual and mutual exploration of desire, treating him as a stranger. ### [X: The Widening Circle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/chapters/x-the-widening-circle) Anna is the mother, who maintains a dignified presence despite household chaos. She intervenes in the children's feuds and insists on proper behavior. ### [XIII: The Man’s World](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/chapters/xiii-the-man-s-world) Ursula's mother, pregnant with her ninth child, complacent in domesticity, and in constant conflict with Ursula over her ambitions. ### [XIV: The Widening Circle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/chapters/xiv-the-widening-circle) Anna is happy with the new house in Beldover, appreciating its spacious rooms and substantial furnishings. ### [XV: The Bitterness of Ecstasy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/chapters/xv-the-bitterness-of-ecstasy) Anna, Ursula's mother, is content to let Ursula arrange the house and is part of the family dynamic, though Ursula resents the family atmosphere. ### [XVI: The Rainbow](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/chapters/xvi-the-rainbow) Anna is mentioned as Ursula's mother, whom Ursula re-evaluates as simple and radically true, representing the conventional life Ursula briefly considers. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/characters/anna_brangwen - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/characters