# The Young Countess — The Story of Gösta Berling character guide

> The Young Countess in The Story of Gösta Berling by Selma Lagerlöf.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** the young countess, Countess Elizabeth, Elizabeth, Dear Countess Elizabeth

**First appearance:** 0014-part-i-x-the-young-countess

## Snapshot

A gentle, compassionate countess who marries Gösta Berling and follows him into poverty, scandal, and the wild margins of Värmland society.

## Who they are

Countess Elizabeth enters the novel as a sheltered noblewoman, but her marriage to Gösta Berling plunges her into a life of hardship among outcasts, gypsies, and forest folk. Where others condemn Gösta, she insists on standing beside him, even when his guilt over Captain Lennart's ruin drives him to hide from her in the woods. Her fierce, unglamorous loyalty—and her refusal to consider herself better than the people around her—makes her the moral center of the novel's later arc.

## In the story

### [VI: The Ball at Ekeby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/part-i-vi-the-ball-at-ekeby)

Attends the ball, sparklingly gay and eager for game and dance.

### [The Young Countess](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/part-i-x-the-young-countess)

Refuses to dance with Gösta, is abducted, then humiliated by her husband and forced to apologize; becomes cold and resigned.

### [Ebba Dohna's Story](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/part-i-xii-ebba-dohna-s-story)

Confronts Gösta Berling after learning of his past, accusing him of deception and driving him away.

### [XIII: Mamselle Marie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/part-i-xiii-mamselle-marie)

Countess Elizabeth, who tries to make peace between her mother-in-law and Mamselle Marie, and later buys Mamselle Marie's curtains to redress the insult.

### [I: Cousin Christopher](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/part-ii-i-cousin-christopher)

Countess Elizabeth is mentioned as having hung Mamselle Marie's curtains in a room at Borg.

### [II: The Paths of Life](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/part-ii-ii-the-paths-of-life)

Risking her life and reputation, she crosses melting ice to prevent Gösta's engagement and bring him back from the evil way.

### [III: Penitence](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/part-ii-iii-penitence)

Elizabeth Dohna is the central figure of the chapter, undergoing severe penitence after confessing her love for Gösta Berling and being placed under her mother-in-law's harsh rule.

### [The Iron from Ekeby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/part-ii-iv-the-iron-from-ekeby)

Flees from Borg and seeks refuge on the pensioners' barge, hiding from Count Henrik and Countess Märta.

### [Lilliecrona's Home](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/part-ii-v-lilliecrona-s-home)

Mentioned as the reason for Lilliecrona's departure; he saw her in trouble and loathed the life at Ekeby.

### [XI: The Plaster Saints](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/part-ii-xi-the-plaster-saints)

Remembered by the congregation as the kind, beautiful wife who was cruelly tortured at Borg, justifying the pensioners' actions.

### [XV: Death, the Deliverer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/part-ii-xv-death-the-deliverer)

Not present in this chapter.

### [XVII: The Child’s Mother](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/part-ii-xvii-the-child-s-mother)

Referred to as 'the child’s mother' and later revealed as Elizabeth von Thurn; she lives in hiding as a peasant, gives birth prematurely, and marries Gösta Berling to give her child a father.

### [XVIII: Amor Vincit Omnia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/part-ii-xviii-amor-vincit-omnia)

Visits Eberhard's room, is shaken by his nihilism, but reaffirms her belief in love and the spirit in nature.

### [XIX: The Broom-Girl](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/part-ii-xix-the-broom-girl)

Now Gösta's wife, she is the gentle mistress of Ekeby who tries to calm the mob and is later overcome with shame about her past love for Gösta.

### [The Forest Cottage](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/part-ii-xxii-the-forest-cottage)

Gösta's wife, who angrily confronts him in the forest cottage, rebuking his reckless promise and urging him to live and help others.

### [Margareta Celsing](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/part-ii-xxiii-margareta-celsing)

Kneels beside the major's wife and declares she no longer longs for her homeland, having found a life she can live alongside Gösta in poverty and service.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/characters/young_countess
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/characters