Wren Stirling Character Analysis

Wren’s typecast is the ingenue. A female parallel to James, she often plays his lover in the plays the class performs. She’s sweet and innocent both on and offstage, and of all the fourth-years, she’s the last one who Richard finally snaps at and abuses. She, like her cousin Richard, is descended from West End actors and directors. After Richard’s death, Wren begins to break down from grief and exhaustion. She delivers a eulogy at his funeral but dissolves into tears afterward, and she later collapses while delivering a recitation in the spring semester. She and James are comfortable together, and he appears protective of her. When he propositions her at the King Lear cast party, she agrees, and they go upstairs together. At the end of the book, Oliver believes Wren to be working as a dramaturg in London, hiding from the world.