Speaker
The speaker is unnamed, and we don't know their age or gender. What we do know about them is that they're a thoughtful observer of the world around them, prone to drawing connections that others don't. We also know that they feel alienated by the modern, urban environment, especially the aspects of it that emphasize money (whether that's industrial wealth or something more genteel). This speaker is drawn to sensory life and emotional intensity. Interestingly, they even seem to prefer that intensity when it's unpleasant—for instance, when it's represented by a woman bleeding in an ambulance.
The Woman in the Ambulance
This character is even more mysterious than our speaker, and in a sense she's more of a symbol than anything else, standing in for a kind of raw, unmediated human experience. At the same time, Plath obliquely suggests a variety of conflicts she might be facing. The proximity of the phrase "love gift" implies that she is pregnant or giving birth, or, perhaps, suffering from a miscarriage. At the same time, it appears that her heart is bleeding—an image that may well be literal, but also suggests emotional anguish.
The Bowler Hats
Plath evokes the image of dead-eyed passers-by wearing bowler hats. The image of the bowler hat, a popular item for workers in London's financial sector, hints that these dead-eyed watchers are businessmen. The speaker implies that, because they inhabit an exclusive and disconnected world of wealth and business, they are unable to absorb and appreciate beauty.
