# Madame de S — Under Western Eyes character guide

> Madame de S in Under Western Eyes by Joseph Conrad.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Madame de S⸺, Madame de, de S⸺, Eleanor, Eleanor Maximovna, Eleanor—Madame de S⸺

**First appearance:** 0007-part-ii-i

## Snapshot

A wealthy Russian émigré hostess in Geneva whose salon gathers the exiled and the watched, she becomes the quiet gatekeeper to news of a dead revolutionary.

## Who they are

Madame de S⸺ presides over a Geneva drawing room where Russian exiles trade introductions, rumors, and carefully guarded sympathies, and where even a proscribed priest's name can open a door. Around her gathers the tension between respectable émigré comfort and the dangerous pull of the old country: she is useful, connected, and not entirely trusted, dismissed by some as a woman of dubious reputation yet sought out by others for exactly that reach. Her hospitality matters because it is through her circle that the grieving Haldins hope to find the one man who might speak for the dead.

## Relationships

### [Razumov](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/under_western_eyes_se/characters/razumov)

_psychological_

Madame de S, a wealthy revolutionary patron, toys with Razumov as a romantic and political pawn.

### [Miss Haldin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/under_western_eyes_se/characters/miss_haldin)

_social_

Madame de S treats Miss Haldin with superficial kindness but uses her for revolutionary networking.

### [Peter Ivanovitch](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/under_western_eyes_se/characters/peter_ivanovitch)

_romantic_

Madame de S and Peter Ivanovitch have a manipulative, co-dependent romantic and political alliance.

### [Miss Haldin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/under_western_eyes_se/characters/miss_haldin)

_social_

Madame de S treats Miss Haldin with superficial kindness but uses her for revolutionary networking.

### [Razumov](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/under_western_eyes_se/characters/razumov)

_psychological_

Madame de S, a wealthy revolutionary patron, toys with Razumov as a romantic and political pawn.

### [Razumov](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/under_western_eyes_se/characters/razumov)

_psychological_

Madame de S, a wealthy revolutionary patron, toys with Razumov as a romantic and political pawn.

### [Peter Ivanovitch](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/under_western_eyes_se/characters/peter_ivanovitch)

_romantic_

Madame de S and Peter Ivanovitch have a manipulative, co-dependent romantic and political alliance.

## In the story

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

Described as one of the 'apes of a sinister jungle,' treated as her grimaces deserve.

### [Chapter II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/under_western_eyes_se/chapters/part-ii-ii)

Described as a lady of advanced views who shelters on republican territory in Geneva; her salon is presented as a unique centre of intellectual freedom.

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

Hosts the Château Borel where Miss Haldin plans to go; associated with a mystic revolutionary salon.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/under_western_eyes_se/chapters/part-ii-iv)

The narrator reveals her scandalous history: suspected of foreknowledge of the assassination of Emperor Alexander, she fled Russia; she is described as avaricious, greedy, unscrupulous, and nearly spirited away to a madhouse.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/under_western_eyes_se/chapters/part-iii-i)

Mentioned as the person Peter Ivanovitch is bringing Razumov to meet; described as possessing 'feminine intuition' and 'inspired penetration.'

### [Chapter II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/under_western_eyes_se/chapters/part-iii-ii)

Rigid and hate-filled, demands extirpation of one family; insists Razumov bring Nathalie Haldin to her, and questions him about a phantom he saw.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/under_western_eyes_se/characters/madame_de_s
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/under_western_eyes_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/under_western_eyes_se/characters