The Tunnel · Characters
Character guide
Key figures in The Tunnel by Dorothy M. Richardson.
Skim names here — open a free preview to see character cards and Character Web beside the page as you read.
Miriam
major
Also known as Vi, Mistress Miriam, Dreadful Miriam
Miriam scrapes a living on a pound a week while hoarding a secret inner life of lectures, concerts, and half-formed ambitions. She bristles at being managed — by landladies, by well-meaning Miss Dears, by her own longing for company — and her anger flares whenever her careful self-possession is breached. Watching her negotiate tea-table traps and rented rooms is watching a woman try to build a self on almost nothing.
Unknown
major
Also known as I, myself
This is the consciousness through which the world reaches us — registering the grain of wallpaper, the chill of a washstand, the strange familiarity of a room she has never entered before. It believes in omens, in 'coming events cast light,' in the real dream that runs beneath ordinary days. Its tension is between the certainty of a life being followed and the daily humiliation of being nobody in particular.
Alma Wilson
supporting
Also known as Alma, the Wilson
Alma writes in exclamation marks — 'You dear old thing!' — proposing a sequestered teashop reunion and the confession of her marriage. To Miriam she is both a triumph recalled and a defection: someone who has 'gone in amongst the crowd already,' married in the casual way she once went to theatre-parties. The letter sits unopened, then torn open, testing whether Miriam can touch her old life without being pulled back into it.
Mag
supporting
Also known as Watching Mag
Mag belongs to the domestic background of Miriam's life, one of the figures whose watching shapes how Miriam comports herself. She is less a confidante than a witness, and the novel's attention to her gaze says something about how closely Miriam feels monitored in the small spaces she inhabits. Her presence keeps the social world of the book grounded in ordinary, unglamorous observation.
Mr. Hancock
supporting
Also known as Fancy Mr. Hancock
Mr. Hancock mentions, almost offhand, that he belongs to the science lectures — and Miriam's world tilts. He is at ease among the 'gentle enlightened faces' of the library, in his right place, while she stands at the threshold taking it all in. He is not a romantic figure so much as a conduit: through him, education, class, and the possibility of a different self become briefly tangible.
Harriett
supporting
Harriett is bound up with Miriam's memory of a week of nightly theatre — the curtain, the orchestra, the 'perfection of happiness' on her face. But she is also the person Miriam cannot write to truthfully, because the letter would seem like a reflection on their shared past. She represents the warmth of ordinary companionship and the quiet difficulty of outgrowing it.
Jan
supporting
A figure from Miriam's past whose world of country manners and pretty dresses Miriam can read through like glass while remaining, to them, a closed book.
Mr. Wilson
supporting
Also known as Little Mr. Wilson
The husband behind Alma's sudden marriage, whose existence turns an old schoolfriend's triumphant postcard into a quiet crisis in Miriam's hall.
Mrs.
minor
An unnamed married woman referenced in the narrative.
Miss Teresa Szigmondy
minor
Also known as Miss Szigmondy
A named female character, possibly a social acquaintance.
Mr. Taunton
minor
A male character, possibly a neighbor or professional contact.
Mr. Grove
minor
A male character mentioned in the narrative.
Old Tremayne
minor
Also known as Mr. Tremayne
An older male character, possibly a family friend or local figure.
Gerald
minor
A male character, possibly a suitor or relative of Miriam.
Mr. Orly
minor
A male character, possibly a neighbor or acquaintance.
Mrs. Bailey
minor
A married female character, possibly a servant or neighbor.
Eve
minor
A female character, possibly a friend or relative.
Miss Dear
minor
A female character, possibly a governess or companion.
Mrs. Orly
minor
The wife of Mr. Orly, a married female character.
Mr. Leyton
minor
A male character, possibly a professional or neighbor.
Miss Henderson
minor
Also known as the Honourable Miss Henderson, the Henderson, Henderson
A female character, possibly a socialite or acquaintance.
Mrs. Canfield
minor
A married female character, possibly a neighbor.
Dr. Ashley Densley
minor
Also known as Poor Dr. Ashley Densley, Densley
A doctor, possibly a neighbor or family physician.
Winthrop
minor
A male character, possibly a suitor or acquaintance.
Jimmy
minor
Also known as James
A male character, possibly a servant or young relative.
Mrs. Binkley
minor
Also known as a Mrs. Binkley
A married female character, possibly a neighbor.
Harry
minor
Also known as Huxley, Thomas Henry Huxley, Henry
A male character, possibly a historical figure referenced in conversation.
Major Moke
minor
A military man, possibly a neighbor or family friend.
Adela
minor
A female character, possibly a friend or relative.
Irving
minor
Also known as Henry Irving
A historical actor referenced in the narrative.
Miss O'Veagh
minor
A female character, possibly a social acquaintance.
Cazalet
minor
Also known as Lady Cazalet
A titled female character, possibly a neighbor or relative.
Shylock
minor
A literary character referenced in the narrative.
Pater
minor
Also known as the Pater
A male character, possibly a father figure or relative.
Mr. Pinner
minor
A male character, possibly a neighbor or acquaintance.
Mrs. Wolff
minor
A married female character, possibly a neighbor.
Ley
minor
A male character, possibly a servant or acquaintance.
Portia
minor
A literary character referenced in the narrative.
Mrs. Thimm
minor
A married female character, possibly a neighbor.
The Pierson
minor
A family or group referenced in the narrative.
Shakespeare
minor
The playwright referenced in the narrative.
Jacob Boehme
minor
A historical mystic referenced in the narrative.
Beethoven
minor
The composer referenced in the narrative.
Charles
minor
A male character, possibly a relative or acquaintance.
Lord Bollingdon
minor
A titled male character, possibly a neighbor or relative.
Mary Gloucester
minor
Also known as Minna, Mary
A female character, possibly a friend or relative.
The Pinners
minor
A family or group referenced in the narrative.
Mr. Dolland
minor
A male character, possibly a servant or acquaintance.
Cromwell
minor
A historical figure referenced in the narrative.
Emma
minor
A female character, possibly a servant or relative.
Captain Cazalet
minor
Also known as Cazalet
A military man, possibly a neighbor or relative.
Miss Hens'n
minor
A female character, possibly a governess or companion.
Frederika Elizabeth von Bohlen
minor
Also known as von Bohlen, Frederika Elizabeth
A female character, possibly a foreign acquaintance.
V
minor
A character referred to by initial, possibly a lover or relative.
Mrs. Pinner
minor
The wife of Mr. Pinner, a married female character.
Chopin
minor
The composer referenced in the narrative.
Sister North
minor
A nun or nurse, possibly a caregiver.
Eden Philpotts
minor
An author referenced in the narrative.
Plato
minor
The philosopher referenced in the narrative.
Mrs. Bollingdon
minor
The wife of Lord Bollingdon, a married female character.
Buck
minor
A male character, possibly a servant or acquaintance.
Henriette
minor
A female character, possibly a foreign acquaintance.
The Wilsons
minor
The Wilson family, possibly neighbors.
Randle
minor
A male character, possibly a servant or acquaintance.
Robert Elsmere
minor
A literary character referenced in the narrative.
