Character guide

Martha

major

A woman caught between ecstatic new love and the certainty it will end, she dissects her own passion with the cold eye of a philosopher.

Witold

major

Also known as Mr. Witold

A sharp-eyed observer of the salon set, he watches men like Wiazewski theorize about women while their own desires quietly betray them.

Gina Wartoslawska

major

Also known as Miss Gina Wartoslawska, Gina, Miss Wartoslawska

Once the prettiest artist in the room, she now wears a broken engagement on her face for everyone to read and pity.

Janusz

supporting

Also known as Latterly Janusz

A handsome rider who follows a woman into the woods to argue, he mistakes the heat of pursuit for the depth of feeling.

Janka Dernowicz

major

Also known as Janka

Named as the most liked among the women, she moves through the artists' circle with a quietness that makes her stand out.

Stephen Tworkowski

supporting

Also known as Stephen, Dear Stephen

Stephen is the narrator's confidant and the salon's resident ironist, the man addressed as "Dear Stephen" who can pivot from mocking doctrinaire artists to confessing a love affair he knows has no morrow. He insists woman's need for permanent love contradicts men's instincts, yet his own letters betray ecstatic delight and black-moth self-reproach in equal measure. His running debate about whether this is love or merely loneliness gives the novel's central question its sharpest, most self-aware voice.

Imszanski

supporting

Also known as the Imszanski

Imszanski moves through the salon with urbane ease, greeting acquaintances and seeking out a handsome Frenchwoman whose glance lights him up — then smoothly redirecting his attention to the narrator's table when he spots them watching. His gift for graceful concealment, and the narrator's tact in not burdening him with gratitude for it, quietly implicates everyone in the room's unspoken arrangements. He is the social lubricant that keeps the novel's web of flirtations and proprieties humming.

Madame Wildenhoff

supporting

Also known as Mme. Wildenhoff, Mme, Wildenhoff

Madame Wildenhoff is the appointment the men at the table are waiting on, her name invoked alongside Owinski, his fiancée, and Czolhanski as the reason the evening hasn't properly begun. She never quite arrives in the scene, and that absence is telling: she functions as a social anchor, the kind of woman whose presence organizes an evening's shape before she even appears. Her name carries the weight of the world these characters move in — formal, awaited, slightly withholding.

Roslawski

supporting

Roslawski belongs to the extended cast of men and women whose lives brush against the narrator's orbit — named, noted, and woven into the texture of the novel's social world. He exists less as a scene-stealer than as part of the dense human fabric Nałkowska builds, one more thread in the web of acquaintances through whom the book examines love, ambition, and the quiet compromises of Polish intellectual life. His presence reminds us that every conversation here has an offstage audience.

Wiazewski

minor

A character who appears in the narrative with some dialogue.

Owinski

minor

A character mentioned in the context of social circles.

Ileska

minor

A female character with pronoun references, likely a minor role.

Mary Wieloleska

minor

Also known as Mme. Wieloleska—formerly Mary, Mary, Mme

A character with a dual identity, formerly known as Mary.

Janina Dernowicz

minor

Also known as Miss Janina, Miss Dernowicz, Miss Janina Dernowicz

A young woman with a few proper mentions, possibly a relative.

Genka

minor

A named character with minimal presence.

Professor Obojanski

supporting

Also known as Obojanski

A professor whose presence lends the drawing-room debates their weight of authority, whether or not he earns it.

Smilowicz

minor

Also known as Mme. Smilowicz, Mme

A minor character, possibly a social acquaintance.

Idalia

minor

A named female character with limited but notable appearances.

Emma

minor

A named character with a small number of mentions.

Wieloleski

minor

A character referenced in the narrative, possibly a family name.

Radlowski

minor

A minor character with a few proper mentions.

Czolhanski

minor

A named character appearing briefly in the story.

Orcio

minor

A character with a small number of mentions, possibly a child.

Lola Wildenhoff

minor

Also known as Lola, Wildenhoff

A younger female character, likely related to Madame Wildenhoff.

Joseph

minor

A minor character with a handful of mentions.

Andy

minor

Also known as little Andy

A child character with limited appearances.

Sophy

minor

Also known as little Sophy

A young girl mentioned briefly in the narrative.

Lipka

minor

A named character with only proper mentions.

Garborg

minor

A minor character referenced in passing.

Imszanska

minor

Also known as Miss Imszanska

A female character, possibly related to Imszanski.

Kosa

minor

A character with a few proper mentions.