The Rainbow · Character

Will Brangwen

Will enters the Brangwen family as a slender, solemn young man with a gift for carving and a mystical attachment to the church at Cossethay.

major

Also known as Will, Bill, Fred Brangwen

First appearance: iii childhood of anna lensky

As a major figure in The Rainbow, Will Brangwen is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

Anna's husband; their marriage is marked by both bliss and conflict, reflecting deeper struggles between individuality and union.

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Will enters the Brangwen family as a slender, solemn young man with a gift for carving and a mystical attachment to the church at Cossethay. Married to Anna, he swings between adoring her and resenting her, between the ecstasy of the cathedral and the small tyrannies of the hearth. His struggle to reconcile flesh, faith, and fatherhood shapes the household Ursula grows up in and gives the novel its sharpest portrait of masculine restlessness.

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Character Web

11 connections

A slice of how Will Brangwen sits in the book — open the reader for the full interactive map.

Relationship types

Family
Other

Character groups

Family and romantic entanglements
Minor household and courtship figures
Extended family, acquaintances, and background figures
Protagonist

+6 more in the full Character Web

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point
Aftermath
Closing

In this chapter, Ursula reaches an emotional and psychological peak by confronting the central conflict of her…

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Relationships

Ursula Brangwen
family · ambivalent
Will is Ursula's father, with whom she shares a strained but deeply emotional… How this plays out →
Anna Brangwen
romantic · ambivalent
Ursula Brangwen
family · ambivalent
Will is Ursula's father, with whom she shares a strained but deeply emotional… How this plays out →
Ursula Brangwen
family · ambivalent
Will is Ursula's father, with whom she shares a strained but deeply emotional… How this plays out →
Anna Brangwen
romantic · ambivalent

Ursula Brangwen
Will is Ursula's father, with whom she shares a strained but deeply emotional relationship.
Anna Brangwen
Anna and Will are husband and wife, their marriage oscillating between passionate union and bitter conflict.
Ursula Brangwen
Will is Ursula's father, with whom she shares a strained but deeply emotional relationship.
Ursula Brangwen
Will is Ursula's father, with whom she shares a strained but deeply emotional relationship.
Anna Brangwen
Anna and Will are husband and wife, their marriage oscillating between passionate union and bitter conflict.

Relationship notes

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See Will Brangwen in iii childhood of anna lensky

In the story

Will Brangwen appears across 11 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

The Rainbow
Anna's husband; their marriage is marked by both bliss and conflict, reflecting deeper struggles between individuality and union.
IV: Girlhood of Anna Brangwen
Will Brangwen is Anna's cousin and eventual husband. He is a young draughtsman with a keen interest in woodwork. He is portrayed as suspended in waiting for the wedding day, and his physical presence becomes the center of Anna's reality.
IV: Girlhood of Anna Brangwen
Fred is Anna's brother, whom she adores but does not consider as a separate, real person. He is mentioned briefly as part of Anna's family background.
Wedding at the Marsh
The groom, tense and abstracted, marries Anna Brangwen.
Anna Victrix
Experiences a transformative honeymoon, feeling severed from the world and guilty about his idleness, yet deeply absorbed in his union with Anna.
VII: The Cathedral
Devotes himself to the church, repairing its fabric and leading the choir, while grappling with inner darkness and submission to Anna.
VIII: The Child
Now thirty years old and a father of five, he starts a night-school woodwork class. He is consumed by a sensual, obsessive passion for his wife Anna, treating her as a stranger to be discovered, and is a magnetic, magical figure to his daughter Ursula.
IX: The Marsh and the Flood
The younger son, large-boned and blue-eyed, who is taking over the farm. He is sensitive and fond of reading, and shares a deep bond with his brother Tom.
X: The Widening Circle
Will is the father, whose voice rings out powerfully. He is exasperated by the cost of schooling but is a warm presence in the household.
X: The Widening Circle
Fred (Billy) is the younger brother, a lovable, delicate child of three, who stays at home and is not yet in school.
XIV: The Widening Circle
Will has secured a new position as Art and Handwork Instructor for the County of Nottingham, which elevates the family's social standing and prompts their move.

Chapter companion notes

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