Lillian Rearden

Aliases: Mrs. Rearden; Lillian; in society columns "Mrs. Henry Rearden."

Role

Hank Rearden's wife. The novel's portrait of the cold parasitic spouse — a woman whose ambition is to possess and to humiliate the most productive man of her generation. Trades the name of his mistress to Dr. Floyd Ferris in Ch. 16 to save the regime that protects her social world.

Personality / energy

Sophisticated. Cold. Theatrically aggrieved. Skilled at the social cruelty that injures without ever quite being citable. Believes herself the only witty woman in the room.

Physical description

About thirty-five. Slim, willowy, beautiful in a polished, calculated way. Dark brown hair worn in elegant waves or low chignons. Cool gray eyes. A slender straight nose, a small even mouth, a long throat. Carriage of a society hostess.

Outfit

• Home: pale silk dressing gowns, a single string of pearls
• Hank's anniversary party (Ch. 6): an ivory satin evening gown, diamond earrings and bracelet (the diamond bracelet she trades to Dagny)
• The Wayne-Falkland (Ch. 12): a full-length silver-gray evening gown, fur stole
• Confronting Dagny (Ch. 23): a dark mink coat over a pale tea dress, gloves
• The final bedroom tableau with Jim (Ch. 24): a simple silk slip

Visual motifs

• A diamond bracelet on a fine wrist
• Pearls at a long throat
• A mink coat in a lamplit Manhattan apartment
• A perfectly composed face under chandelier light, just slightly cruel

Power signature

Not applicable. Her "signature" is jewelry on a throat — pearls or diamonds — under chandelier light.

Chapter appearances

2, 6, 12, 13, 16 (off-page meeting with Ferris), 23, 24.

Source references

• Wikipedia — Atlas Shrugged: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_Shrugged
• SparkNotes — Atlas Shrugged character list: https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/atlasshrugged/characters/

Confidence

High — Lillian is one of the book's most fully drawn antagonists.