Lizzie Hexam
Lizzie is the daughter of Gaffer Hexam, and the sister of Charley. She is pursued by both Wrayburn and Headstone; although she loves the former, she is concerned with the gap in their social class and education. Throughout the novel, Lizzie shows integrity, kindness, and bravery, and she is rewarded at the end of the plot with a happy marriage to Wrayburn.
Eugene Wrayburn
Wrayburn is a young lawyer and a close friend of Mortimer Lightwood; he falls in love with Lizzie almost as soon as he meets her, but he spends much of the novel being indecisive and unclear about his intentions. Wrayburn can be somewhat lazy and short-sighted, as when he torments Headstone without realizing how much danger he is creating for himself. After his near death experience, he becomes a more mature and grounded character and shows his integrity by marrying Lizzie despite the social difference between the two of them.
John Harmon/John Rokesmith/Julius Handford
John Harmon spends much of the novel hiding his true identity, and uses two different aliases. He is the heir to a large fortune, but has lived a lonely and isolated life, and is worried at the prospect of marrying a woman he does not know. Hiding his identity allows him to help and protect the Boffins, and observe Bella, who he comes to love for her own sake. At the end of the novel, John is restored to his identity, fortune, and position and now has the benefit of knowing who his true friends are, and knowing that his wife truly loves him.
Silas Wegg
Silas is a street peddler and ballad seller with a wooden leg. He is hired by Boffin to read to him, even though Silas himself is not well-educated, and is eventually given the opportunity to life in the former Harmon house. However, Silas looks for opportunities to betray and blackmail his patron, since he sees Boffin as a usurper and is obsessed with getting money and status for himself.
Noddy Boffin
Noddy Boffin begins his life as a humble employee of Mr. Harmon; even though he is not well-educated, he is faithful and kind to the family. After he inherits the fortune, he continues to show kindness and goodwill to everyone, even though his innocence sometimes puts him at risk of being taken advantage of. However, Boffin also shows himself as capable of being cunning, since he successfully deceives Bella into believing he is actually becoming a cruel and greedy man.
Mrs. Boffin
The wife of Noddy Boffin, she seems more socially conscious than her husband, and more interested in what her changing social status means for her. At the same time, she is always very kind and unpretentious. Mrs. Boffin is also very nurturing and motherly, even though she has no children of her own. She treats Bella much like her own daughter, and is keen to adopt an orphan so that someone can benefit from their fortune.
Bella Wilfer
Bella is a beautiful and charming young woman who has grown up in a family with a modest income, with the strange prospect of knowing she will someday marry a man she has never met. She is both relieved and frustrated when John Harmon is pronounced dead; her move into the Boffin household allows her to live like a wealthy woman, but she spends much of the novel being obsessed with marrying into money. She rejects John Rokesmith the first time because he does not have a fortune, but as she matures, she realizes that she should follow her heart, and she eventually marries him with pure motives.
Charley Hexam
Charley is the son of Gaffer Hexam, and the brother of Lizzie. His sister's careful planning gives him a chance for social mobility by ensuring he will get a good education; however, Charley becomes embarrassed by his humble origins and by the life his sister leads. He wants her to marry Headstone because it would protect his own social position.
Mortimer Lightwood
Lightwood is a lawyer whose professional practice focuses on the Harmon family and their inheritance. His social circle intersects with many of the other characters, including Wrayburn, the Veneerings, and the Boffins, which leads him to observe many of the novel's major events.
Jenny Wren
Jenny is a teenage girl who makes a living by making clothes for dolls; she is also responsible for caring for her alcoholic father. She often behaves strangely, but she is very kind to Lizzie and is also very intelligent and perceptive.
Mr. Riah
Riah is a Jewish man who manages Fledgeby's money-lending business; because money-lending was stereotypically perceived as a Jewish occupation, this arrangement allows Fledgeby to enjoy profits without damaging his reputation or social standing. Riah is very kind and gentle, and he helps Jenny and Lizzie a number of times throughout the novel.
Bradley Headstone
Headstone is a teacher at the school where Charley Hexam studies, and he meets Lizzie through this connection. Despite a seemingly reserved exterior, Headstone's passion for Lizzie leads him to obsession and a jealous rage when he realizes that Wrayburn is also pursuing her. Although he is well-educated and intellectually sophisticated, Headstone behaves in a violent and animalistic manner, and when he realizes he has failed to kill Wrayburn, he sees no more point in living.
Mr. Venus
Venus works as a taxidermist; he is in love with Pleasant Riderhood, and becomes acquainted with Silas Wegg. Although it initially seems like Venus is helping Wegg in his plot to deceive and blackmail Boffin, he actually betrays Wegg by revealing the plot.
Mr. Alfred Lammle
Mr. Lammle is an ambitious social climber who hoped his marriage would make him wealthy; when he realizes his wife does not have any money either, he plots with her and Fledgeby in hopes of exploiting and tricking others, and becoming wealthy as a result.
Mrs. Sophronia Lammle
Mrs. Lammle gets married at the start of the novel, hoping she will become wealthy as a result but eventually has to resort to plotting and scheming. While she is at first involved in a plot to trick an innocent young girl into making a bad marriage, she repents and puts a stop to the scheme.
Georgiana Podsnap
Georgiana is a wealthy and sheltered young woman who nearly falls victim to a plot by the Lammles, who plan to trick her into marrying Fledgeby so that they can take her money. She is saved from this outcome, and shows her innocence by continuing to believe that the Lammles were truly her friends.
Fledgeby
Fledgeby is a scheming and deceitful character; he owns a money-lending shop, but conceals this information by having Riah manage it for him. He works with the Lammles to try and exploit Georgiana Podsnap, but after this plot fails, he betrays them as well.
Rogue Riderhood
Riderhood is a riverman who initially works with Gaffer Hexam, but gets involved in theft. He frames Hexam as the murderer of John Harmon, even though it was Riderhood himself who was involved in drugging and stealing from both Harmon and one of his shipmates. Later, Riderhood becomes implicated in Headstone's plot to murder Wrayburn, and he eventually dies when both he and Wrayburn fall into the Thames while struggling together.
Mr. Wilfer
Mr. Wilfer is the father of Bella, and works as a clerk in the company owned by Mr. Veneering. He is a kind-hearted man and a loving father, but he is also quite passive and is basically treated like a child.
Mr. Inspector
He is the police man involved in investigating a number of criminal and legal events, including the discovery of the bodies of John Harmon and Gaffer Hexam.
Mr. and Mrs. Podsnap
A wealthy couple, they are part of the Veneering social circle and very anxious about maintaining their reputation and social standing.
Mrs. Wilfer
She is the mother of Bella. Unlike her husband, she is cold, self-interested, and never satisfied with anything. She does not have a good relationship with her husband or daughter.
Lavinia Wilfer
She is Bella's younger sister.
George Sampson
He is a bumbling young man who first pursues Bella, and then moves on to courting her sister.
Twemlow
A member of the Veneering social circle who has connections to the aristocracy, he is one of the few high society characters who seems to be genuine and good-hearted. Mrs. Lammle identifies him as an ally when she wants to save Georgiana from making a bad marriage, and he shows respect and integrity in the way he responds to Wrayburn marrying Lizzie.
Betty Higden
An impoverished elderly woman who takes care of children, she is terrified of one day ending up in a workhouse, which creates an opportunity for Dickens to critique the way poor people were treated in the Victorian era. She comes into contact with the Boffins after they adopt her great-grandson Johnny. She is determined to live by her principles and remain independent, and she ends up dying in Lizzie's arms.
Johnny
An orphan whom the Boffins hope to adopt, he is the great-grandson of Betty Higden, who has been raising him. Due to his impoverished life, he gets sick and dies before he can be adopted.
Sloppy
He is an orphan who lives with Betty Higden and helps her. He later becomes part of the Boffin household.
Gaffer Hexam
Hexam is the father of Lizzie and Charley; he makes a living by stealing money from corpses found in the river. He is opposed to his children being educated, which leads to him rejecting Charley after Charley starts school. He is falsely accused of murdering John Harmon but is found dead before his name can be cleared.
Pleasant Riderhood
She is Rogue Riderhood's daughter. Mr. Venus is in love with her, and although she initially rejects him, the two marry at the end of the novel.
Mr. and Mrs. Veneering
They are a wealthy and superficial couple who often give parties and meddle in the social affairs of people around them. They are very preoccupied with showing off their wealth.
Miss Peecher
She is a teacher who works at the same school as Bradley Headstone, and is secretly in love with him.
George Radfoot
He is a sailor from the ship that John Harmon takes to return to England. He switches clothes with John Harmon, which is what leads to the confusion of the bodies. He is involved with Riderhood in a plot to steal John's money, but Riderhood ends up betraying both of them, and leading to George being beaten and then drowning in the river.
