Orlando

by

Virginia Woolf

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Orlando makes teaching easy.

The Archduchess Harriet Griselda / Archduke Harry Character Analysis

A nobleman who falls in love with Orlando by simply looking at a painting of him. The Archduke moves near Orlando’s estate in London and dresses as a woman, disguising himself as an Archduchess to deceive Orlando. Orlando is indeed duped, but he soon realizes that the feelings he has for the Archduchess are lust, not love, and Orlando runs to Constantinople. After Orlando returns to England as a woman, the Archduke hears of Orlando’s change and immediately goes to her estate. He explains himself, apologizes, and begins to court Orlando; however, Orlando does not reciprocate his feelings. Orlando must cheat at a parlor game to make herself less attractive to the Archduke, and she is successful. The Archduke angrily leaves, but he does later forgive Orlando for her own deceit. The character of the Archduke serves to disrupt popular stereotypes of gender and sexuality, and he is another reflection of the narrator’s assertion that the sexes “intermix.” According to the narrator, “a vacillation from one sex to the other takes place” in every human being and “it is only the clothes that keep the male or female likeness, while underneath the sex is the very opposite of what it is above.”
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The Archduchess Harriet Griselda / Archduke Harry Character Timeline in Orlando

The timeline below shows where the character The Archduchess Harriet Griselda / Archduke Harry appears in Orlando. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
Subjectivity, Truth, and Biography Theme Icon
Gender and Society Theme Icon
The woman, the Archduchess Harriet Griselda of Finster-Aarhorn and Scandop-Boom, stands over six feet tall, and she returns to... (full context)
Chapter 4
Writing and Literature Theme Icon
Gender and Society Theme Icon
...immediately sees that the shadow is a “familiar” one, a “grotesque” one. It is the Archduchess Harriet Griselda, the very woman who had chased Orlando from London in the first place.... (full context)
Gender and Society Theme Icon
Suddenly, in the place in which the Archduchess stood not a moment before is “a tall gentleman in black.” “La!” cries Orlando, “how... (full context)
Gender and Society Theme Icon
The Archduke falls to his knees and continues to confess his love for Orlando with “enormous” tears... (full context)
Writing and Literature Theme Icon
Gender and Society Theme Icon
...to which lump a fly will land. Orlando is hoping that boredom will drive the Archduke away, but he is an avid gambler and immediately takes to the game. Running out... (full context)
Gender and Society Theme Icon
One day, Orlando cheats “so grossly” that the Archduke is finally discovers her trick. He stands up from the table, turns “scarlet,” and begins... (full context)