She Stoops to Conquer characters

Appears from the start

A country gentleman who values old customs and plain hospitality. He wants his daughter Kate to marry the son of his old friend Sir Charles Marlow, and he expects to welcome the young man as an honored guest. His dislike of fashionable affectation makes the rude behavior of the supposed visitors especially bewildering.

Appears from the start

Mr. Hardcastle's second wife and Tony Lumpkin's indulgent mother. Fond of fashionable society despite living in the country, she intends Tony to marry her niece Constance so that Constance's valuable jewels will remain under her control.

Appears from the start

Mr. Hardcastle's intelligent daughter. She enjoys current fashions but agrees to dress plainly in the evenings to please her father. When he proposes Charles Marlow as a husband, she is willing to meet him while reserving the right to judge his character for herself.

Appears from the start

Mrs. Hardcastle's son from her first marriage, a mischievous young man who prefers the company at the Three Pigeons alehouse to respectable society. He resents his mother's plan to marry him to Constance and turns two lost travelers' request for directions into an elaborate practical joke.

Appears from the start

Mrs. Hardcastle's orphaned niece and ward, whose inheritance includes jewels controlled by her aunt. Mrs. Hardcastle wants her to marry Tony, but Constance and Tony dislike the match. Constance is secretly devoted to George Hastings and hopes to escape her aunt's plans.

Appears from the start

The landlord of the Three Pigeons, where Tony Lumpkin spends his time with local companions. He recognizes Tony's generosity while worrying that the young man's habits and limited education may lead him into trouble.

First appears in chapter 2

Sir Charles Marlow's son, sent to meet Kate as a possible wife. He is painfully reserved with women of his own social position but confident and flirtatious with women he considers socially beneath him. Tony's directions lead him to mistake the Hardcastle home for an inn.

First appears in chapter 2

Marlow's friend and traveling companion, secretly in love with Constance Neville. He recognizes the Hardcastle house soon after arriving but preserves Tony's deception when he realizes it gives him a chance to see Constance and arrange their escape together.

First appears in chapter 2

One of Mr. Hardcastle's farm servants, hastily dressed and instructed to wait at table for the expected guests. His unfamiliarity with formal service helps make the household look like the badly managed inn Marlow and Hastings believe it to be.

First appears in chapter 5

Marlow's father and Mr. Hardcastle's old friend. He arrives expecting to celebrate a promising match between their children and initially trusts his son's restrained account of meeting Kate.