A Journal of the Plague Year characters

Also known as H.F.

Appears from the start

The London tradesman who presents the account as his record of the plague year of 1665. He stays in the city after prolonged uncertainty, observes official measures and private behavior, collects reports from others, and repeatedly weighs religious trust against practical caution.

Appears from the start

The narrator's elder brother, a prosperous London citizen who urges him to leave before travel and lodging become impossible. His sensible warnings frame the choice that H. F. makes to remain and witness the epidemic.

Appears from the start

A physician known to H. F. whose advice helps him navigate the epidemic. He represents informed medical judgment in a city also crowded with fraudulent cures, frightened guesses, and claims of supernatural protection.

Appears from the start

A religious enthusiast who moves through plague-stricken London publicly proclaiming that divine judgment has fallen on the city. His alarming performances embody the atmosphere of prophecy, terror, and spiritual agitation surrounding the disaster.

Appears from the start

A parish sexton who continues the dangerous work of receiving and burying the dead throughout the outbreak. His survival despite constant exposure is one of the cases H. F. records when considering how unpredictably the disease strikes.

Also known as the piper

Appears from the start

A poor musician whose drunken or exhausted sleep leads body collectors to mistake him for a plague victim. He awakens before burial, making his narrow escape one of the grimly strange incidents preserved in the narrator's survey of the city.

Appears from the start

Three working men who leave London together and improvise a wandering encampment beyond the city. Their shared supplies, practical rules, and negotiations with fearful country communities create a small example of cooperation amid widespread suspicion and flight.