White Nights characters

Also known as The Dreamer

Appears from the start

The unnamed narrator, a lonely young clerk in St Petersburg. He lives largely in imagination, feels acquainted with buildings more readily than people, and wanders the city at night longing for human connection.

Appears from the start

A seventeen-year-old young woman whom the Dreamer finds crying beside a canal at night. Warm, candid, and inexperienced, she accepts his friendship after making him promise not to fall in love with her.

First appears in chapter 3

Nastenka's blind grandmother and guardian. Anxious to supervise her closely after a youthful prank, she pins their dresses together while they sit and fills their quiet household with lessons and readings.

Also known as The Lodger

First appears in chapter 3

A cultivated young man who rents the upper room in Nastenka's grandmother's house. He lends the household books, takes them to the theatre, and becomes the focus of Nastenka's hopes before leaving St Petersburg for a year.

First appears in chapter 3

The household servant who helps Nastenka evade her grandmother's close supervision. Her attempt to take Nastenka's place during one prank fails because she is unable to answer the grandmother.