# Ursula Brangwen — The Rainbow character guide > Ursula Brangwen in The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Ursula, Miss Ursula Brangwen **First appearance:** 0001-the-rainbow ## Snapshot Ursula grows up between the Marsh and the colliery town, first as Anna's watchful eldest child, then as a schoolteacher and student hungry for a life larger than marriage and housekeeping. ## Who they are Ursula grows up between the Marsh and the colliery town, first as Anna's watchful eldest child, then as a schoolteacher and student hungry for a life larger than marriage and housekeeping. Her affair with the soldier Skrebensky splits her between her body's gladness and her soul's refusal to settle for a merely conventional wifehood. That quarrel between wanting a man and wanting a self drives the novel's last movement and makes her the book's most modern consciousness. ## Relationships ### [Anton Skrebensky](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/characters/anton_skrebensky) _romantic_ Ursula's intense and ultimately disillusioning romantic relationship with Anton, marked by passion and conflict. ### [Lydia Brangwen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/characters/lydia_brangwen) _family_ Ursula's grandmother, Lydia, is a distant but influential maternal figure in her life. ### [Mr. Harby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/characters/mr_harby) _professional_ Mr. Harby is Ursula's harsh and authoritarian headmaster at the school where she teaches. ### [Winifred Inger](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/characters/winifred_inger) _romantic_ Ursula has a passionate, homoerotic romantic relationship with her teacher Winifred Inger. ### [Anna Brangwen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/characters/anna_brangwen) _family_ Anna is Ursula's mother, with a complex bond of love, frustration, and mutual understanding. ### [Tilly](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/characters/tilly) _social_ Tilly is a servant in the Brangwen household, interacting with Ursula in daily domestic life. ### [Will Brangwen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/characters/will_brangwen) _family_ Will is Ursula's father, with whom she shares a strained but deeply emotional relationship. ### [Maggie Schofield](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/characters/maggie_schofield) _friendship_ Maggie is a close friend and fellow teacher who provides Ursula with companionship and support. ### [Gudrun](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/characters/gudrun) _family_ Gudrun is Ursula's younger sister, with a bond of rivalry and deep sisterly intimacy. ### [Mr. Brunt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/characters/mr_brunt) _professional_ Mr. Brunt is a fellow teacher at Ursula's school, often a source of grim camaraderie. ### [Frank Brangwen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/characters/frank_brangwen) _family_ Frank is Ursula's uncle, part of the extended Brangwen family circle. ### [Effie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/characters/effie) _social_ Effie is a servant or domestic helper in the Brangwen household, interacting with Ursula in daily life. ## In the story ### [The Rainbow](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/chapters/the-rainbow) Daughter of Anna and Will; her birth marks the next generation and the continuation of the family saga. ### [VII: The Cathedral](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/chapters/vii-the-cathedral) The infant daughter, delicate but central to Anna's life and Will's waiting affection. ### [VIII: The Child](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/chapters/xi-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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/chapters/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. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/characters/ursula_brangwen - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rainbow_se/characters