# The Well of the Saints — Character guide

> Key figures in The Well of the Saints by J. M. Synge.

- [Martin Doul](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_well_of_the_saints_se/characters/martin_doul.md): Martin Doul spends his days on the roadside with his wife Mary, trading barbs and half-believed flatteries about their hidden beauty, and dreaming of seeing himself for one hour. When a wandering saint cures his blindnes
- [Mary Doul](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_well_of_the_saints_se/characters/mary_doul.md): Mary Doul has spent years defending her reputation as 'the beautiful dark woman' of Ballinatone, dismissing Molly Byrne's mockery as jealousy and clinging to the compliments of local men. Her complacent vanity is her arm
- [Timmy the smith](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_well_of_the_saints_se/characters/timmy_the_smith.md): Timmy is the local smith whose forge becomes a gathering place and whose opinions carry weight in the village. He hires Martin to cut sticks, then bullies him about laziness, revealing a hard practicality laced with crue
- [Molly Byrne](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_well_of_the_saints_se/characters/molly_byrne.md): Molly Byrne is the village beauty, confident in her looks and careless with her words—she is the one who called Mary Doul 'little more than a fright.' She enjoys Timmy's attention and the power her beauty gives her over 
- [The Saint](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_well_of_the_saints_se/characters/saint.md): The Saint travels through Ireland with a sup of holy water, naked feet, and a following crowd, curing the blind and dying as he goes. He is gaunt from fasting, earnest in his faith, and genuinely convinced he is doing Go
- [Bride](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_well_of_the_saints_se/characters/bride.md): A local woman who appears in the village scenes.
- [Patch Ruadh](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_well_of_the_saints_se/characters/patch_ruadh.md): A blind man mentioned but not seen on stage.

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