Character guide

Gilbert Markham

major

Also known as Gilbert, Robert, Markham, Robert Wilson, dear Gilbert

A proud young farmer whose restless jealousy and wounded self-esteem turn his courtship of the mysterious Mrs. Graham into a torment of doubt and desire.

Helen Huntingdon

major

Also known as Helen, Helen Graham, dear Helen, Miss Helen, dearest Helen, Little Helen, little Helen, Poor Helen, Nell

The tenant of Wildfell Hall, a young widow and painter whose guarded reserve conceals a past she will not let her neighbours touch.

Arthur Huntingdon

major

Also known as Mr. Huntingdon, young Mr. Huntingdon, Huntingdon, the lively Huntingdon

Helen's charming, dissolute husband, whose casual cruelties and self-indulgence slowly strip away every illusion she once held about him.

Little Arthur

supporting

Also known as Arthur, little Arthur, Arthur Graham, Arthur Huntingdon, Little Arthur, Dear Arthur

Helen's young son, whose welfare is the one thing she will not compromise, even when it costs her everything else.

Walter Hargrave

supporting

Also known as Mr. Hargrave, Hargrave, Walter

A polished gentleman whose sentimental pursuit of Helen hides a moral weakness that makes his attentions more insult than honour.

Frederick Lawrence

supporting

Also known as Mr. Lawrence, Lawrence, the unfortunate Lawrence, Richard, Frederick, poor Frederick

Helen's quiet, cautious brother, whose loyalty to her is real but whose dread of scandal keeps him from ever fully taking her side.

Eliza Millward

supporting

Also known as Eliza, Miss Eliza, Miss Millward, Millward, Miss Eliza Millward

A vicar's daughter whose soft smiles and bewitching glances conceal a talent for insinuation, she keeps Gilbert's heart guessing while her whispers quietly shape the neighborhood's opinion of Helen Graham.

Ralph Hattersley

supporting

Also known as Mr. Hattersley, Hattersley, Ralph, Ralph Hattersley

Loud, careless, and built for the pleasures of the table and the hunt, this gentleman of means is the kind of friend who leads a man astray and laughs about it afterward.

Lord Lowborough

supporting

Also known as Lowborough

A brooding nobleman whose shy reserve and haunted conscience make him an uneasy presence in Huntingdon's circle, where his rank buys him respect but never ease.

Milicent Hargrave

supporting

Also known as Poor Milicent, Milicent, dear Milicent, Milly, Milicent Hargrave, poor Milicent Hargrave

Gentle, yielding, and slow to defend herself, she is the quiet counterweight to the boisterous men around her, enduring what she cannot change and hoping for what she dare not demand.

Annabella Wilmot

supporting

Also known as Annabella, Wilmot, the unfortunate little Annabella, Miss Wilmot

Beautiful, flirtatious, and hungry for admiration, she moves through society collecting conquests, and her charms prove as dangerous to her admirers as they are to herself.

Rachel

supporting

Also known as Dismissing Rachel

Helen's steadfast maid, iron-faced at the door and loyal to the bone, she guards her mistress's privacy and her little son with a devotion that asks no explanation.

Frank Grimsby

supporting

Also known as Mr. Grimsby, Grimsby

Grimsby belongs to the hard-drinking set that orbits Arthur Huntingdon, the men whose carousals define Wildfell's bachelor world and whose grumbling measures the temperature of a marriage. Overheard by Helen behind the window curtain, he sneers that women are "the very bane of the world" and predicts Arthur will tire of good behaviour within a year or two. His cynical certainty gives Helen's early hopes a foil: every resolution Arthur makes is shadowed by the friends waiting to laugh him back into old habits.

Jane Wilson

minor

Also known as Jane

A sharp-tongued young woman who gossips about Helen and later marries Richard Wilson.

Rose Markham

minor

Also known as bonny Miss Rose, Rose

Gilbert's lively younger sister, who eventually marries Fergus.

Fergus Markham

minor

Also known as Fergus, Mr. Fergus

Gilbert's younger brother, a cheerful and practical farmer.

Mrs. Markham

minor

Gilbert's mother, a conventional and somewhat meddling parent.

Mary Millward

minor

Also known as Mary

Eliza's quieter, more sensible sister, who later marries a local farmer.

Michael Millward

minor

Also known as The Reverend Michael Millward

The local vicar and father of Eliza and Mary, a stern but well-meaning man.

Esther Hargrave

minor

Also known as little Esther, Esther, Esther Hargrave

Walter's younger sister, a spirited girl who later marries and moves away.

Arthur Huntingdon Sr.

minor

Also known as Mr. Huntingdon, Huntingdon

Arthur Huntingdon's father, mentioned as a wealthy but indulgent parent.

Aunt Maxwell

minor

Also known as Mrs. Maxwell, Maxwell

Helen's aunt and guardian, who raises her after her parents' death.

Mr. Boarham

minor

Also known as Boarham

An older, pompous suitor of Helen's before her marriage, whom she rejects.

Sancho

minor

Gilbert's dog, mentioned in passing.

Richard Wilson

minor

Also known as Richard Wilson, Frederick, the Reverend Richard Wilson

A clergyman and father of Jane and Mary Wilson, a minor figure in the community.

Mrs. Hargrave

minor

Walter and Esther's mother, a social-climbing widow.

Myers

minor

Also known as Miss Myers

A governess or companion figure in the Huntingdon household.

Benson

minor

A servant at Wildfell Hall, loyal to Helen.

Halford

minor

Gilbert's friend and the recipient of his written narrative.

Dash

minor

A dog belonging to the Huntingdon household.

John

minor

A servant or farmhand, briefly mentioned.

Sarah

minor

A maid in the Markham household.

Peggy

minor

A servant at Wildfell Hall.

Mr. Oldfield

minor

A local doctor who attends to Arthur Huntingdon in his final illness.

Mr. Leighton

minor

A neighbor of the Markhams, briefly mentioned.

Lady F—

minor

Also known as F—

A society acquaintance of Annabella's, mentioned in gossip.

Mrs. Wilson

minor

Richard Wilson's wife, a minor character in the community.