Character Descriptions
Alphabetic List of Characters (those essential
to the novel's many plots are in bold type) :
The Brookes (Tipton Grange):
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Mr. Arthur Brooke. Bachelor uncle and guardian of
Dorothea and Celia.
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Celia Brooke. Dorothea's pretty and proper younger
sister.
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Dorothea Brooke. A beautiful, noble-minded and ardent
girl, nineteen, with an intense longing for goodness and a great desire
to be helpful to others.
The Bulstrodes:
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Mr. Nicholas Bulstrode. Banker in Middlemarch; a
man whose marked piety covers a dishonorable past.
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Mrs. Harriet Bulstrode, née Vincy. The banker's handsome
and loyal wife, and Mr. Vincy's sister.
-
Ellen Bulstrode. Mr. and Mrs. Bulstrode's daughter.
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Kate Bulstrode. Mr. and Mrs. Bulstrode's daughter.
The Cadwalladers:
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Mrs. Elinor Cadwallader. The rector's managing wife; a highborn,
sharp-tongued woman fond of a joke.
-
Mr. Humphry Cadwallader. Rector of Tipton and Freshitt;
an easy-going man, noted for his devotion to fishing.
Mrs. Carter. Mr. Brooke's cook.
The Rev. Edward Casaubon. A middle-aged scholar, intensely
self-centered and jealous.
The Chettams (Freshitt Hall):
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Dowager Lady Chettam. The widowed mother of Sir James; a
stately and affable woman.
-
Sir James Chettam. An amiable, prosperous and handsome
baronet, with a great dislike for the unconventional.
Mr. Chichely. Coroner in Middlemarch.
Mr. Peter Featherstone (Stone Court). A rich and miserly
old widower.
Master Fitchett. Husband of the lodge-keeper at Tipton Grange.
Mrs. Fitchett. Lodge-keeper at Tipton Grange.
The Garths:
-
Mr. Caleb Garth. Land agent and builder; a man with
a strong sense of honor and an enthusiastic interest in his work.
-
Mrs. Susan Garth. Caleb's wife; a good, unworldly woman
with much force of character and some quirks.
-
Mary Garth. Elder daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Garth;
an attractive girl with plain features, a clever tongue, a sense of humor,
and a warm heart.
-
Christy Garth. Eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Garth, who has
taken to books instead of business.
-
Alfred Garth. Mr. and Mrs. Garth's son who is destined to
be an engineer.
-
Jim Garth. Young son of Mr. and Mrs. Garth.
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Ben Garth. Mary's youngest brother, who hates grammar.
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Letty Garth. Mary's little sister.
Hicks. A rural doctor (only mentioned).
John. Sir James Chettam's groom.
Jonas. A servant (unclear whose).
Julia. Casaubon's aunt and Will Ladislaw's grandmother who made
a runaway match with a Polish musician and was disinherited.
Will Ladislaw. Mr. Casaubon's second cousin; a generous,
easy-going, and fairly irresponsible young man with Bohemian tendencies. His
grandmother Julia (Casaubon's aunt) ran off with a poor Polish musician.
Lovegood. Sir James Chettam's estate manager.
Dr. Tertius Lydgate. A talented young doctor with a great
enthusiasm for the best and newest methods in his profession.
Monk. The St. Bernard dog that takes care of Dorothea and Celia
Brooke in their walks.
Mme. Poinçon. A strict acquaintance of the Brooke sisters in
Lausanne (only mentioned).
Pritchard. Servant in the Vincy family.
Mrs. Renfrew. A colonel's widow; guest at a dinner party given
by Mr. Brooke.
Mr. Standish. A lawyer in Middlemarch, a prosperous old man,
who had drawn up three wills for Mr. Featherstone.
Tantripp. Dorothea Brooke's lady's maid, much attached to her
mistress.
Mr. Tucker. Mr. Casaubon's middle-aged curate.
The Vincys:
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Mr. Walter Vincy. Mayor of Middlemarch; a manufacturer,
a jolly, laid-back man, given to hospitality and easily ruled by his wife
and daughter. Brother to Harriet Bulstrode.
-
Mrs. Lucy Vincy. The mayor's handsome, good-natured wife,
who sees no fault in her children; an innkeeper's daughter.
-
Fred Vincy. Eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Vincy; a good-looking
young man with an irrepressibly hopeful disposition who chooses farming
instead of the Church for which he has been educated.
-
Rosamond Vincy. The mayor's beautiful daughter, later
Lydgate's wife.
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Bob Vincy. Younger son of Mr. and Mrs. Vincy.
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Louisa Vincy. Little daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Vincy.
Mrs. Jane Waule. Mr. Featherstone's rich sister; a disagreeable,
greedy woman, anxious for her brother's money.
Wright. One of Mr. Brooke's servants.
This page last updated 10 May 2000.