Silas Marner with A Christian Readers' Guide characters

Appears from the start

A skilled linen weaver whose trances make his neighbors in Lantern Yard regard him with a mixture of awe and uncertainty. After a trusted friend frames him for theft and his religious community condemns him by lot, Silas loses both his faith and his intended bride. He settles alone near Raveloe, devoting himself to work and the money it earns.

Appears from the start

Silas's closest friend in Lantern Yard, respected by their congregation and trusted by Silas. He watches beside a sick deacon with Silas and is present when the deacon's money disappears.

Appears from the start

The woman Silas expects to marry while he belongs to the Lantern Yard congregation. Their engagement ends amid the accusation that drives Silas away.

First appears in chapter 3

The aging landowner of the Red House and father of Godfrey and Dunstan. Accustomed to being obeyed, he is hearty and forceful but inattentive to the disorder and secrets within his own family.

First appears in chapter 3

The Squire's eldest son and heir. Good-natured but weak in the face of pressure, he is secretly married to Molly Farren while hoping he may someday marry Nancy Lammeter. His fear of admitting the truth gives his younger brother power over him.

Also known as Dunsey

First appears in chapter 3

Godfrey's younger brother, a reckless and spiteful man who exploits Godfrey's secret marriage. He has already diverted rent money entrusted to Godfrey and presses him for further advantage.

First appears in chapter 3

Godfrey's secret wife, living apart from him in poverty. Her dependence on opium and the gulf between her circumstances and the Cass family's position make Godfrey ashamed and afraid to acknowledge the marriage.

First appears in chapter 7

A Raveloe neighbor who is among the first people Silas suspects after his hoarded gold disappears. Jem has previously angered Silas by lingering near the cottage, though the accusation rests on fear rather than proof.

First appears in chapter 11

The eldest unmarried daughter of a prosperous farmer, admired for her beauty, good judgment, and steady principles. Godfrey hopes to marry her, but she dislikes evasiveness and has no knowledge of the marriage he is hiding.

First appears in chapter 10

The wheelwright's warm, practical wife. She approaches the isolated Silas with food, patient kindness, and simple religious counsel, trying to connect him with Raveloe rather than judge his strangeness.

First appears in chapter 10

Dolly Winthrop's young son, an energetic child who accompanies her to Silas's cottage. His presence gives Silas an early, awkward encounter with childhood before Silas has any family of his own.

First appears in chapter 12

A small golden-haired child who wanders into Silas's cottage on a snowy New Year's Eve and falls asleep by his hearth. Silas initially mistakes her hair for the returned gleam of his stolen coins, then finds that she has come from a woman lying outside in the snow.