# Fictional characters who were probably virgins at an unexpectedly late age. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 26, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-were-probably-virgins-at-an-unexpectedly-late-age/687053 "2014-04-26T14:19:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-were-probably-virgins-at-an-unexpectedly-late-age/687053/21 "2014-04-26T16:12:08Z")
It’s a fair bet that Father Brown never played hide the sausage, and he was “elderly” at least. Aragorn’s record is probably beaten comfortably by Bilbo, if it comes to that - he never married, did not have any “close male friends” (I’d certainly discount a ward 78 years younger than him) and lived past 130. And while Maiar _can_ have sex in the form of Children of Iluvatar, it’s hard to envisage Gandalf ever having done so. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-were-probably-virgins-at-an-unexpectedly-late-age/687053/22 "2014-04-26T16:20:10Z")
> [@MrKnowItAll](#): > > How about Ms. Marple? She was never married, and is from a time period before sexual liberation was common. Possibly a closet lesbian, but I’ve never seen any indication of that. At the time of the story “At Bertram’s Hotel” she is in her early 70s. Thinking of other Christie characters, IIRC Hercule Poirot was never married and had no known romantic partners. His age isn’t really clear, but he’s obviously an older man even in the earliest Poirot books. ---
**Author:** ![ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-were-probably-virgins-at-an-unexpectedly-late-age/687053/23 "2014-04-26T17:44:10Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Honor Harrington was 44 I believe when she lost her virginity. A combination of early shyness, a rape attempt, and being consumed by her job. I’m pretty sure there was a romantic relationship with someone, post-rape attempt, that ended badly when she overheard the guy making unflattering comments about her sexual skills and responses to a third party. This would’ve been mentioned only in an internal monologue when Honor was self-conscious during the beginning of her sexual relationship with Paul Tankersley. ---
**Author:** ![Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambrosio_Spinola)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-were-probably-virgins-at-an-unexpectedly-late-age/687053/24 "2014-04-26T17:57:27Z")
Are we counting people who are _lifelong_ celibates, or are we only counting those who do eventually have sex at some point? If the latter, I think a good Discworld example would be Sybil Vimes, who was at the very least in her late 30s at the time of her marriage to Sam Vimes, and possibly older (sufficiently so that they were both somewhat surprised that she had not undergone menopause). And a male example, how about Arys Oakheart from _A Song of Ice and Fire_? I seem to recall him telling Arianne Martell that he didn’t have any other women besides his duty, and he really seemed to feel bad about breaking his vows of celibacy. He would have probably been in his 30s or even older, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-were-probably-virgins-at-an-unexpectedly-late-age/687053/25 "2014-04-26T18:18:02Z")
Do we have any particular reason to think Sybil was still a virgin when she married Sam? ---
**Author:** ![Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambrosio_Spinola)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-were-probably-virgins-at-an-unexpectedly-late-age/687053/26 "2014-04-26T18:29:30Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Do we have any particular reason to think Sybil was still a virgin when she married Sam? They were using her as a virgin sacrifice to the dragon. So at least the dragon thought so. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-were-probably-virgins-at-an-unexpectedly-late-age/687053/27 "2014-04-26T20:08:45Z")
So did everybody else in Ankh-Morpork, otherwise they wouldn’t have chained her to that rock. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-were-probably-virgins-at-an-unexpectedly-late-age/687053/28 "2014-04-26T20:20:48Z")
> [@Ambrosio\_Spinola](#): > > Are we counting people who are _lifelong_ celibates, or are we only counting those who do eventually have sex at some point? I myself am only thinking of the latter, and so would not include Father Brown or Gandalf. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-were-probably-virgins-at-an-unexpectedly-late-age/687053/29 "2014-04-26T20:47:17Z")
I’m guessing the entire older household staff in _Downton Abbey_ are virgins–Carson, Mrs. Hughes, and Mrs. Patmore. While I feel it’s ambiguous as to the other two I think it’s clearer for Carson. In speaking about a woman he loved in his years as a stage performer he notes that “of course back in those days we never so much as held hands.” Some of the younger staff like Daisy seem headed in that same direction. I do like the series but whether it was accepted or not (since household staff were expected to not be married), I very seriously doubt your “typical” lower class British servant in the late 19th/early 20th century was a virgin all their days…especially the males. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-were-probably-virgins-at-an-unexpectedly-late-age/687053/30 "2014-04-26T20:50:08Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Most of the wizards at Unseen University would quality, I think. Eh, I wouldn’t be so sure. The students at UU are known to have an almost institutional lack of respect for University rules, as evidenced by that bit of easily climbed wall everybody knows about (including the faculty) but nobody gets around to fixing for Reasons. They also have a nigh-suicidally inquisitive nature, because wizards. Supposedly they only use that discreet back entrance to go out for pints past curfew, but then if UU has anything to offer its students beyond a sort of uninvolved knowledge osmosis it’s a large selection or ales, port, wines and spirits. And, you know, seeing as you’re already out in the seedy part of town and it wouldn’t be too out of your way, as it were, where’s the harm in finding out what’s all that fuss about seamstresses ? I mean, what’s so exciting about darning socks, that’s what I want to know. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-were-probably-virgins-at-an-unexpectedly-late-age/687053/31 "2014-04-26T21:06:18Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Thinking of other Christie characters, IIRC Hercule Poirot was never married and had no known romantic partners. His age isn’t really clear, but he’s obviously an older man even in the earliest Poirot books. In the Suchet tv version of one of the short stories he meets up again with a woman from his past who gave him the lapel vase that he always wears. At the end she introduces him to her eldest son who is called Hercule. It’s not said outright that Poirot is the father but it’s strongly hinted. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-were-probably-virgins-at-an-unexpectedly-late-age/687053/32 "2014-04-26T21:33:37Z")
In _Pride and Prejudice_, the Rev. Mr. Collins is married at age 25, and is almost certainly a virgin on his wedding night. That’s the best example I can think of with no inclination toward celibacy or asexuality, who still waited until his wedding night. Without any real evidence other than hostility toward her mother, I think Vivian Warren in _Mrs. Warren’s Profession_ may have waited, although exactly how long, I don’t know. How old was Fleda Vetch in _The Spoils of Poynton_? I’m sure she was a virgin, and she was a little old to be unmarried for the time (with the caveat that being unmarried past the age of 25 was horrifying then). Speaking of spinsterhood, one fictional “old maid,” who was really pretty young by modern standards, was Marian the Librarian in _The Music Man_. I’m pretty sure she was a virgin as well, at least until shortly after the curtain fell. Oh, and Agnes Gootch in _Auntie Mame_. In spite of the fact that she gets pregnant out of wedlock, it’s by her first lover ever, and she is supposed to be in her 30s, probably her late 30s. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-were-probably-virgins-at-an-unexpectedly-late-age/687053/33 "2014-04-26T21:41:07Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > I’m guessing the entire older household staff in _Downton Abbey_ are virgins–Carson, Mrs. Hughes, and Mrs. Patmore. While I feel it’s ambiguous as to the other two I think it’s clearer for Carson. In speaking about a woman he loved in his years as a stage performer he notes that “of course back in those days we never so much as held hands.” Some of the younger staff like Daisy seem headed in that same direction. I’ve always taken it that MRS. Hughes and MRS. Patmore are widows. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-were-probably-virgins-at-an-unexpectedly-late-age/687053/34 "2014-04-26T22:06:46Z")
sometimes “mrs” is a title for the housekeeper not a marital status. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-were-probably-virgins-at-an-unexpectedly-late-age/687053/35 "2014-04-26T22:22:59Z")
Mrs Hughes was called “Missus” because she was the housekeeper. It was a title of respect for her status. (Don’t know that there was a similar rule for cooks.) I don’t find it surprising that a respectable woman might remain a virgin in the days before secure birth control. I do doubt that none of the male servants would have had encounters with easier women–for money or not. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-were-probably-virgins-at-an-unexpectedly-late-age/687053/36 "2014-04-26T22:31:29Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I’ve always taken it that MRS. Hughes and MRS. Patmore are widows. Cooks and housekeepers were always called “Mrs.” no matter their age or if they were widowed. I do believe marriage for servants was frowned upon, unless a “couple” (housekeeper/butler) were specifically hired to work as a team. Young servants who got married were expected to leave service (as were older ones, of course, and if you had a cozy long term job, why would you WANT to ever leave?) ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-were-probably-virgins-at-an-unexpectedly-late-age/687053/37 "2014-04-26T22:43:58Z")
Marcus Cole, the dashing hero from _Babylon 5_, was a virgin. He fell in love with Susan Ivanova, and, I think, deliberately let his status slip to her. He wanted to wait for marriage, and this might have been his way of gently letting her know he loved her. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-were-probably-virgins-at-an-unexpectedly-late-age/687053/38 "2014-04-26T22:54:10Z")
Matt Keller in Niven’s A Gift From Earth is only in his twenties, but per his societies’ norms he’s quite old to be a virgin. There’s a reason… ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-were-probably-virgins-at-an-unexpectedly-late-age/687053/39 "2014-04-26T22:57:49Z")
> [@JacobSwan](#): > > In the Suchet tv version of one of the short stories he meets up again with a woman from his past who gave him the lapel vase that he always wears. At the end she introduces him to her eldest son who is called Hercule. It’s not said outright that Poirot is the father but it’s strongly hinted. Countess Vera Rossokoff , Perhaps ? ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-were-probably-virgins-at-an-unexpectedly-late-age/687053/40 "2014-04-26T23:06:15Z")
Edward Cullen :o [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-were-probably-virgins-at-an-unexpectedly-late-age/687053.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-were-probably-virgins-at-an-unexpectedly-late-age/687053.md?page=3)