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Other Characters

Lawrence Selden

Lawrence Selden is a young lawyer who is fascinated by Lily Bart, whom he admires for her beauty, taste, and intelligence. He falls in love with her even though he knows he cannot support her in the standard of living to which she aspires. Aside from a few stolen moments and chance conversations, determined not to entangle himself emotionally, Lawrence avoids her. Only at the end of the novel, when it's too late, can he express his feelings for her.

Percy Gryce

Percy Gryce is a wealthy and eligible bachelor. Shy and conservative, he is uncomfortable around women, but he takes pride in his inherited collection of Americana books. Lily befriends him with the intention of making him fall in love with her. A consumate actor, she pretends an interest in things that interest him, and plays the role of a prospective wife to the hilt. However, when Gryce discovers her subterfuge, he runs away as fast as he can, eventually meeting and marrying a much more appropriate young woman.

Judy and Gus Trenor

The Trenors are Lily's best friends at the start of the story. Judy is an expert hostess, considered at the top of fashionable society, although the older and more conservative families do not approve of everything that goes on in her household. She wants to help Lily find a husband, but the friendship cools when Lily stirs up trouble at one of Judy's house parties and she suspects that Lily may have slept with Gus.

Simon Rosedale

A wealthy Jewish banker and insightful businessman, Simon Rosedale wants to be accepted into the higher ranks of society. He cultivates people through the Stock Exchange, sharing stock tips with social stars such as Wellington Bryce and Gus Trenor.

Rosedale is aware that he makes others uncomfortable, but believes that a respectable and socially astute wife will make him acceptable to society. He therefore determines that he must have such a wife, and chooses Lily.

He insures that Lily gets her hands on Bertha Dorset's incriminating letters to Lawrence Selden, hoping to furnish her with the ammunition to blackmail Bertha into acknowledging her socially.

Bertha and George Dorset

A vicious, selfish woman who thinks of little but her own pleasure, Bertha Dorset has a husband who is completely unaware of her affairs. Scheming to protect herself, and concerned that her husband may be growing interested in Lily, Bertha hints that Lily and George are having an affair. This is the beginning of Lily's ruin. Subsequently, Bertha uses her social position to further isolate and humiliate the young woman.

Gerty Farish

A cousin of Lawrence Selden's, Gerty dearly loves both Lawrence and Lily. When she realizes that Lawrence is in love with Lily, she sublimates her love for him into a desire to help Lily. Mild, generous, and optimistic, Gerty sees the best in everyone. Regarded by Lily as "dingy" because of her simple living conditions, Gerty devotes herself to public service. When Lily comes to her for help, Gerty finds various positions for her, and invites her to live with her in her apartment. This Lily refuses, although she has come to appreciate Gerty's kind heart.

Julia Peniston

Lily's Aunt Julia reluctantly accepted financial responsibility for Lily after her parents died, and has been supporting her ever since. She pays all Lily's expenses, but does not give her a regular allowance. Instead, she makes Lily unpredictable gifts of cash. When presented with the rumors of Lily borrowing money from Gus Trenor and gambling for money, Julia is shocked. After the evidence of Lily's inappropriate behavior becomes overwhelming, Julia disinherits her niece, leaving Lily with barely enough of a legacy to settle her debts.

Carry Fisher

Carry Fisher is a repeatedly divorced woman who relies on her social skills to survice and who occasionally does dirty work for Judy Trenor or Bertha Dorset. Carry sees in Lily a kindred spirit, and attempts to teach Lily the art of social midwifery, but Lily is unable to recognize that the very people she helps to gain a foothold in society will inevitably snub her as they do Carry. When it becomes known that Lily held a position in Norma Hatch's (a gold digger at best and possibly a courtesan of some sort) household, this doesn't hurt Carry Fisher, understood by everyone to be damaged goods herself; but when Norma Hatch nearly succeeds in marrying a naïve young man from a wealthy family, Lily is blamed as having somehow been involved in the conspiracy.