The Dumpling (Elizabeth Rousset)
The Dumpling (Elizabeth Rousset, or Boule de Suif herself) was the protagonist of the story. She was a “loose” woman who was too attractive to her own good. In spite of the fact that the majority of people disrespected her, she proved to be a better human being than the rest of them.
Monsieur and Madame Loiseau
Monsieur and Madame Loiseau were wine merchants. The man “sold very bad wine at very low price” and had a reputation of “a crook.”
Monsieur Carre-Lamadon
Monsieur Carre-Lamadon was more dignified than Monsieur and Madame Loiseau and belonged to “a higher class.” He built his fortune on cotton trade. Madame Carre-Lamadon was much younger than her husband.
The Count and Countess Hubert de Breville
The Count and Countess Hubert de Breville belonged to one of the oldest and noblest families in Normandy.
Cornudet
Cornudet was “a well-known democrat” and “the terror of all respectable people.”
A Prussian officer
A Prussian officer is an officer whose fancy the Dumpling catches.
