Character Relationship Map: Berkeley Square

Characters

• Peter Standish (played by Leslie Howard) — protagonist

  The 1933 American descendant of an earlier Peter Standish, he inherits a house in Berkeley Square and becomes absorbed in his ancestor’s diary. He unexpectedly travels back to 1784, where he falls in...

• The American Ambassador (played by Samuel S. Hinds) — supporting

  The American ambassador meets Peter Standish and Marjorie Frant for tea in 1933. Peter confides in him, eagerly explaining his conviction that he will be transported 149 years into the past at 5:30 th...

• Marjorie Frant (played by Betty Lawford) — supporting

  Marjorie is Peter Standish’s fiancée in 1933 and becomes increasingly concerned by his obsession with his ancestor’s diary. After Peter returns from the past and says he is from the eighteenth century...

• Sir Joshua Reynolds (played by Olaf Hytten) — minor

  Sir Joshua Reynolds is the painter Peter commissions to make his portrait after traveling back to 1784. Peter praises another Reynolds work by name before the painter has finished it, revealing knowle...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Peter Standish → Sir Joshua Reynolds (Professional Commissioner And Artist) — Their interaction is a professional portrait commission complicated by Peter's foreknowledge.

  Peter commissions Sir Joshua Reynolds to paint his portrait after arriving in the eighteenth century.

• Peter Standish → Marjorie Frant (Romantic Fiancees) — Their engagement is strained by Peter's time-travel conviction and emotional withdrawal.

  In 1933, Marjorie Frant is Peter Standish's fiancee and becomes concerned about his obsession with the ancestral diary.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Peter Standish → The American Ambassador (Social Confidant) — Peter uses the ambassador as a trusted listener for his extraordinary prediction.

  During tea with the American ambassador, Peter openly explains his conviction that he will be transported 149 years into the past.

Story Analysis

A man crosses through time, finds love in the past, and returns to the present carrying an irreparable loss.

Plot Progression

1. The Diary And The Prophecy — Peter inherits a London house and becomes absorbed in an ancestral diary. He predicts that he will be transported to the eighteenth century and seeks confirmation from the American ambassador.
2. A Door Into 1784 — Peter's prediction comes true when he returns to 1784. He enters a financially troubled household that expects marriage to solve its difficulties.
3. Love Against History — Peter struggles with unfamiliar customs and accidentally reveals knowledge of the future. His attraction and apparent second sight make the household increasingly suspicious of him.
4. The Cost Of Returning — Peter recognizes that the eighteenth-century world cannot satisfy him, even though he has found love there. He returns to 1933, discovers the loss recorded on a gravestone, and rejects marriage with M...