A Shabby Genteel Story

Characters[edit]

"George Brandon": the pseudonym used by a gentleman of twenty-seven who takes lodgings with the Ganns. He has graceful manners, and the pale skin and large dark eyes of a Romantic poet. In fact he is the son of a half-pay colonel who at some cost has put him through Eton and Oxford, with the result that Brandon has come to despise any way of life other than that of an aristocratic playboy. Unfortunately, he is not wealthy enough to support his tastes and is in Margate because he can hide from his creditors there: "He was free of his money; would spend his last guinea for a sensual gratification; would borrow from his neediest friend; had no kind of conscience or remorse left, but believed himself to be a good-natured, devil-may-care fellow; had a good deal of wit, and indisputably good manners, and pleasing, dashing frankness in conversation with men."

Caroline Gann: the fifteen-year-old daughter of the house where Brandon has lodgings. Pretty and shy, she is bullied by her mother and half-sisters. Caroline is addicted to romantic novels, and solemnly believes that one day her own life will develop along similar lines. Brandon strikes her as everything a heroic lover should be, and she trusts him almost absolutely; but not quite enough to allow herself either to be pressured or seduced into sleeping with him before being married.

Andrea Fitch: born Andrew Fitch, and a Cockney: but having become a painter and travelled to Italy, calls himself Andrea. Described as "... a fantastic youth, who lived but for his art; to whom the world was like the Coburg theatre, and he in a magnificent costume acting a principal part. His art, and his beard and whiskers, were the darlings of his heart. His long pale hair fell over a high polished brow, which looked wonderfully thoughtful; and yet no man was ever more guiltless of thinking." Like Brandon, Fitch is attracted to Caroline and believes himself in love; but in his case rather than seduce the girl he wishes to write her sonnets, worship her from afar, paint her portrait and gradually win her heart. The absurd but high-minded Fitch has already spurned the advances of a rich middle-aged widow who fell for him in Rome, a Mrs Carrickfergus. When Caroline runs away with Brandon however the heart-broken Andrea ends up marrying the impassioned widow.

The Ganns: Caroline Gann's father, James Gann, his wife Julianna, his step-daughters Isabella and Rosalinda Wellesley Macarty. They are the shabby genteel people of the title, having dubious backgrounds but a small private income (inherited from Juliana's mother, who kept an inn) which allows them to give themselves airs as gentlefolk.

Viscount Cinqbars: a young nobleman, still at university, whom Brandon had previously tutored on a continental tour. He admires Brandon as the sort of rakish seducer he fancies himself to be – though Cinqbars is both small and ugly and his only personal attraction is his money.

Reverend Thomas Tufthunt:^[2] a hanger-on of Cinqbars, a university man who has recently taken holy orders. He quietly detests Brandon, who is his rival for Cinqbars's patronage. He gleefully consents to perform the clandestine marriage ceremony, reasoning that it will ruin Brandon to marry a penniless girl.

Becky: the maid of all work in the Gann household and Caroline's only friend. From her under-privileged viewpoint she easily sees through the pretensions of most of the characters, but is so devoted to Caroline she suspends judgment on Brandon: "If he's really in love, miss, and I think he be, he'll marry you; if he won't marry you he's a rascal, and you're too good for him, and must have nothing to do with him."