Main+Characters

**John Dowell** is the narrator of the story. He is an average man from Philadelphia, who marries a girl named Florence and moves to Europe. Nothing in particular about John stands out to the reader, but he is the only insight we have to the dramatic events that unfold between his wife, the Ashburnhams, and various other acquaintances. In nature, John is calm and passive and easily manipulated. His narration exudes a definite sadness, but as he tells the story, he barely expresses any other emotion. John's wife, Florence, has him on a leash, and Leonora likewise feeds John's gullibility during their friendship. He is a man swept up in life's drama and utterly confused about where he stands. John's initial conceptions of love and righteous living shatter into pieces after the events of his early adulthood. Literary scholars have called John Dowell the typical "modern man."

 **Florence**, John's wife, is a bit of an enigma. The reader doesn't really learn too much about her personal motivations and feelings because she is constantly lying to her husband, whose voice leads the story. It's unclear whether Florence actually loves John because she invents a "heart disease" as a source of infinite excuses for her actions toward John. She rarely speaks to him or shows affection, and she even refuses to sleep in the same bedroom as her husband. However, Florence is not without tender passions and she satisfies her whimsies by having an affair with Edward Ashburnham, a nice gentleman she meets at a health spa in Nauheim, Germany where she was receiving therapy for her "heart disease."

 **Edward Ashburnham** is whom John calls "the good soldier." Edward - handsome, sophisticated, compassionate, educated - appears to be the perfect man in every way. John meets him and his wife, Leonora, and instantly assumes that they are "good people." To John, the label defines a certain class of people, those that come from respected families, work in noble professions, and refrain from promiscuities. But the title is actually very ironic, because while Edward appears to many of his acquaintances as the perfect man, he has many of his problems. He deeply admires his wife, but he cannot remain faithful because he is turned off by her controlling attitude. So he indulges in the company of more carefree, often younger, ladies. Edward also fails miserably in managing his finances - not because he gambles or spends his money recklessly, but because he is sometimes too generous. He would at any moment help an orphan on the street find his uncle or grandmother. He might buy a beggar girl a new wardrobe or hire a gardener that knows nothing about flowers but needs a job. Unfortunately, these sort of well-intended actions aren't realistically sound, and so Leonora takes legal authority over the Ashburnham assets. Edward resents his wife's control and feels pushed toward other women, but still respects Leonora because she does care about him.

 **Leonora** is Catholic. I say this because her religious background affects much of her character. She is organized, poised, and practical, but also manipulative, jealous, and sensitive. She loves Edward, and wants to have a normal life with him, but is devastated that he is cheating on her. So she tries to take control of her marriage however she can, and the most obvious way she does that is by legally acquiring all of Edward's liabilities and assets. She feels tortured in her existence as Edward's reserved wife while he goes out with other women, but she's afraid that if she tried to stop the affairs, Edward would divorce her because he is Protestant. Her marriage is a nightmare - Edward broke her heart, but she wants him to love her again. Meanwhile Edward admires Leonora but feels she is too harsh for his kind of love.