Bel-Ami Characters: Full List & Analysis

Who drives the story

Main characters

Georges Duroy (Du Roy)

An ex-cavalry NCO from Algeria with charm, good looks, and no other talent, who claws his way from railway clerk to chief editor. He uses women as ladders and ends the book rich, titled, and hungry for politics.

Appears in:: Part 1: Three Francs Forty; Part 2: The Louis in the Pocket; Part 3: Forestier the Second; Part 4: The Wedding at the Madeleine
Themes:: Ambition without talent; Journalism as prostitution; Women as instruments; Money, morality, and the Church; Death beneath the climb

Madeleine Forestier (Du Roy)

Blonde, brilliant, and politically connected, the ghostwriter behind both her husbands' columns. She refuses to be Duroy's mistress, marries him on her own terms, and is destroyed by his police trap.

Appears in:: Part 1: Three Francs Forty; Part 2: The Louis in the Pocket; Part 3: Forestier the Second; Part 4: The Wedding at the Madeleine
Themes:: Ambition without talent; Women as instruments

Clotilde de Marelle

The Forestiers' friend and Duroy's truest lover, who rents their love nest and coins the name 'Bel-Ami' through her daughter. She supports him in poverty, breaks with him over the louis coin, and takes him back at the very end.

Appears in:: Part 1: Three Francs Forty; Part 2: The Louis in the Pocket; Part 4: The Wedding at the Madeleine
Themes:: Women as instruments

Charles Forestier

Duroy's army comrade who opens journalism's door, then dies coughing blood in Cannes. Even dead, he haunts Duroy as the nickname 'Forestier the second.'

Appears in:: Part 1: Three Francs Forty; Part 2: The Louis in the Pocket

Monsieur Walter

Owner and chief editor of La Vie Française, who turns a Moroccan loan into tens of millions. He loses his daughter to Duroy but concedes the scoundrel will go far.

Appears in:: Part 1: Three Francs Forty; Part 4: The Wedding at the Madeleine

Laroche-Mathieu

A parliamentarian made foreign minister by La Vie Française's favor, and Madeleine's secret lover. Caught in adultery by police, he loses ministry and career in one stroke.

Appears in:: Part 3: Forestier the Second; Part 4: The Wedding at the Madeleine

Also in the story

Supporting characters

Virginie Walter

The pious wife of the press baron, seduced in her own church. Her first extramarital affair becomes an obsession that her daughter's elopement turns fatal to her health.

Appears in:: Part 3: Forestier the Second

Suzanne Walter

The Walters' young, naive, marriageable daughter, delighted to be eloped with and to marry 'Bel-Ami.' She is the dowry of several million francs that crowns his climb.

Appears in:: Part 4: The Wedding at the Madeleine
Themes:: Ambition without talent; Women as instruments

Norbert de Varenne

The paper's old poet, single and bitter, who sells his pen and warns Duroy what that costs. His terror of death is the novel's one honest voice.

Appears in:: Part 1: Three Francs Forty
Themes:: Journalism as prostitution; Death beneath the climb

Laurine de Marelle

Clotilde's little daughter, who innocently names Duroy 'Bel-Ami' — the brand he trades on for the entire novel.

Appears in:: Part 1: Three Francs Forty

Comte de Vaudrec

Madeleine's old friend and protector, probably her lover, who leaves her a million francs. The inheritance fuels Duroy's jealousy and pays for his half of the split.

Appears in:: Part 3: Forestier the Second

Rachel

A prostitute Duroy turns to when broke. She is the mirror of his humiliation at the bottom, just as the wedding is his triumph at the top.

Appears in:: Part 2: The Louis in the Pocket

How they are connected

Key relationships

Madeleine Forestier (Du Roy)Georges Duroy (Du Roy)
She refuses to be Duroy's mistress, marries him on her own terms, and is destroyed by his police trap.
Clotilde de Marelle Georges Duroy (Du Roy)
The Forestiers' friend and Duroy's truest lover, who rents their love nest and coins the name 'Bel-Ami' through her daughter.
Charles Forestier Georges Duroy (Du Roy)
Duroy's army comrade who opens journalism's door, then dies coughing blood in Cannes.
Monsieur Walter Georges Duroy (Du Roy)
He loses his daughter to Duroy but concedes the scoundrel will go far.
Laroche-Mathieu Madeleine Forestier (Du Roy)
A parliamentarian made foreign minister by La Vie Française's favor, and Madeleine's secret lover.
Norbert de Varenne Georges Duroy (Du Roy)
The paper's old poet, single and bitter, who sells his pen and warns Duroy what that costs.
Laurine de Marelle Georges Duroy (Du Roy)
Clotilde's little daughter, who innocently names Duroy 'Bel-Ami' — the brand he trades on for the entire novel.
Laurine de Marelle Clotilde de Marelle
Clotilde's little daughter, who innocently names Duroy 'Bel-Ami' — the brand he trades on for the entire novel.
Comte de Vaudrec Madeleine Forestier (Du Roy)
Madeleine's old friend and protector, probably her lover, who leaves her a million francs.
Comte de Vaudrec Georges Duroy (Du Roy)
The inheritance fuels Duroy's jealousy and pays for his half of the split.
Rachel Georges Duroy (Du Roy)
A prostitute Duroy turns to when broke.

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Bel-Ami themes & symbols

Ambition without talent · Journalism as prostitution · Women as instruments · Money, morality, and the Church

Themes explained

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