While he does not appear in at least one-third of the scenes, Wyatt Gwyon is the book's main character; his struggles are the focus of The Recognitions, and the other characters judge themselves in relation to him. Raised by a Calvinist aunt, Wyatt spends a year at divinity school to please her, but then sneaks off to Europe to study painting, in particular the Flemish painters of the late Middle Ages. Discouraged from practicing his art, he wanders from bad job to bad marriage until Recktall Brown, a Mephistophelian businessman, tempts him to forge Flemish paintings for a percentage of the profits. Besides Gwyon, Brown, and a corrupt art critic named Valentine, a few of the other important characters are Otto, Esther, and Esme. Otto, the comic double of Wyatt, often echoes or even repeats Wyatt's lines or actions, but he has none of the drive or the...