Orlando Characters

Orlando is many things: poet, patron of the arts, ambassador, man, woman, and temporary coma patient. But one thing Orlando is not is a character with a trajectory easy to map from one chapter to t...

First spotted in Chapter Two standing in Orlando’s grand hallway looking a little lost and very humble in the face of the fancy surroundings. His presence debunks Orlando’s image of poe...

In a novel that's all about finding the right words for things, it's significant that the only character who gets to do the naming is our protagonist, Orlando. And it's also meaningful that he name...

We have a suspicion that, if Orlando were living today, she'd shop at REI. Or maybe she'd have a subscription to Backpacker Magazine and a lifetime membership with the Sierra Club. Our point here?...

Harry/Harriet is a Romanian Archduke with a serious crush on Orlando. Harry (it turns out to be just Harry) holds a deep, constant, and abiding love for our protagonist. This would be impressive if...

This is the ship captain who brings Orlando from Constantinople to England. He’s the first lucky guy to see Orlando wearing dresses, and when he treats her as a woman, Orlando realizes for th...

Orlando’s mother’s maid. Orlando spies a poet in her room during Chapter One.

Orlando’s gardener during Elizabethan times.

Bachelorette #1 who didn’t interest Orlando because she was too sweet and good.

Bachelorette #2 who lost Orlando’s interest because she had her spaniel whipped.

Bachelorette #3 who lost Orlando’s interest because…Princess Sasha showed up.

Orlando’s first and longtime housekeeper.

Orlando’s chaplain. He first appears in Chapter Two and then resurfaces in Chapter Five.

The old gipsy man who houses Orlando after his (or her) sex change. He is the only gipsy whose name we learn, and he holds very different philosophies than Orlando when it comes to nature, and prop...

In real life, Pope lived in the 18th century and has remained popular for his satirical poetry. One of the "great wits" that Orlando spends time with, she alternates between feelings of awe for his...

The prostitute that Orlando befriends after she is sick and tired of England’s greatest wits.

Orlando’s housekeeper during the Victorian era.

He is Orlando’s butler during the Victorian era.