# Mr. Vladimir — The Secret Agent character guide

> Mr. Vladimir in The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0003-i

## Snapshot

A sleek, contemptuous embassy official who decides that the anarchists under his observation have grown lazy and need to be reminded what real terror costs.

## Who they are

Vladimir is the First Secretary of a foreign embassy, a man of polished manners and genuine scorn for the exiles he is supposed to be managing. He regards the British police as complacent and the revolutionists as fat and useless, and he demands an outrage that will embarrass the government and justify harsher measures. His cold insistence on a specific target, and his willingness to humiliate the agent he employs, sets the entire plot in motion and gives the book its particular chill.

## Relationships

### [Mr. Verloc](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/characters/mr_verloc)

_professional_

Vladimir, as Verloc's handler at the embassy, pressures and manipulates Verloc into carrying out the bombing.

### [Baron Stott-Wartenheim](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/characters/baron_stott_wartenheim)

_professional_

Baron Stott-Wartenheim is Vladimir's superior at the embassy, involved in diplomatic and covert operations.

### [Mr. Verloc](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/characters/mr_verloc)

_professional_

Vladimir, as Verloc's handler at the embassy, pressures and manipulates Verloc into carrying out the bombing.

### [Mr. Verloc](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/characters/mr_verloc)

_professional_

Vladimir, as Verloc's handler at the embassy, pressures and manipulates Verloc into carrying out the bombing.

### [Baron Stott-Wartenheim](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/characters/baron_stott_wartenheim)

_professional_

Baron Stott-Wartenheim is Vladimir's superior at the embassy, involved in diplomatic and covert operations.

### [Baron Stott-Wartenheim](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/characters/baron_stott_wartenheim)

_professional_

Baron Stott-Wartenheim is Vladimir's superior at the embassy, involved in diplomatic and covert operations.

## In the story

### [Author's Note](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/chapters/author-s-note)

Conrad notes that an experienced man of the world praised Mr. Vladimir as 'not only possible in detail but quite right in essentials.'

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/chapters/ii)

Confronts Mr. Verloc at the Embassy, criticizing his physique, laziness, and past failures, demanding more activity.

### [Chapter X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/chapters/x)

Confronted by the Assistant Commissioner about Verloc; shows anxiety and fear of the police.

### [Chapter XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/chapters/xi)

Mr. Vladimir is referenced as the 'venomous beast' and 'brute' whose threats and jeering drove Mr. Verloc to desperate measures.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/characters/mr_vladimir
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/characters