The Return of the Soldier Character Analysis

Christopher (Chris) Baldry

Chris is 36 years old, Kitty’s husband, and Jenny’s beloved cousin. He and Kitty had one child, Oliver, who died as a baby five years before the start of the story. Chris… read analysis of Christopher (Chris) Baldry

Kitty Ellis Baldry

Kitty is Christopher Baldry’s wife. Kitty and Chris married about 10 years ago, in 1906. Kitty is beautiful, superficial, self-involved, and petulant. She is scornful toward lower-class people. Kitty also has an aversion to… read analysis of Kitty Ellis Baldry

Margaret Allington Grey

Margaret is married to William Grey and lives in a house called Mariposa in the downscale suburb of Wealdstone. Margaret spent her teenage years living on Monkey Island on the Thames, where her father, Mr.… read analysis of Margaret Allington Grey

Jenny Baldry

Jenny, age 35, is Chris Baldry’s cousin and childhood playmate. She is the novella’s narrator. Jenny grew up at Baldry Court and loves Chris deeply; it’s implied, though never directly stated, that her feelings… read analysis of Jenny Baldry

Dr. Gilbert Anderson

Dr. Anderson is the last of the several doctors who visit Chris in an effort to cure him. Jenny is surprised by his comically plump, “unmedical” appearance; he sports a catlike moustache and amspotted tie… read analysis of Dr. Gilbert Anderson

Mr. William Grey

William Grey is Margaret’s husband. He is a rather incompetent gardener, inclined to sickness, and has never been very successful at work. However, he appears to love Margaret and to thrive under her protective… read analysis of Mr. William Grey

Minor Characters

Oliver Baldry

Oliver was Chris and Kitty’s baby son. He died five years ago, at the age of two, from a slight cold, having always been delicate. Reminders of Oliver finally jar Chris out of amnesia.

Frank Baldry

Frank is a cousin who writes to Jenny from France, where Chris has been hospitalized, to explain Chris’s amnesiac condition. He is a clergyman.

Mr. Allington

Mr. Allington is Margaret’s father and the keeper of the Monkey Island Inn. He is a good-natured, gossiping little man who enjoys keeping ducks and rabbits.

Uncle Ambrose

Chris stayed with his Uncle Ambrose in the Thames Valley while on university holiday, meeting Margaret when he ventured to nearby Monkey Island.

Dick Grey

Dick was Margaret and William Grey’s son. Like Oliver, he died five years ago, when he was two.