Dante and the Lobster Characters & Character Analysis

Dante and the Lobster Characters

The Aunt

Belacqua's aunt lives in Dublin. He goes and visits her, bringing her a lobster for their meal. She is a very down-to-earth and practical person, focused on the facts of everyday life. In many ways, she is the opposite of Belacqua.

Mademoiselle Glain

Mademoiselle Glain teaches French lessons next door to the room where Signorina Ottolenghi works. She has a cat that tries to eat Belacqua's lobster while Belacqua is taking his Italian lesson. Because of this, Belacqua decides he hates her, calling her a "base prying [b—]" and "a devout, virginal blue-stocking, honing after a penny' s worth of scandal."

The Grocer

According to the narrator, the grocer is "a warm-hearted human man [who] felt sympathy and pity for this queer character who always looked ill and dejected." However, he is a "small tradesman" and is not motivated entirely by charity. Belacqua goes to the grocer's shop to buy a slab...
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