The Thomas Hardy Collection: Six Novels characters

Appears from the start

An independent young woman who inherits her uncle's Weatherbury farm. Proud of her freedom and determined to manage the property herself, she attracts several very different suitors while learning the demands of ownership.

Appears from the start

A capable, steady young shepherd who first meets Bathsheba while farming on his own account. After losing his flock and property in a disaster, he rebuilds his life through skilled work and remains a dependable adviser to her.

First appears in chapter 13

A prosperous, reserved neighbouring farmer whose disciplined life is disturbed when Bathsheba sends him a teasing valentine. He takes its invitation seriously and becomes an intense, socially respectable suitor.

Also known as Sergeant Troy

First appears in chapter 11

A handsome cavalry sergeant secretly engaged to Fanny Robin. When she goes to the wrong church for their wedding, his wounded pride outweighs sympathy for her distress.

First appears in chapter 11

A former servant at Bathsheba's farm who is secretly engaged to Sergeant Troy. A mistake about the church where they are to marry leaves her isolated and ashamed.

First appears in chapter 58

The eldest child of an impoverished rural family, sensitive to beauty and to the burden created by her father's pretensions to noble ancestry. She seeks work to help repair the family's fortunes.

First appears in chapter 58

Tess's father, a poor travelling haggler who is told that his family descends from the old d'Urberville line. The discovery feeds his vanity but does nothing to improve the household's practical circumstances.

First appears in chapter 59

A minister's educated son who briefly notices Tess at a village dance. He resists the clerical path expected by his family and later seeks practical knowledge of farming.

First appears in chapter 62

The fashionable son of the wealthy family using the d'Urberville name at Trantridge. He is immediately attracted to Tess when she approaches the household for help and uses his position to press his attention on her.

First appears in chapter 60

Tess's mother, practical in some matters but enthralled by romantic expectations. She encourages Tess to approach the wealthy d'Urbervilles in hopes that the claimed family connection will produce an advantageous match.

First appears in chapter 123

A proud young woman living with her grandfather on Egdon Heath. She longs for a more vivid life elsewhere and maintains a troubled attachment to Damon Wildeve through secret signals and meetings.

First appears in chapter 121

Mrs Yeobright's son, expected home on his native heath after working in Paris. His coming Christmas visit interests family and neighbours who know him chiefly through his long absence.

First appears in chapter 118

Mrs Yeobright's niece, brought home after a licence problem prevents her marriage to Damon Wildeve. Gentle and socially vulnerable, she wants the delayed wedding put right.

First appears in chapter 121

The keeper of the Quiet Woman inn and Thomasin's intended husband. Restless and indecisive, he remains entangled with Eustacia after the failed wedding exposes his uncertain commitment.

First appears in chapter 118

A travelling reddle dealer who conveys Thomasin safely home after her failed wedding. Once refused by Thomasin, he nevertheless watches over her interests with patience and ingenuity.

First appears in chapter 164

An intelligent working-class boy from Marygreen who dreams of studying at the university city of Christminster. He teaches himself while apprenticed to a stonemason, treating education as a route beyond the limits of his birthplace.

First appears in chapter 164

Jude's former schoolmaster, whose move to Christminster first gives the boy a concrete image of intellectual ambition. Phillotson pursues advancement through teaching rather than the university career Jude imagines for himself.

First appears in chapter 169

A lively young woman from a family of pig breeders who attracts Jude with direct physical confidence. Her practical cunning and conventional expectations pull him sharply away from his scholarly plans.

First appears in chapter 175

Jude's clever, unconventional cousin, working in Christminster when he seeks her out. She is intellectually curious and sceptical of inherited beliefs, yet emotionally changeable and uneasy with the demands others place on her.

First appears in chapter 200

Arabella's solemn young son, sent to live with Jude and Sue. Prematurely burdened by poverty and adult anxiety, he interprets the family's insecure life with a frightening literalness.

First appears in chapter 217

A poor young woman of Little Hintock who supports her invalid father by making wooden spars. Observant and self-denying, she quietly loves Giles Winterborne while seeing that his hopes are directed toward Grace Melbury.

First appears in chapter 217

A woodsman and cider maker deeply rooted in the seasonal life of Little Hintock. He expects to marry Grace Melbury, but her education and her father's social ambitions have made their old understanding uncertain.

First appears in chapter 218

George Melbury's daughter, returning to Little Hintock after an education intended to raise her social position. She retains affection for Giles but is newly conscious of manners and opportunities beyond the village.

First appears in chapter 221

A young doctor who establishes himself near Little Hintock. Educated, ambitious, and socially polished, he appears to George Melbury a more suitable husband for Grace than the local woodsman she once expected to marry.

Also known as Mrs Charmond

First appears in chapter 224

The wealthy owner of the Hintock estate, living apart from the villagers whose livelihoods depend on her land. Her beauty, status, and restlessness draw attention from Fitzpiers.

First appears in chapter 265

A volatile hay-trusser who, while drunk and resentful, sells his wife and infant daughter to a sailor at a country fair. He later rises by force of work and will into a position of public importance in Casterbridge.

First appears in chapter 265

Henchard's wife, who accepts the sailor Newson's purchase as binding and leaves with him. Years later, believing Newson dead, she seeks Henchard again with her grown daughter.

First appears in chapter 265

Susan's thoughtful young daughter, raised under Newson's name. She accompanies her mother to Casterbridge and tries to navigate the uncertain family history and social expectations she finds there.

First appears in chapter 269

A young Scotsman travelling toward a new life abroad. His knowledge of grain can solve a serious problem in Henchard's business, and his warmth and competence quickly win trust in Casterbridge.

First appears in chapter 288

A cultivated woman with whom Henchard formed an attachment while he believed himself free to remarry. She comes to Casterbridge expecting their relationship to become public, but the return of Susan complicates that expectation.

First appears in chapter 265

The sailor who takes Susan and her child away from Henchard after the sale at Weydon-Priors. He lives with them as a husband and father, giving Elizabeth-Jane the surname by which she grows up.