# Mrs. Conger — With the Empress Dowager of China character guide

> Mrs. Conger in With the Empress Dowager of China by Katharine A. Carl.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0003-i-my-presentation-and-first-day-at-the-chinese-court

## Snapshot

The American Minister's wife in Peking, she engineers the portrait commission and becomes the painter's bridge into the Chinese court.

## Who they are

It is Mrs. Conger's letter to Shanghai that sets the whole enterprise in motion, and her hope that a true likeness might soften America's image of the Empress. She has seen enough of the court to know its rituals and enough of Washington to know what a portrait at St. Louis could do. Her dual loyalty, to diplomacy and to her friend's success, makes her both sponsor and quiet pressure on the narrator's nerve.

## Relationships

### [Empress Dowager Tze-Hsi](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/with_the_empress_dowager_of_china_se/characters/empress_dowager_tze_hsi)

_social_

Mrs. Conger is the American minister's wife, and the Empress Dowager treats her with diplomatic courtesy and curiosity.

### [Prince Ch'un](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/with_the_empress_dowager_of_china_se/characters/prince_chun)

_social_

Mrs. Conger and Prince Ch'un meet at diplomatic functions, exchanging formal pleasantries and courtesies.

### [Empress Dowager Tze-Hsi](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/with_the_empress_dowager_of_china_se/characters/empress_dowager_tze_hsi)

_social_

Mrs. Conger is the American minister's wife, and the Empress Dowager treats her with diplomatic courtesy and curiosity.

## In the story

### [Introductory](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/with_the_empress_dowager_of_china_se/chapters/introductory)

Wife of the American Minister, who initiates the portrait project and presents Carl to the Empress Dowager.

### [I: My Presentation and First Day at the Chinese Court](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/with_the_empress_dowager_of_china_se/chapters/i-my-presentation-and-first-day-at-the-chinese-court)

Accompanies Carl to the palace and is greeted cordially by the Empress Dowager.

### [Peking—The Sea Palace](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/with_the_empress_dowager_of_china_se/chapters/x-peking-the-sea-palace)

Hosts Carl at the American Legation and is noted for her initiative in entertaining Chinese ladies.

### [XVIII: The Festival of the Harvest Moon—Work on the Portrait](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/with_the_empress_dowager_of_china_se/chapters/xviii-the-festival-of-the-harvest-moon-work-on-the-portrait)

Invited by the Empress Dowager to view the portrait. She is pleased with the likeness and the lifelike expression in the eyes.

### [XIX: A Garden Party at the Summer Palace](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/with_the_empress_dowager_of_china_se/chapters/xix-a-garden-party-at-the-summer-palace)

One of the first ladies to arrive at the Foreign Office for the garden party.

### [XXXII: The Chinese New Year—Official Audience](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/with_the_empress_dowager_of_china_se/chapters/xxxii-the-chinese-new-year-official-audience)

Mentioned as one of the legation ladies present at the official audience.

### [XXXIV: Finishing and Sending Off the Portrait](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/with_the_empress_dowager_of_china_se/chapters/xxxiv-finishing-and-sending-off-the-portrait)

The American Minister's wife, who was invited to see the portrait and had originally suggested the painting.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/with_the_empress_dowager_of_china_se/characters/mrs_conger
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/with_the_empress_dowager_of_china_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/with_the_empress_dowager_of_china_se/characters