Character Analysis Chad Newsome

Though Strether finds Chad Newsome to be much different than the young man who left Woollett, Paris has only changed Chad superficially. A polished and refined gentleman on the outside, he does not live up to the ideal person that Strether believes him to be. This character dominates the story, or rather his situation determines the story, but he is not the finely-drawn character that Lambert Strether is. His weakness becomes increasingly apparent as he habitually leaves things to others, including the decision to leave Paris, which he puts squarely on Strether’s shoulders. In the end, we find Chad is eager to return to the business at Woollett and will encounter little difficulty of conscience in leaving his lover, Madame de Vionnet.