# Jane Harden — Three Lives character guide

> Jane Harden in Three Lives by Gertrude Stein.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Jane

**First appearance:** 0006-melanctha

## Snapshot

A worldly, dissipated older woman who takes the young Melanctha under her wing and teaches her things a girl is not supposed to know.

## Who they are

Jane Harden moves through Melanctha's early years as a mentor in experience rather than virtue, offering the restless girl a knowledge of the world that her mother and father never could. She is sharp where Miss Mary Wadsmith is docile, and her quick, careless authority — the little Jane who gives unpleasant orders — shows how power passes between women in these households. Her influence on Melanctha's youth matters because it plants the hunger for feeling that will govern everything Melanctha does later.

## In the story

### [The Good Anna](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/three_lives_se/chapters/the-good-anna)

A fellow servant who clashes with Anna over the use of blue dressings, representing a conflict of authority.

### [II: The Life of the Good Anna](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/three_lives_se/chapters/ii-the-life-of-the-good-anna)

The young girl in Miss Mary's household who begins to oppose Anna's authority.

### [Melanctha](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/three_lives_se/chapters/melanctha)

Referenced as a friend of Melanctha's who has influenced her reputation; her words about Melanctha's goodness are recalled.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/three_lives_se/characters/jane_harden
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/three_lives_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/three_lives_se/characters