# Hamilton — Character guide

> Key figures in Hamilton by Mary P. Hamlin.

- [Alexander Hamilton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamilton_se/characters/alexander_hamilton.md): Hamilton is the Republic's indispensable man — soldier, orator, financial architect — whose enemies circle his private life as a way to break his public power. His courage, rooted in love of truth and honorable dealing, 
- [Betsy Hamilton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamilton_se/characters/betsy_hamilton.md): A daughter of General Schuyler, Betsy has chosen love over luxury, dusting her own panes and defending her husband's refusal to take a penny from her father. She is proud of his ambitions yet starved for his time, and he
- [Angelica Schuyler](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamilton_se/characters/angelica_schuyler.md): Angelica is the household's witty provocateur, kissing Hamilton hello, mocking his vanity, and pressing Betsy on why a Schuyler daughter should live on three thousand dollars a year. She loves her sister fiercely but can
- [Giles](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamilton_se/characters/giles.md): Giles moves through the play's margins as a confidant and observer, the kind of figure who hears what others say when they think no one important is listening. His loyalty and dry asides provide ballast against the grand
- [Zekiel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamilton_se/characters/zekiel.md): Zekiel opens doors, admits visitors, and moves through the Hamilton home with the easy familiarity of a trusted retainer. His brief exchanges — announcing General Schuyler, tending the household — anchor the play's domes
- [James Reynolds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamilton_se/characters/james_reynolds.md): Reynolds is the shadowy husband at the center of the scandal that threatens to destroy Hamilton's career and marriage. His dealings — part blackmail, part betrayal — turn private weakness into public ammunition, and his 
- [Maria Reynolds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamilton_se/characters/maria_reynolds.md): Pretty, older, and hungry for a position she has never had, she sets out to catch Hamilton and finds herself genuinely caught instead.
- [Thomas Jefferson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamilton_se/characters/thomas_jefferson.md): A rival statesman whose clash with Hamilton over policy and influence turns private scandal into a weapon of public destruction.
- [John Jay](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamilton_se/characters/john_jay.md): The Chief Justice whose legal gravity and public standing make him a quiet but decisive presence in the battles surrounding Hamilton.
- [Tallyrand](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamilton_se/characters/tallyrand.md): A foreign diplomat or visitor, interacting with the main characters.
- [General Philip Schuyler](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamilton_se/characters/general_philip_schuyler.md): Father of Angelica and Betsy, a respected military figure.
- [Melissa](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamilton_se/characters/melissa.md): A minor character, possibly a servant or visitor.
- [Cunnel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamilton_se/characters/cunnel.md): A dialect-speaking character, likely a servant or rural figure.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamilton_se/characters