Character Relationship Map: Brokeback Mountain

Characters

• Ennis Del Mar (played by Heath Ledger) — protagonist

  Ennis Del Mar is a Wyoming cowboy whose summer work on Brokeback Mountain begins his intimate relationship with Jack Twist. He later marries Alma Beers, raises two daughters, and repeatedly refuses Ja...

• Jack Twist (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) — protagonist

  Jack Twist is a cowboy who meets Ennis Del Mar while herding sheep on Brokeback Mountain. He pursues their emotional and sexual relationship, marries Lureen Newsome, and repeatedly urges Ennis to buil...

• Alma Beers (played by Michelle Williams) — supporting

  Alma Beers is Ennis Del Mar's longtime fiancée and later his wife. She has two daughters with Ennis, accidentally witnesses his passionate reunion with Jack Twist, and eventually divorces Ennis. After...

• Lureen Newsome (played by Anne Hathaway) — supporting

  Lureen Newsome is a rodeo rider who meets Jack Twist in Texas and marries him. She later leaves rodeo work to enter business with her father while Jack works in sales. After Jack's death, Lureen tells...

• Joe Aguirre (played by Randy Quaid) — supporting

  Joe Aguirre is the rancher who hires Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist to herd sheep through the summer on Brokeback Mountain. He later refuses Jack's request for work because he observed the two men engag...

• Monroe (played by Scott Michael Campbell) — minor

  Monroe is the manager of the grocery store where Alma Beers works. After Alma Beers and Ennis Del Mar divorce, Monroe marries Alma and becomes part of the household in which she raises the children. T...

• Waitress (played by Valerie Planche) — minor
• Jack's Mother (played by Roberta Maxwell) — supporting

  Jack's Mother receives Ennis Del Mar when he visits after Jack Twist's death. Although Jack's father says the ashes will remain in the family plot, she allows Ennis to enter Jack's old bedroom, where...

Canonical Relationships

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

• Jack's Mother → Jack Twist (mother)
• Joe Aguirre → Jack Twist (Professional Employer) — Joe places Jack in the mountain work arrangement.

  Joe Aguirre hires Jack for the same summer sheep-herding work on Brokeback Mountain.

• Joe Aguirre → Ennis Del Mar (Professional Employer) — Joe employs Ennis for the shepherding assignment.

  Joe Aguirre hires Ennis to herd sheep through the summer on Brokeback Mountain.

• Alma Beers → Monroe (Family Wife) — Monroe becomes Alma's later husband.

  After divorcing Ennis, Alma marries Monroe, the manager of the grocery store where she works.

• Jack Twist → Lureen Newsome (Family Husband) — Their marriage provides Jack with a conventional family life.

  Jack meets Lureen in Texas, marries her, and has a son with her.

• Ennis Del Mar → Alma Beers (Family Husband) — Their marriage is strained by Ennis's relationship with Jack.

  Ennis marries Alma, and they have two daughters before divorcing in 1975.

• Ennis Del Mar → Jack Twist (Romantic Lovers) — Their forbidden love drives the central narrative.

  They have sex in Jack's tent, then develop a continuing sexual and emotional relationship through private fishing trips.

Story Dynamics

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

• Jack Twist → Ennis Del Mar (related)
• Ennis Del Mar → Waitress (Social Customer) — The waitress is connected to a brief later relationship in Ennis's life.

  The plot states that Ennis has a brief romantic relationship with a waitress.

• Ennis Del Mar → Lureen Newsome (Narrative Caller) — Their telephone exchange reveals the circumstances of Jack's death.

  After Ennis's postcard is returned stamped 'Deceased,' he calls Jack's number and Lureen answers.

• Ennis Del Mar → Jack's Mother (Social Guest) — Ennis is received by Jack's mother while seeking a final connection to Jack.

  After Jack's death, Ennis visits Jack's parents and is allowed by Jack's mother to enter Jack's old bedroom.

• Alma Beers → Jack Twist (Social Suspicious Witness) — Alma's discovery exposes the hidden relationship.

  Alma inadvertently sees Ennis and Jack kiss passionately when Jack visits Ennis.

Story Analysis

A lifelong love is constrained by fear, social violence, family obligations, and the impossibility of openly sharing a life.

Plot Progression

1. Summer on Brokeback — Ennis and Jack meet while working as shepherds for Joe Aguirre. Their isolation and a drunken advance lead to an intimate relationship that neither can easily dismiss.
2. Separate Conventional Lives — After parting, Ennis marries Alma while Jack marries Lureen in Texas. Their domestic lives conceal the emotional bond formed on the mountain.
3. The Life They Cannot Build — Jack and Ennis reunite, but Ennis refuses Jack's proposal to live together. Fear, family obligations, and social violence force their love into secrecy.
4. Love Under Strain — Their marriages deteriorate, Ennis divorces Alma, and Alma confronts him about Jack. The lovers continue meeting, but work and fear increasingly limit their time.
5. The Shirts And The Promise — Jack's death ends their possibility of reunion and leaves Ennis devastated. Finding their preserved shirts allows Ennis to keep a private bond with Jack into old age.