Character guide

Ambrosio

major

Also known as reverend Ambrosio, Blair Ambrosio, Worthy Ambrosio, Good Ambrosio

Madrid's most celebrated monk, whose iron self-denial conceals a pride so absolute that temptation becomes a challenge he cannot resist.

Antonia

major

Also known as the lovely Antonia, Antonia Dalfa, Donna Antonia

A sheltered, devout young woman whose natural goodness and simplicity make her both the object of Ambrosio's obsession and the quiet rebuke to his sophistry.

Matilda

major

Also known as Matilda de Villanegas, Poor Matilda, Rosario

A novice who hides her face, her sex, and her past behind a cowl, winning the abbot's affection before revealing the passion that will undo him.

Don Lorenzo

major

Also known as Lorenzo de Medina, Señor Don Lorenzo

A nobleman torn between love for Antonia and loyalty to his sister Agnes, whose imprisonment in St. Clare's drives him to desperate stratagems.

Donna Agnes

supporting

Also known as Agnes de Medina, the unfortunate Agnes

Don Lorenzo's sister, a nun whose broken vows and secret sorrow make her the unseen thread binding the convent's cruelty to the world outside.

Elvira

supporting

Also known as Donna Elvira Dalfa, the murdered Elvira

Antonia's watchful mother, whose hard-won caution and fragile health stand as the last barrier between her daughter and the monk's designs.

Leonella

supporting

Also known as Donna Leonella, Elvira Leonella

Leonella moves through Madrid society as Antonia's guardian and self-appointed social manager, forever angling for advantageous introductions and fretting over her own faded charms. Her harmless self-absorption and love of gossip place her in stark contrast to the sheltered Antonia, whose modesty she half-envies and half-exploits. When predatory attention begins circling her niece, Leonella's complacency and hunger for status leave Antonia dangerously unguarded, quietly enabling the novel's central crisis.

Don Raymond

supporting

Also known as Raymond de las Cisternas

Don Raymond de las Cisternas is a man of rank and romantic stubbornness, bound to Agnes by a love that the convent walls were meant to extinguish. His willingness to descend into the vaults of St. Clare — and to lean on Ambrosio's cooperation — shows both his courage and his fatal readiness to trust the wrong ally. His subplot of hidden vows and midnight schemes widens the novel's scope beyond the monastery, tying private passion to the same corrupt institutions that will consume its central figures.

Theodore

supporting

Theodore serves Lorenzo with a loyalty that extends to espionage, posing as a destitute youth to charm the nuns of St. Clare into revealing what happened to Agnes. His beauty and easy manners win him the prioress's favor even as his careful lies keep him alive inside hostile walls. Brave, resourceful, and willing to be underestimated, he becomes the quiet instrument by which the novel's secrets begin to surface — and a rare figure of genuine decency in a story crowded with predators.

Virginia

minor

Also known as Virginia de Villa-Franca, the lovely Virginia

A beautiful noblewoman who appears in a story within the novel.

Dame Jacintha

minor

Also known as Jacintha, the astonished Jacintha

The housekeeper at the Medina household, who assists in the plot.

Lucifer

minor

The devil who appears to claim Ambrosio's soul at the novel's climax.

Don Ramirez de Mello

minor

Also known as Don Ramirez

A judge who investigates the crimes at the monastery.

Mother St. Ursula

minor

Also known as St. Ursula

The prioress of the convent, who is cruel to Agnes.

Madonna Flora

minor

Also known as Flora

A singer who performs at a party in Madrid.

Father Pablos

minor

Also known as Pablos

A monk at the Capuchin monastery.

Marguerite

minor

Also known as the compassionate Marguerite

A kind woman who helps Agnes during her imprisonment.

Beatrice

minor

Also known as Beatrice de las Cisternas

The ghostly Bleeding Nun, a tormented spirit from the Cisternas family legend.

Marquis de las Cisternas

minor

Also known as the late Marquis de las Cisternas

The deceased patriarch of the Cisternas family, central to the ghost story.

Don Gaston de Medina

minor

Also known as Medina

Father of Lorenzo and Agnes, a nobleman of Madrid.

Don Christoval

minor

A friend of Lorenzo, who accompanies him in his adventures.

Alphonso d'Alvarada

minor

Also known as Don Alphonso

A nobleman who marries into the Medina family.

Otto von Lindenberg

minor

The Baron of Lindenberg, a German nobleman in Raymond's story.

Dame Cunegonda

minor

The housekeeper at the Lindenberg castle.

Sister Helena

minor

A nun at the convent where Agnes is imprisoned.

Jacques

minor

Also known as the ferocious Jacques

A bandit who appears in the Bleeding Nun subplot.

Robert

minor

A servant in the Lindenberg household.

Imogine

minor

Also known as fair Imogine

A character in a ballad recited by Theodore.

Donna Rodolpha

minor

Also known as the revengeful Donna Rodolpha

A vengeful noblewoman in the subplot of the Bleeding Nun.

Claude

minor

Also known as honest Claude

A servant who aids Raymond in his escape.

Baron Lindenberg

minor

Also known as the Baron Lindenberg

The father of Otto, a German nobleman.

Baroness Lindenberg

minor

Also known as the Baroness Lindenberg

The mother of Otto, a German noblewoman.

Baptiste

minor

Also known as friend Baptiste

A friend of Raymond who assists him in his travels.

Mother Camilla

minor

Also known as Camilla

A nun at the convent, who shows some kindness to Agnes.

Duke de Medina

minor

Also known as The Duke of Medina

A nobleman mentioned in the story.

Condé de las Cisternas

minor

Also known as the Condé

An ancestor of Raymond, part of the family history.

Gonzalvo

minor

A character mentioned in a story within the novel.

Belerma

minor

A character from a ballad recited in the novel.

Donna Inesilla

minor

A young woman mentioned in the story.

Conrad

minor

Also known as old Conrad

A servant in the Lindenberg household.

Lucas

minor

A servant who assists in the plot.

Stephano

minor

A servant in the Medina household.

Alonzo

minor

Also known as Alonzo the brave

A character from a ballad recited in the novel.

Simon Gonzalez

minor

Also known as old Simon Gonzalez

A servant in the Lindenberg household.

Violante

minor

A character mentioned in the story.

Alix

minor

A servant in the Lindenberg household.