CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS

Ethel Chauvenet Mrs. Chauvenet is an old friend of the family. She is a member of the towns social
circle, which Veta wants Myrtle to break into, and so they both flatter her and curry her favor. She is
delighted to see Elwood, whom she has not seen in a while, until he introduces her to arvey! then,
sus"ecting his sanity, she hastily a"ologi#es and leaves.
Betty Chumley $ %r. Chumleys wife &ike Veta, she is more concerned with sociali#ing than with science!
told that her husband has to e'amine a "atient, she tells him, ()ive a little *uick diagnosis, +illie , we
dont want to be late to the "arty.- She has a conversation with Elwood while he is looking for arvey, and
then later, when everyone at the sanitarium thinks that it is Veta who believes in the imaginary rabbit, she
mentions his friend arvey, making them all reali#e that they have mistakenly committed the wrong
"erson.
Dr. William B. Chumley $ Chumley is an esteemed "sychiatrist and the head of the sanitarium,
(Chumleys .est,- to which Veta has Elwood taken. e is a difficult, e'acting man, feared by his
subordinates, unwilling to tolerate his mistakes. /fter a night out drinking with Elwood, though, %r.
Chumley comes to see arvey, and after that, he discusses arveys attributes with Elwood. 0old that
arvey can sto" time, allowing one to leave their ordinary life for some time and go somewhere else, he
describes an elaborate fantasy that has a""arently been fomenting in his mind for a long time. 1n his
fantasy, he would go to a cam"ground outside of /kron, 2hio, and live with a beautiful woman, who would
drink beer with him and listen to all of his innermost secrets and stroke his head and say, (3oor thing4 2h,
you "oor, "oor thing4-
Elwood P. Dowd $ Elwood 3. %owd is the central character of the "lay, a friendly eccentric who s"ends his
days and nights in the taverns of his unnamed town. Elwoods best friend is arvey, an invisible si'$foot$
tall rabbit. 0he "lay leaves o"en several "ossibilities regarding e'actly what arvey is, whether he is a
figment of Elwoods imagination, as the "sychiatrists would like to believe, or he is, as Elwood asserts, a
su"ernatural being known as a "ooka. 0he relevant events in Elwoods "ast that would account for his
relationshi" with an imaginary, giant rabbit are only hinted at. 5o information is given about any 6ob he
may have ever been em"loyed at, only that he took care of his mother until the time that she died and that
she left (all of her "ro"erty- to him, which im"lies that the family is rich and that he may have never
worked.
Elwood is a charmer, always "leasant when talking to "eo"le, even those who, like +ilson, address him
gruffly. e has a stack of calling cards in his "ocket and takes one out to offer to each new "erson he meets.
e invites strangers to dinner at his house, including a woman who calls selling maga#ine subscri"tions and
a cab driver who brings Elwoods sister, Veta, out to the sanitarium. e is gallant toward 5urse 7elly,
"icking flowers for her and com"limenting her on her beauty.
0here are hints that Elwood has known disa""ointment in his life, and that arvey may be a manifestation
of this. e is clearly dis"leased with his "ast when he says to 5urse 7elly, (8or you 1 would do anything. 1
would almost be willing to live my life over again. /lmost.- S"eaking of the choice between being smart or
"leasant, he tells %r. Chumley, (8or years 1 was smart. 1 recommend "leasant,- indicating a break with the
"ast. 0he most significant indication of his self$image comes in /ct 11 Scene 11, when he describes the
(golden moments- that he has with strangers in taverns, who tell him about the big things they have done
and that they intend to do, and then, as he sees it, they are im"ressed with arvey because he is (bigger and
grander than anything...-
ud!e Omar "a##ney $ 0he 6udge is an old family friend of the %owds, a re"resentative of the "eo"le in
town who are accustomed to seeing Elwood talking to arvey and who do not think anything of it. e is
the familys lawyer9 so, when Veta wants to commit Elwood, it is u" to :udge )affney to arrange the
commitment "a"ers, and when Veta wants to sue Chumleys .est for wrongly committing her, it is also his
case to file.
Ruth %elly $ 5urse 7elly is a sym"athetic character, a "retty young woman who a""ears to have some sort
of love;hate relationshi" with %r. Sanderson. %escribing him to Veta, she e'claims, (es really wonderful-
, <Catches herself.= (to the "atients.- +hen it seems that they have incarcerated the wrong "erson, 7elly
a"ologi#es and offers to take the blame, but Sanderson meets her concern with sarcasm! (>eautiful , and
dumb, too. 1ts almost too good to be true.- +hen they are trying to stall Elwood from leaving, Sanderson
suggests that she can ca"tivate him with her good looks, telling her to (go into you old routine , you know
, the eyes , the swish , the works.- She is simultaneously flattered and insulted. 2f the "eo"le at the
sanitarium, it is 5urse 7elly that Elwood res"onds to , he holds her hand <asking "ermission first= and
recites love "oetry to her. /lthough the "lay offers no actual conclusion to her flirtation with Sanderson,
there is the im"lication that Elwoods interests will make her more self$confident in the future.
E. . &o#!ren $ /t the end of the "lay, it is the cab driver, &ofgren, who makes Veta reali#e that the
treatment that is su""osed to make Elwood sto" seeing arvey might drain him of his kind "ersonality. e
e'"lains that all of the "eo"le that he drives out to Chumleys .est for treatment are kind and cheerful on
the way out, but on the way back, after their treatment, they are angry, mean, and no fun. (&ady,- he tells
her, (after this, hell be a "erfectly normal human being and you know what bastards they are4-
Dr. &yman Sander'on $ %r. Sanderson is young, for a "sychiatrist, but very *ualified , %r. Chumley has
"icked him out of the twelve "ossible assistants that he tried. e is 6ust as infatuated with 5urse 7elly as
she is with him, but he only reveals his concern indirectly. +hen she tells him to tell %r. Chumley that the
mistake of locking u" Elwood was her fault, he says out loud, (1 never mention your name,- but then adds,
when he has moved away from her, (e'ce"t in my slee".- /t the beginning of /ct 11, Scene 11, the two of
them have their most direct confrontation, discussing the dates that they saw each other with the "revious
weekend, but %r. Sanderson continues to insist that his interest in 5urse 7elly is "urely as a "sychiatrist.
(yrtle (ae Simmon' $ Myrtle is a young woman, the daughter of Veta. 0he main reason why she and her
mother are concerned about their standing in the community is that they both are concerned that Myrtle
find a man to marry. 0hey are afraid that "ros"ective suitors will be frightened away when they find out
that Elwood has an imaginary friend. Myrtle is less charitable about Elwoods odd behavior than Veta,
e'"ressing the wish that he might be hit by a truck and making arrangements to sell the house as soon as he
is taken off to the sanitarium. 1ronically, Myrtle finds a man who is attracted to her because of Elwoods
case9 she and +ilson, the hos"ital orderly, fall in love before the "lay is over. She does have some
awareness of arveys su"ernatural e'istence, because she is the one who e'"lains that whatever Elwood
says arvey "redicted actually comes to "ass9 however, Myrtle is too concerned with herself and her own
"ros"ects to think that there is anything too odd about this.
)eta &oui'e Simmon' $ Elwoods sister, Veta, is an im"ortant character in this "lay because she 6oins the
"lays two o""osing forces, logic and imagination. 1t is her embarrassment with Elwood and her fear that
her daughter, Myrtle, will not be able to land a suitable husband because of his eccentricities, that has her
take him to Chumleys sanitarium to be committed. Veta throws society functions that are covered by the
local news"a"er, and she is terrified that her social "osition will be sub6ect to ridicule or scandal. Elwood
embarrasses her. >ut Veta is a comic character and is 6ust as unstable in her own way as is her brother. 1n
fact, Veta admits at one "oint that she has actually seen arvey on a few occasions, indicating that she and
her brother share a common state of mind. +hen she tries to e'"lain Elwoods condition to %r. Sanderson,
she describes arvey in such a confusing way that the doctor thinks that she is the one who imagines him,
and so he has +ilson ca"ture her and lock her u". Veta enlists an old family friend, :udge )affney, to sue
the sanitarium, but her threat is eventually forgotten. She does, however, em"athi#e with her brother in the
end, after the cab driver has told her that the sanitariums treatment will sto" his eccentricity but make him
mean and dull, and she interru"ts the treatment before it can change him.
Wil'on $ +ilson is the muscle of Chumleys .est, a devoted orderly res"onsible for handling the "atients
who will not coo"erate voluntarily. +hen %r. Sanderson thinks that Veta is su""osed to be committed,
+ilson ca"tures her, carries her u"stairs, and undresses her in order to "ut her in the (hydro$tub- for
thera"y. e is vulgar and crude and com"letely devoted to %r. Chumley, almost frantic with concern when
he thinks that Elwood may have hurt the doctor. +hen he goes to the %owd house looking for Elwood,
+ilson flirts with Myrtle , she seems interested in him. +hen he asks her out in the last scene it is her
mother, Veta, who turns him down.
(i'' ohn'on $ Miss :ohnson is listed in the Cast of Characters as (a cateress,- but her dialog in the "lay is
tagged (Maid.-