Characters

“Clara’s Day” by Penelope Lively features several characters: Clara, the Headmistress, Clara’s mother, Stan, Mrs Mayhew, and the collective character of the school girls. In what follows, we will give you outer and inner characterisations of the most important characters in the short story.

Clara Tilling is the main character in “Clara’s Day”, and the narrator uses her point of view to convey the events.

Clara’s mother is a secondary but important character in the short story because of the way Clara relates to her.

The headmistress of the school is a secondary unnamed character in the short story who symbolises an alternative mother figure for Clara.

Stan is Clara's mother's boyfriend and a secondary, episodic character in the short story.

You can read their full characterisation in the next pages.