# Miss Mary Wadsmith — Three Lives character guide

> Miss Mary Wadsmith in Three Lives by Gertrude Stein.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mary, Miss Mary, Mary Wadsmith

**First appearance:** 0002-the-good-anna

## Snapshot

A wealthy elderly woman whose long employment of Anna ends when Anna's failing health forces her to leave the household she had served so devotedly.

## Who they are

Miss Mary Wadsmith is the wealthy elderly woman Anna serves for years in Bridgepoint, a position Anna holds with fierce loyalty and pride. During the last years with her Miss Mary, Anna's health grows steadily worse, and it is through Mrs. Lehntman that Anna eventually meets Dr. Shonjen and must leave the household. Miss Mary matters because she represents the stable, cherished world Anna loses — the place Anna measures every later job against, and the reason her later restlessness feels like grief.

## In the story

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

Anna's employer, a gentle and somewhat passive woman who relies heavily on Anna's management.

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

Anna's first employer in Bridgepoint, a large, helpless woman who leaves household management to Anna.

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

Mentioned as someone Anna could return to, but Anna chooses not to.

## Links

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