# Mrs. Corey — The Rise of Silas Lapham character guide

> Mrs. Corey in The Rise of Silas Lapham by William Dean Howells.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Anna B. Corey, Anna, Mrs. James Bellingham

**First appearance:** 0000-i

## Snapshot

Tom Corey's socially exacting mother, who weighs the Laphams' raw new money against her family's quiet Boston dignity and finds the scales wanting.

## Who they are

Mrs. Corey moves through Brahmin society with the assurance of one born to it, and her son's interest in the Laphams strikes her as a problem to be managed rather than a romance to be welcomed. Her resistance is not crude snobbery so much as a settled conviction about what kind of life her children ought to have, and it puts her quietly at odds with Tom's own judgment. Her coolness shapes the social weather the Laphams must navigate as they try to enter a world that has not decided whether to admit them.

## Relationships

### [Tom Corey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rise_of_silas_lapham_se/characters/tom_corey)

_family_

Mrs. Corey is Tom's mother, who is concerned about her son's marriage to a socially inferior family.

### [Silas Lapham](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rise_of_silas_lapham_se/characters/silas_lapham)

_social_

Mrs. Corey is a Boston Brahmin who reluctantly socializes with the nouveau riche Laphams.

### [Tom Corey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rise_of_silas_lapham_se/characters/tom_corey)

_family_

Mrs. Corey is Tom's mother, who is concerned about her son's marriage to a socially inferior family.

### [Tom Corey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rise_of_silas_lapham_se/characters/tom_corey)

_family_

Mrs. Corey is Tom's mother, who is concerned about her son's marriage to a socially inferior family.

### [Silas Lapham](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rise_of_silas_lapham_se/characters/silas_lapham)

_social_

Mrs. Corey is a Boston Brahmin who reluctantly socializes with the nouveau riche Laphams.

### [Silas Lapham](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rise_of_silas_lapham_se/characters/silas_lapham)

_social_

Mrs. Corey is a Boston Brahmin who reluctantly socializes with the nouveau riche Laphams.

## In the story

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rise_of_silas_lapham_se/chapters/vi)

Mrs. Corey expresses her distaste for the paint business and the Laphams, telling Tom that it is 'very distasteful' and that the kind of people he would be mixed up with is a concern.

### [Chapter VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rise_of_silas_lapham_se/chapters/viii)

Returns to Boston from Bar Harbour, discusses Tom's business decision with her husband, expresses social anxiety about the Laphams.

### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rise_of_silas_lapham_se/chapters/xii)

Pays a formal call to the Laphams, observing their behavior with a critical eye and later reporting her suspicions to her husband.

### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rise_of_silas_lapham_se/chapters/xiii)

Plans the dinner for the Laphams, carefully selecting guests to manage social obligations and appearances.

### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rise_of_silas_lapham_se/chapters/xiv)

Hosts the dinner, concerned about damage to furniture from hypothetical poor people.

### [Chapter XX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rise_of_silas_lapham_se/chapters/xx)

Struggles with her dislike of Penelope and the Laphams, but supports her son's choice.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rise_of_silas_lapham_se/characters/mrs_corey
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rise_of_silas_lapham_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rise_of_silas_lapham_se/characters