# Olle Montanus — The Red Room character guide > Olle Montanus in The Red Room by August Strindberg. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** Olle, Montanus, pawn Olle **First appearance:** 0002-iii-the-artists-colony ## Snapshot A sculptor turned stonemason's hand, once a fiery orator, now a misanthrope who hides from the friends who still ask after him. ## Who they are Olle was the bohemians' great hope — a politician and speaker before he was a sculptor — until failure soured him into solitude, and he now refuses to impose on the men who once cheered him. He is the group's conscience and its warning: the same idealism that animates Falk, hardened into something silent and bitter. When his shadow falls across the Red Room, even Falk's fireworks go out, and the novel's question about what idealism costs becomes personal. ## Relationships ### [Arvid Falk](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/characters/arvid_falk) _friendship_ Olle Montanus is a philosophical friend and fellow artist who debates life and art with Arvid, often serving as a moral counterpoint. ### [Sellén](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/characters/sellen) _friendship_ Olle Montanus and Sellén are close artist friends who frequently interact within the bohemian group, supporting each other's work. ### [Lundell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/characters/lundell) _friendship_ Lundell and Olle Montanus are close artist friends, frequently interacting within the bohemian group. ### [Ygberg](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/characters/ygberg) _friendship_ Olle Montanus and Ygberg are friends and fellow intellectuals, sharing philosophical debates and social time. ### [Sellén](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/characters/sellen) _friendship_ Olle Montanus and Sellén are close artist friends who frequently interact within the bohemian group, supporting each other's work. ### [Arvid Falk](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/characters/arvid_falk) _friendship_ Olle Montanus is a philosophical friend and fellow artist who debates life and art with Arvid, often serving as a moral counterpoint. ### [Arvid Falk](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/characters/arvid_falk) _friendship_ Olle Montanus is a philosophical friend and fellow artist who debates life and art with Arvid, often serving as a moral counterpoint. ### [Sellén](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/characters/sellen) _friendship_ Olle Montanus and Sellén are close artist friends who frequently interact within the bohemian group, supporting each other's work. ### [Lundell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/characters/lundell) _friendship_ Lundell and Olle Montanus are close artist friends, frequently interacting within the bohemian group. ### [Ygberg](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/characters/ygberg) _friendship_ Olle Montanus and Ygberg are friends and fellow intellectuals, sharing philosophical debates and social time. ### [Lundell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/characters/lundell) _friendship_ Lundell and Olle Montanus are close artist friends, frequently interacting within the bohemian group. ## In the story ### [III: The Artists’ Colony](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/chapters/iii-the-artists-colony) A genius but unpractical philosopher and painter; he engages in the philosophical debate and is described as beaming after his victories. ### [VI: The Red Room](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/chapters/vi-the-red-room) Sits reading a book lent by Ygberg, admires Sellén's painting, and is sent to pawn items for paint and food. ### [Poor Mother Country](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/chapters/viii-poor-mother-country) Appears in the strangers' gallery, watching intently like a dog over a bone; his presence is linked to Per Ilsson's proposition. ### [XI: Happy People](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/chapters/xi-happy-people) Arrives at the Red Room in new clothes, visibly happy after finding work; later gives a banknote to Ygberg and proposes toasts to women, spring, the sun, and the universe. ### [XIV: Absinthe](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/chapters/xiv-absinthe) Mentioned by Gustav as having used the word 'nihilist' recently. ### [XVI: In the White Mountains](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/chapters/xvi-in-the-white-mountains) Mentioned in Rehnhjelm's letter as changed, having adopted a dangerous new philosophy that tears everything down. ### [XVIII: Nihilism](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/chapters/xviii-nihilism) Author of a letter to Falk describing the making of a statue of Unbelief and the hypocrisy of the church art project. ### [Hard Times](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/chapters/xxii-hard-times) Exhausted and penniless, sleeps on Sellén's bench; later forced to witness Falk's signature. ### [XXIV: On Sweden](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/chapters/xxiv-on-sweden) Delivers a chaotic lecture on Swedish history at a working men's association, is dragged off the platform after inciting a riot. ### [XXVII: Recovery](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/chapters/xxvii-recovery) Still employed by the stonemason, has become a gloomy misanthrope and has not been seen at the Red Room for a long time. ### [XXVIII: From Beyond the Grave](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/chapters/xxviii-from-beyond-the-grave) Found drowned; his posthumous manuscript is read, detailing his reasons for suicide and his disillusionment with art and labor. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/characters/olle_montanus - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/characters