Character Relationship Map: Chicago

Characters

• Roxie Hart (played by Renée Zellweger) — protagonist

  Roxie is a housewife seeking vaudeville fame who has an affair with Fred Casely and shoots him when he ends it. She manipulates Amos, hires Billy Flynn, becomes a media sensation, fakes a pregnancy, s...

• Velma Kelly (played by Catherine Zeta-Jones) — protagonist

  Velma is a vaudeville star whose performance opens the story before she is jailed for killing her husband and sister after catching them together. She competes with Roxie for publicity, later offers h...

• Billy Flynn (played by Richard Gere) — supporting

  Billy is Velma's brilliant lawyer who represents Roxie after Mama's advice. He manufactures Roxie's virtuous public image, controls the press, discredits witnesses and evidence at trial, and manipulat...

• Fred Casely (played by Dominic West) — supporting

  Fred is a furniture salesman who has an affair with Roxie after promising to introduce her to a nightclub manager. He later admits that he lied about his connections and ends the relationship, prompti...

• Katalin Helinski "Hunyak" (played by Ekaterina Chtchelkanova) — supporting

  Katalin is a Hungarian inmate on Murderess' Row and the only prisoner who insists on her innocence. Her execution by hanging becomes the first such execution of a woman in Cook County history, forcing...

• Kitty Baxter (played by Lucy Liu) — supporting

  Kitty is a wealthy heiress whose arrest for murdering her husband and his two mistresses briefly diverts the press and Billy's attention from Roxie. Roxie responds by claiming to be pregnant, using th...

• Mary Sunshine (played by Christine Baranski) — supporting

  Mary is a radio personality involved in the sensational coverage surrounding Roxie's trial. Together with newspaper reporters, she helps turn the proceedings into a public spectacle, reinforcing the m...

• Reporter (played by Sean Wayne Doyle) — minor
• Harrison (played by Colm Feore) — supporting

  Harrison is the District Attorney who announces that Roxie faces execution by hanging. During the trial, Billy frames the incriminating diary as evidence planted by Harrison, and later admits that he...

• Hunyak's Husband (played by Marc Calamia) — cameo

Canonical Relationships

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

• Hunyak's Husband → Katalin Helinski "Hunyak" (husband)
• Kitty Baxter → Billy Flynn (Professional Potential Client) — Kitty's case briefly becomes Billy's new publicity opportunity.

  When Kitty is arrested, the press and Flynn instantly shift their focus to her.

• Billy Flynn → Reporter (Professional Media Collaborators) — Billy coordinates with reporters to maximize publicity for his defense.

  Flynn uses sensationalist newspaper reporters to turn Roxie's trial into a media spectacle.

• Billy Flynn → Mary Sunshine (Professional Trial Collaborators) — Billy uses Mary and the press to shape public perception of the trial.

  Flynn turns Roxie's trial into a media spectacle with sensationalist reporters and radio personality Mary Sunshine.

• Velma Kelly → Billy Flynn (Professional Former Client) — Billy's legal practice connects Velma's case to Roxie's defense.

  The plot identifies Billy as Velma's lawyer before he represents Roxie.

• Roxie Hart → Billy Flynn (Professional Client And Lawyer) — Billy becomes Roxie's defense attorney and manages her trial strategy.

  On Mama Morton's advice, Roxie engages Billy Flynn to defend her.

• Roxie Hart → Fred Casely (Romantic Lovers) — Their affair becomes the direct cause of Roxie's criminal crisis.

  Roxie has an affair with Fred because he promises to introduce her to the nightclub manager.

Story Dynamics

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

• Velma Kelly → Mary Sunshine (Narrative Trial Participants) — Their roles intersect through the public treatment of murder trials.

  Mary Sunshine is part of the sensational trial coverage while Velma remains a jailed defendant whose case motivates the diary exchange.

• Kitty Baxter → Roxie Hart (Conflict Fame Rivals) — Kitty's arrest creates a temporary media rivalry with Roxie.

  When Kitty is arrested, the press shifts its focus away from Roxie, causing Roxie to reclaim attention by claiming pregnancy.

• Roxie Hart → Reporter (Narrative Publicity Subject) — Roxie becomes the central subject of the reporters' coverage.

  The press praises Roxie as a tragic heroine after Flynn presents her rewritten story.

• Roxie Hart → Mary Sunshine (Narrative Media Subject And Reporter) — Mary helps circulate the public narrative that makes Roxie famous.

  Mary Sunshine participates in the media coverage surrounding Roxie's sensational trial.

• Velma Kelly → Harrison (Conflict Accused And Prosecutor) — Velma's legal vulnerability motivates her attempt to influence the prosecution.

  Velma and Mama offer Roxie's incriminating diary to the prosecution in exchange for amnesty in Velma's case.

• Billy Flynn → Harrison (Conflict Defense Lawyer And Prosecutor) — Their courtroom opposition defines the trial's public spectacle.

  Flynn discredits witnesses and evidence during Roxie's trial, while implying that Harrison planted the diary.

• Roxie Hart → Harrison (Conflict Defendant And Prosecutor) — Harrison represents the legal threat that Roxie must overcome.

  Harrison declares that Roxie faces execution, and Flynn later attacks the prosecution's evidence at trial.

• Roxie Hart → Velma Kelly (Conflict Rival Performers) — Their competition is driven by fame, media attention, and theatrical ambition.

  Roxie becomes more popular than Velma and snubs her after Velma asks her to join an act.

Story Analysis

Two imprisoned performers manipulate fame, law, and public spectacle until rivalry becomes partnership.

Plot Progression

1. Ambition Turns Violent — Roxie dreams of stardom while Velma's performance establishes the world of Chicago show business. Fred's deception and rejection push Roxie into murder and arrest.
2. Fame Behind Bars — Roxie enters Murderess Row and encounters Velma. Billy converts Roxie's crime into a sympathetic public story, making her an overnight sensation.
3. Rivals for the Spotlight — Velma proposes a partnership, but Roxie rejects her while pursuing individual fame. Kitty's arrest briefly displaces Roxie, who responds with a fabricated pregnancy.
4. The Trial Spectacle — After witnessing the consequences of execution, Roxie brings Billy back. He turns the trial into theatrical media entertainment and neutralizes the incriminating diary.
5. Two Murderesses on Stage — Roxie's acquittal does not preserve her fame, and her solo career struggles. She finally joins Velma for a double act that earns a standing ovation.