# William Tully — William—An Englishman character guide > William Tully in William—An Englishman by Cicely Hamilton. **Role:** major **Also known as:** William, Tully, William the People **First appearance:** 0000-i ## Snapshot A pale, obedient insurance clerk of five-foot-five, he inherits his mother's money and stumbles from socialist dogma into marriage, honeymoon, and the German invasion. ## Who they are For twenty-three years William Tully lived under his mother's thumb, his wages annexed each Saturday, his reading confined to Snappy Bits, his opinions to nobody's concern. Her sudden death leaves him money, freedom, and no idea what to do with either—until Faraday's socialist circles and Griselda's suffragette fire give his drifting life a shape. He matters because his small, unheroic self is exactly what the war will test: a man who sneered at patriotism learning, under a German officer's jeer, what love of country feels like. ## Relationships ### [Griselda Tully](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/characters/griselda_tully) _family_ Griselda is William's wife, and their relationship is central to the story, marked by deep affection and shared political awakening. ### [Faraday](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/characters/faraday) _friendship_ Faraday is a close friend and fellow conscientious objector who supports William through his wartime struggles. ### [Edith Haynes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/characters/edith_haynes) _romantic_ Edith is William's former lover, and their relationship is fraught with unresolved tension and lingering feelings. ### [Heinz](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/characters/heinz) _rivalry_ Heinz is a German officer who interrogates and torments William, embodying the brutal enemy during the war. ### [The German](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/characters/the_german) _rivalry_ The German is a fellow prisoner and antagonist who clashes with William over ideology and survival. ### [Mrs. Jay-Blenkinsop](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/characters/mrs_jay_blenkinsop) _professional_ Mrs. Jay-Blenkinsop is William's employer at the law firm, treating him with condescension and bureaucratic indifference. ### [The Priest](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/characters/the_priest) _psychological_ The priest attempts to manipulate William's conscience and guilt, representing religious authority and moral pressure. ### [Madame Peys](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/characters/madame_peys) _friendship_ Madame Peys shows William kindness and hospitality, becoming a rare source of warmth in his captivity. ### [Wright](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/characters/wright) _friendship_ Wright is a fellow prisoner and comrade who shares William's pacifist beliefs and offers solidarity. ### [Edwardes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/characters/edwardes) _professional_ Edwardes is a colleague at the law firm, maintaining a distant and formal working relationship with William. ### [Faraday](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/characters/faraday) _friendship_ Faraday is a close friend and fellow conscientious objector who supports William through his wartime struggles. ### [Griselda Tully](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/characters/griselda_tully) _family_ Griselda is William's wife, and their relationship is central to the story, marked by deep affection and shared political awakening. ## In the story ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/chapters/i) Introduced as a pale-faced, diffident clerk who transforms after his mother's death, inherits wealth, becomes a Social Reformer, and proposes to Griselda. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/chapters/ii) Described as sharing Griselda's rigid views, a pacifist who supports strikes, and attends the meeting to support Griselda's protest. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/chapters/iii) Newly married to Griselda, he experiences awe and unease in the tranquil Ardennes valley, sensing a challenge to his urban, activist worldview. ### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/chapters/iv) William dismisses the soldiers and gunfire as maneuvers, lectures on international working-class solidarity, and plans a hike with Griselda. ### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/chapters/v) William and Griselda discover the grave and deserted farm; he later theorizes a wounded Belgian soldier died there. ### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/chapters/vi) Struck down by a German soldier after attempting to ignore him and continue to the station. ### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/chapters/vii) Experiences the onset of real fear for the first time as he witnesses the execution of hostages, realizing the fragility of law and safety. ### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/chapters/viii) Undergoes a profound psychological crisis after witnessing the execution, leading to the uprooting of his faith in the People and Public Opinion; experiences a first faint sense of nationality and longing for England. ### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/chapters/ix) William is captured, separated from Griselda, forced to work, and later searches frantically for her amid the chaos of war. ### [X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/chapters/x) Flees with Griselda, searches for her after separation, finds her assaulted, and leads their escape. ### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/chapters/xi) Exhausted and starving, William carries Griselda through the woods, experiencing hallucinations and dark humor about the suffrage movement. ### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/chapters/xii) Grieves over Griselda's body, spends a sleepless night, and is comforted by an Englishwoman. ### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/chapters/xiii) Traumatized and silent, William struggles to process the horrors he has witnessed, relying on Edith Haynes for survival during the journey to Paris. ### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/chapters/xiv) Grieving Griselda, he undergoes a conversion from pacifism to a desire for vengeance and enlistment; buys mourning clothes and shares his plan with Edith. ### [XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/chapters/xv) Returns to the empty flat, grieves over Griselda's photograph, and attends Faraday's meeting feeling detached and unreal. ### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/chapters/xvi) Grieves for Griselda, moves to Camden Town, studies war history, and finally enlists after multiple rejections. ### [XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/chapters/xvii) Serves as a clerk in France, feeling trapped and disillusioned with the war's monotony and his own powerlessness. ### [XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/chapters/xviii) Endures air raid, reunites with Edith Haynes, critically wounded and dies in hospital. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/characters/william_tully - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/william_an_englishman_se/characters