Mary Erle
She is the main character of the story - a young girl, who works as a journalist in one of the London newspapers. Her mother was long dead so she could hardly remember her, and her father was famous scientist whom Mary liked to help in his work; his death was a great shock for her and she tried to find forgetfulness in reading books: “She could read and that was enough”. Mary is clever, confident, talented and hard-working, but she can’t fully realize her potential because the position of a woman in her society is quite difficult: she has to write what people want to read about, but not what she wants to show, she is dependent on social stereotypes.
Vincent Hemming
Vincent Hemming is an old friend of Mary’s father. He had charming, but old-fashioned manners, he is handsome and self-confident, but most of all he wants to have money and power. That is why he marries the daughter of a rich man, but not Mary, the woman he really loved. He hates his wife because she never misses the opportunity of reminding him that he is a failure, but still she spends a lot of money on him. He suffers because he made a mistake and betrayed Mary, but it is too late to change anything, he made his choice, money was all what he wanted, not love and happiness.
Alison
She is Mary’s best friend. Alison is a kind-hearted girl who helps other women and children, but she hates to be regarded as a philanthropic person and states that she gets of that more good than those girls. She is also a pragmatic person, she thinks that women don’t need to study art and how to cook. Alison falls in love with Dr. Dunlop Strange but she finds out that he broke heart of a young lady and that lady, couldn’t get through it, falls ill and dies soon. She can’t be with a man who has ruined somebody’s life because she wants this world to be better and she is doing everything she can to help others. But, for the irony of life, Alison also falls ill; death has no mercy on her and she dies.
Lady Jane
She is Alison’s mother, a woman of about 60 who “cares about the society”. She is a typical representative of the late Victorian era, loves balls and huge dinner parties. Her aim is to woo her daughter with an appropriate man of honor, and even after her daughter’s death her priorities don’t change: she is presenting her niece to the world, trying to find her a good party.
Perry Jackson
He is a famous painter, very rich and rather extraordinary. He is an old friend of Mary, they met in the Central London School of Art. He had feeling for Mary but she refused him, as his ridiculous manners were astonishing for her. And after this refusal Perry tried to avoid Mary because he couldn’t humble himself with defeat.
Dr. Dunlop Strange
He is a handsome man with a perfect reputation. He likes Alison and this feeling is reciprocal, but Alison finds out that he left the young girl who loved him and she tried to commit a suicide. And when this girl was in hospital and saw him he acted as if he didn’t know her. And this girl died later after. Dr. Dunlop didn’t have mercy on her, he is a cruel and egotistic person.
Jimmie Erle
He is Mary’s younger brother. He loves entertainments and loves when his sister gives him money for that. He always asks Mary to give him some money and it irritates her a lot but she can’t do anything with it because she loves him.
Dr. Danby
He is Mary’s doctor. His way of thinking is stereotypical, he considers that woman in her twenties ought to have a family and have no mental worries otherwise there is something wrong with this woman.
Patient Number Twenty Seven
She is the young girl who felt in love with Dr. Strange and who left her. Mary sees her in the park when she is waiting for him, and this girl looks terrible, she lost her reason to live, the man she loves doesn’t want to know her. Alison meets her in the hospital and there the young girl also meets Dr. Strange but he predends not to know her. It was the last and the greatest disappointment in her life, which she couldn’t get through.
