Antagonist

Character Role Analysis

Grandcourt

OK, we have to ask, does Grandcourt have any redeeming qualities? He seems to be in the way of everyone's happiness. He shows up out of nowhere as Sir Hugo's presumptive heir, a direct threat to Sir Hugo's wife and daughters' future financial security. Ditto for Daniel. He treats Lydia Glasher like dirt, even though she sacrificed everything for him; his kids, meanwhile, are terrified of him. He plays mind games with Gwendolen. He treats Lush like a kicked dog. We have never seen the word "sneer" pop up so many times in a book before. He's just straight up the bad guy in this book. Nobody is even that sorry to see him go when he dies. We want to be nice and think that maybe he's misunderstood, but let's face it: Grandcourt is just a total jerk (that's about as nice as we can get).