Giovanni's Room characters

Appears from the start

An American living in France who narrates the story from a rented house in the south, on the night before Giovanni is to be executed. He has spent much of his life trying to fit an image of conventional masculinity and has difficulty admitting what he wants. His fiancée, Hella, is away in Spain deciding whether to marry him, while his memories return to his youth in America and his time with Giovanni in Paris.

Appears from the start

David's American fiancée. Intelligent and independent, she has gone to Spain alone to consider his proposal and what marriage would require of her. Her absence gives David freedom he is unwilling to examine honestly.

Appears from the start

A boyhood friend whose intimate encounter with David awakens feelings that David immediately rejects. The memory remains a formative example of David responding to desire with shame and flight.

Appears from the start

David's widowed father, who tries to relate to his son as a companion rather than an authority figure. His ideas about manhood and his concern over David's direction help shape the expectations David carries into adulthood.

First appears in chapter 2

An older Belgian American in Paris who moves through the city's gay social world with money, experience, and an often painful awareness of how affection and dependence become entangled. He lends David money and brings him to Guillaume's bar.

First appears in chapter 2

The wealthy owner of a Paris bar frequented by Jacques and other men. Vain and socially powerful within his circle, he employs Giovanni as a bartender and treats the people around him as sources of attention or advantage.

First appears in chapter 2

A handsome young Italian working behind the bar at Guillaume's establishment. He is direct, quick-witted, and newly arrived in David's life, and the immediate attraction between them unsettles David.

First appears in chapter 2

An acquaintance in Guillaume's late-night circle, known for entertaining the others with stories and gossip as they drift between bars and restaurants.

First appears in chapter 6

An American woman in Paris whom David seeks out while trying to prove something to himself about his desires. She responds sincerely to his attention and does not know that his motives are divided.