Major Characters in Chevalier
Central Characters in The Lady and the Unicorn
The character's who either wanted, created, or influenced the tapestry that is the final result of the action in Tracy Chevalier's novel.
Nicolas Des Innocents: The promiscuous artist who Jean Le Viste hires to create a series of tapestries for his dining hall. Nicolas is known for his miniatures and portraits of women. A commission of a battle piece as a series of panels to be made into a tapestry is unusual for him. Le Viste’s wife Genevieve De Nanterre quickly intervenes and changes the style of the tapestries to an allegorical series depicting a lady and a unicorn.
Nicolas creates a stunning series of paintings and oversees the conversion of them into tapestries. Throughout the story, Nicolas’s mind is only partially on his artwork. He is often distracted by women and his desire for another conquest with which to notch his horn. His favorite method of seduction is to tell the story of the unicorn and how it returns that which was sullied to its pure form.
His flirtations and dalliances nearly derail the entire project more than once. In the end, however, the women who figure in his fantasy end up as the most compelling aspects of the tapestries.
Claude Le Viste: Claude Le Viste is the oldest child of Jean Le Viste and Genevieve De Nanterre. She has a rebellious streak and wants nothing more than to suck all the excitement out of life that she can. When she meets Nicolas, she is smitten. Wise for her age, Claude recognizes Nicolas’s ploy but she does not care. She wants to experience the destruction of her maiden head on her own terms not as political convenience. However, her plans are thwarted and she is locked into an arranged marriage before she has a chance to be free. Claude is the model for the panel depicting Taste.
Genevieve De Nanterre: Wife of Jean Le Viste and mother of Claude, a brilliant woman trapped in an unhappy marriage because she is incapable of producing an heir. Her one desire is to enter a convent and become a nun. However, Jean will not let her go even though he has no interest in her. Claude hears her confessing her one desire to the priest and suggests “A mon seul desire” as a title for a panel in Nicholas’s tapestries.
She is calculating and often manipulates her world to meet her needs. Genevieve is the model for the panel titled “A mon seul desir” or “My One Desire.”
Georges De La Chapelle: The lissier (weaver) in Brussels who is hired to weave the series of panels for Le Viste. He is a thrifty, modest, hardworking man. While his intellect tells him that the tapestries and the low price he is to be paid is not worth it, he is inspired by the beauty of Nicolas’ paintings and takes the commission. The work on the tapestries nearly ruins him.
Aleinor De La Chapelle: The daughter of Georges De La Chapelle and Christine Du Sablon. She has been blind since birth. However, in her own home she moves with ease and confidence. Her sense of touch and sight are so keen that she can sew on the tapestries her family makes and she is the sole caretaker of the garden.
Her disability makes her undesirable to most men in Brussels. However, Jacques Le Boeuf the woad dyer wants her for his wife and because of her disability, her parents agree. However, they do not tell Aleinor.
Aleinor has sex with Nicolas. Her enjoyment is tremendous and she tells him she wants him every night again and again. She knows the risk and she wants it. She is the model for the panel depicting Sight.
Christine Du Sablon: Georges De La Chapelle’s wife. Christine is a outspoken woman with good business sense and a love of weaving. The weavers guild forbids women to weave. However, Christine gets her opportunity to weave when they realize that they cannot finish the tapestries before the deadline if they do not allow her to weave. Christine is the model for the panel depicting Touch.
Chevalier, Tracy. The Lady and the Unicorn. Penguin Group, USA, 2004. ISBN-0-525-94767-1
More Resources for Chevalier's Novel
- Read a review of The Lady and the Unicorn.
- Find Discussion Questions for The Lady and the Unicorn to use with your Reading Group.
- Learn about the minor characters in The Lady and the Unicorn.
