Goodbye Mr. Chips characters

Also known as Mr. Chips

Appears from the start

An elderly retired schoolmaster who lives across the road from Brookfield, the English boys' school where he spent nearly all his career. His failing health leaves him dozing by the fire, and his memories move freely across decades of pupils, colleagues, jokes, and changes at the school. Shy and conventional when young, he grew into a warmly familiar institution whose strictness was tempered by humor and a remarkable memory for boys and their families.

Appears from the start

Chips's landlady after his retirement, whose house stands opposite Brookfield. As a former matron of the school, she understands its routines and many of its people, and she looks after the aging schoolmaster without intruding on the memories that occupy him.

Appears from the start

The physician who regularly visits the retired Chips. He is friendly and reassuring about the old man's health, though his presence also shows that Chips has become frail and needs to avoid strain.

First appears in chapter 2

The headmaster who receives the young Chipping when he first arrives at Brookfield in 1870. Kind and experienced, he advises the nervous new teacher that maintaining order matters, while giving him room to develop a classroom manner of his own.

Also known as Kathie

First appears in chapter 5

A young woman whom Chips meets while holidaying in the Lake District. Twenty-five years old, independent-minded, and socially confident, she takes an amused interest in the reserved schoolmaster despite their difference in age. Her warmth and willingness to challenge his settled opinions quickly broaden his life beyond Brookfield.

First appears in chapter 10

A forceful, modernizing headmaster of Brookfield who values efficiency, prestige, and a polished public image. He regards Chips's age, old-fashioned habits, and classroom methods as obstacles to his plans, bringing the veteran teacher's place at the school into question.

First appears in chapter 12

Ralston's successor as headmaster, a less imposing administrator who respects Chips and relies on his steadiness. During the First World War, when Brookfield is short of staff and burdened by constant bad news, he asks the retired teacher to return and help the school.

First appears in chapter 17

A very young Brookfield pupil who visits Chips near the end of the old master's life. Their brief meeting links the latest generation of schoolboys with all those Chips has taught before and gives renewed meaning to the familiar name by which the school remembers him.