# Goupil — Ursule Mirouët character guide

> Goupil in Ursule Mirouët by Honoré de Balzac.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Maître Jean-Sébastien-Marie Goupil, the blessed Maria

**First appearance:** 0001-ursule-mirou-t

## Snapshot

A notary's clerk with a taste for intrigue and a nickname that mocks his piety, Goupil watches the Minoret household the way a cat watches a fishpond.

## Who they are

Goupil occupies the useful shadow between the law and the town's gossip, privy to every document and every weakness in Nemours. His nickname, the blessed Maria, is the kind of joke that tells you exactly what he is not, and his ambitions run well past his inkstained desk. Because he knows where the Minoret money is and who wants it, he becomes the quiet engineer of other people's schemes.

## In the story

### [Ursule Mirouët](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ursule_mirou_t_se/chapters/ursule-mirou-t)

A cunning and malicious notary clerk, who serves as a sinister figure in the town's social machinations.

### [Part I: The Heirs in Alarm](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ursule_mirou_t_se/chapters/part-i-the-heirs-in-alarm)

Mentioned as having explained the legal situation to the heirs alongside Dionis and Désiré.

### [Part II: The Minoret Property](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ursule_mirou_t_se/chapters/part-ii-the-minoret-property)

Observes Minoret's distress and comments on Ursule's presence.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ursule_mirou_t_se/characters/goupil
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ursule_mirou_t_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ursule_mirou_t_se/characters