Ursula Brangwen

Anton Skrebensky

Ursula's intense and ultimately disillusioning romantic relationship with Anton, marked by passion and conflict.

Lydia Brangwen

Ursula's grandmother, Lydia, is a distant but influential maternal figure in her life.

Mr. Harby

Mr. Harby is Ursula's harsh and authoritarian headmaster at the school where she teaches.

Winifred Inger

Ursula has a passionate, homoerotic romantic relationship with her teacher Winifred Inger.

Anna Brangwen

Anna is Ursula's mother, with a complex bond of love, frustration, and mutual understanding.

Tilly

Tilly is a servant in the Brangwen household, interacting with Ursula in daily domestic life.

Will Brangwen

Will is Ursula's father, with whom she shares a strained but deeply emotional relationship.

Maggie Schofield

Maggie is a close friend and fellow teacher who provides Ursula with companionship and support.

Gudrun

Gudrun is Ursula's younger sister, with a bond of rivalry and deep sisterly intimacy.

Mr. Brunt

Mr. Brunt is a fellow teacher at Ursula's school, often a source of grim camaraderie.

Frank Brangwen

Frank is Ursula's uncle, part of the extended Brangwen family circle.

Effie

Effie is a servant or domestic helper in the Brangwen household, interacting with Ursula in daily life.

The Rainbow

Daughter of Anna and Will; her birth marks the next generation and the continuation of the family saga.

VII: The Cathedral

The infant daughter, delicate but central to Anna's life and Will's waiting affection.

VIII: The Child

An eight-year-old child deeply fascinated by her father's activities and presence. She feels a profound, almost hypnotic connection to him, which awakens her consciousness too early from childhood.

IX: The Marsh and the Flood

The young granddaughter who visits the Marsh regularly, bringing small gifts. She shares a special, peaceful bond with her grandmother, finding refuge from the bustling activity at Cossethay.

X: The Widening Circle

Ursula begins attending the High School, feeling both exhilarated by learning and burdened by her role as eldest sibling. She struggles with authority and fears being attacked by the 'commonplace' self.

First Love

Ursula is the central figure, experiencing the turmoil of adolescence, the loss of religious certainty, and the pain of first love as she seeks to define herself.

XII: Shame

Struggles with her studies and her desire for independence; develops a passionate, unspoken intimacy with her teacher Miss Inger; visits Wiggiston and is horrified by the industrial conditions.

XIII: The Man’s World

Returns home after school, fights with her mother, secures a teaching post at St. Philip's School, and begins to plan for college and independence.

XIV: The Widening Circle

Ursula is excited about the family's move, feeling constrained by Cossethay and yearning for a larger, freer life. She experiences a complex attraction to Anthony Schofield and finds solace in nature.

XV: The Bitterness of Ecstasy

Ursula is at the center of the chapter, experiencing a passionate affair with Skrebensky, preparing for college, and undergoing a transformative period of study and emotional release.

XVI: The Rainbow

Ursula undergoes a deep crisis after breaking her engagement, experiencing apathy, a possible pregnancy, and a transformative illness that leads to a spiritual rebirth and vision of the rainbow.