Oliver Barrett IV
Oliver comes from a very wealthy family and is the heir to the family fortune. He is supported by his family's money and never really considers supporting himself, until, of course, he has to, and he finds that he is actually quite good at being independent. Oliver is an all around high achiever; he is a Harvard college student, on a hockey scholarship. He is also very handsome. However, he is also a young man of surprising depth; he is interested in Jenny despite their differences in upbringing and social status, and he is willing to give up his family and his family's financial support in order to be with the woman he loves.
Oliver carries tremendous guilt about Jenny's illness, not because he has in any way caused it, but because he feels that she gave up her dreams to support his. Now there is no time for her to go after he dreams and he is filled with regret about this. Oliver loves Jenny deeply and although he doesn't fully understand the depth of his love, he respects it.
Jenny Cavilleri
A fan of Mozart and Bach, Jenny is a classical music student at Radcliffe College. She comes from a close-knit working-class family, and harbors slightly stereotypical views about wealthy kids like Oliver, assuming that he is dumb, and that he is only at Harvard because his parents have bought him a place. When she realizes she is wrong she flirts with him using humor and her quick wit which he finds irresistible.
Jenny sacrifices her dreams for Oliver's; instead of going to Paris to continue her classical music studies, she marries Oliver, and works as a teacher so that she can pay for him to go to law school. She doesn't view this as a sacrifice because she wants to do it and because she wants to be with him more than she wants to be overseas.
Jenny's illness is sudden, and terminal. It is tragic that she passes so young, and tragic that just as their lives are beginning to move forward in the way they would like it to, she is now not here to enjoy it. Jenny's dying wish is to die in Oliver's arms.
Oliver Barrett IIII
Barrett Senior is Oliver's father; wealthy, successful and with a very definite idea about the kind of woman his son should be marrying. He is not at all impressed with Jenny because he does not take the trouble to get to know her; he sees her background and dismisses her. However, after a period of estrangement with his son, he learns of Jenny's illness, and puts their differences aside so that he can help pay for her treatment.
Phil Cavilleri
Jenny and her father are extremely close and when she is making her will she does not turn to Oliver, but to her father. She makes all of her final arrangements with him. There is a great bond and a trust between them that only grows stronger as she gets older, He is proud of her and stands by the couple throughout their relationship.
