Character guide

Mattie

major

Also known as Susan, Sue, Mattie Susan, Susie, Mattie Susie

Mattie stitches buttonholes by lamplight in a garret where she and Susan stretch crusts and borrowed chops across the week, yet she refuses to let hunger push her toward the smooth-tongued men Susan dreams of. When a boy named Bill reports a gold-chained swell asking after her, Mattie goes white and begs him not to bring the stranger near. Her dread of a father she may or may not want, and her stubborn honesty in a world that rewards neither, make her the moral center of the early story.

Bill

major

Also known as Bill Pigs, Bill Rags, Bill Lor, Bill Honour, Bill Timothy, Bill Green, Bill Dunnow, Bill Shoeblack

Bill scrapes pennies from gentlemen's boots and squabbles with Jim and Jack over buns and ha'pennies, but he turns serious the moment anyone threatens Mattie, whom he calls a hangel and refuses to claim as his sister or sweetheart. He warns her about the swell with the ivory-handled cane and promises the man shan't touch her. His loyalty and quick fists make him the street-level guardian of Mattie's precarious safety.

Gervaise

major

Also known as William, Gervaise William, Col . Gervaise, Col, Sir Walter Gervaise, Sir Walter

Gervaise leans on his servant William for friendship, confessing that if he had a father he would tell him everything, and that he dreams of a face he cannot quite see. He resolves to sail for India to find Sir Walter, hoping to enlist and become someone his father need not be ashamed of. His fractured memory and yearning for paternal recognition drive the central mystery of the early and middle acts.

Arthur

major

Also known as Constance Arthur, dear Arthur

Arthur is the friend Warren would serve blindfold and the son Sir Walter has returned to save, yet he carries a secret that even his father feared was a bad one. He is bound up with Constance and with the old man searching for his daughter, and the three must be brought together before the truth can surface. His concealed guilt and the loyalty he inspires make him the hinge on which the story's middle turns.

Constance

major

Also known as Constance Nobody, Constance Miss Pearson, Mrs. Clifford Constance

Constance moves between the Clifford household and the shabby rooms where Mattie works, accusing and being accused, her language as cutting as Susan's is loud. She is tied to Arthur, and the question of what she wants from him, and what she has already taken, shadows her every appearance. Her presence forces the story to ask who is truly respectable and who is merely protected.

James

supporting

Also known as Jim, Jim Mattie, Jim Crow, James Honest boy, Bill Jim

Jim squabbles with Jack over a penny Mattie told them to divide, and calls her a brick and a hangel without a trace of mockery. He follows Bill's lead in the court and treats Mattie's kindness as something sacred, worth defending with fists and fair play. His small, fierce faith in her goodness throws the harshness of the surrounding world into relief.

Mrs. Clifford

supporting

Also known as Mrs. Clifford Constance, Mrs. Clifford Rude, Mrs. Clifford Fortune

Mrs. Clifford moves through the world certain of her own respectability, and her visit to Mattie's lodgings is meant to reclaim stolen linen and moral high ground alike. Instead she collides with Susan, whose loyalty to Mattie turns the room into a courtroom where class and conscience are put on trial. Her willingness to believe the worst of the poor makes her a quiet engine of the story's central injustice, and her exit leaves the question of who really stole what hanging in the air.

Thomas

supporting

Also known as Thomas Wheer, Tommy, Thomas Ov a pratty yung lass, Thomas Dun, Thomas Thae, Thomas Somebory, Thomas Nea, Thomas Coom, Thomas Theighur, Thomas Advancing, Thomas Ivvery body, Thomas Mun aw, Thomas Han, Thomas Yigh, Thomas Bless tho

Thomas arrives in London speaking broad dialect and looking for a lost person, and his run-ins with the sharp-tongued Bill and the wary Colonel Gervaise mark him as a stranger in a strange land. He is dogged, suspicious of city folk, and not easily frightened, but his search keeps leading him into places he does not understand. His persistence quietly threads the play's scattered worlds together, and his plain decency stands against the city's casual cruelties.

Warren

supporting

Also known as Mr. Warren, Warren Stiffly

Warren moves through the studio and the streets as Gervaise's trusted ally, cautious with strangers and quick to defend his friend's name. When a disguised Sir Walter Gervaise asks for help, Warren refuses to act blindfold, insisting on understanding before he serves. His loyalty is the kind that asks questions, and that makes him both a brake on hasty schemes and a steady hand when the truth finally starts to surface.

Mr. Waterfield

supporting

Also known as Waterfield, Col . Gervaise Mr. Waterfield

Mr. Waterfield breezes into Gervaise's studio with the confidence of a man who assumes every door opens for him, praising the clay figure and pressing for a glimpse of the model. His easy manners and veiled insinuations unsettle Gervaise, who has him shown out and barred from returning. He is the kind of social predator whose charm is a warning, and his brief appearance plants the unease that shadows the studio scenes.

Miss Pearson

supporting

Also known as Pearson

Miss Pearson stands at the edge of Mrs. Clifford's confrontation with Mattie, unwilling to join in the accusation and unable to stop it. Her reluctance to believe the worst of the poor girl sets her apart from her employer's certainty, and her silence in the face of Susan's fury speaks to the cost of speaking up. She is a small but telling witness to the play's central question of who deserves to be trusted.

Jack

supporting

Also known as Jack Pigs, Jack Well, Jack Yes, Jack Mother, Jack No, Enter Jack

Jack trades jokes and pig stories with Bill and Jim on a Mayfair street corner, his patter a thin shield against the cold and the empty window of food. He is one of the play's chorus of poor children, sharp-witted and hungry, whose talk of pigs and Lord Mayors masks the daily scramble for scraps. His presence grounds the story's sympathy for the overlooked, and his watchfulness makes him a small but useful witness to the comings and goings of the rich.

Miss Lacordère

supporting

Also known as Mattie Miss Lacordère, Gervaise Miss Lacordère

Known to her intimates as Mattie, she lives by her wits in a tenement where the rent is always a week behind and every polished stranger is a threat. She is fiercely protective of Susan, warning her that fine speeches and gold chains hide the same careless cruelty, yet her own past is shadowed by a man she keeps running from. When a boy named Bill reports a gentleman asking after a 'Mattie,' her composure cracks, and the dread of being found begins to pull her toward the story's central question of who a father is and whether one is ever coming.

Mo

minor

Also known as mo Mattie, Mo Mattie, Wilto gie mo mo Mattie

A dialectal character, possibly a child or servant, with limited appearances.

Daddy Longlegs

minor

Also known as old Daddy Longlegs, Old Daddy Longlegs, Daddy

A character, possibly an elderly man or a nickname, with a small role.

Clara

minor

Also known as Col . Gervaise Clara

A female character, possibly a daughter or young woman, connected to Gervaise.

Psyche

minor

Also known as the Psyche

A character or entity, possibly a pet or symbolic figure, with a small role.

Madge

minor

Also known as Bill Old Madge

A female character, possibly an older woman, mentioned in connection with Bill.

Timothy

minor

Also known as Bill Timothy

A male character, possibly a friend or relative of Bill, with a brief appearance.

Mr. William

minor

Also known as maister William, William

A male character, possibly a master or employer, with a minor role.

Nathan

minor

Also known as old Nathan

An older male character, possibly a local figure, with a brief appearance.

Sukey

minor

A female character, possibly a servant, with a very limited presence.

Garibaldi

minor

Also known as Gervaise Garibaldi

A historical figure referenced, possibly as a comparison or in dialogue.

Martha

minor

Also known as Col . Gervaise Martha

A female character, possibly a servant or relative, with a minor role.

old Hunx

minor

A character mentioned briefly, possibly a local nickname.