# Three Lives — Character guide

> Key figures in Three Lives by Gertrude Stein.

- [Jefferson Campbell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/three_lives_se/characters/jefferson_campbell.md): Jefferson Campbell is a rising physician in Bridgepoint, respected for his careful mind and his earnest, almost stubborn goodness. He is drawn to Melanctha Herbert precisely where she is most ungovernable — her restless 
- [Melanctha Herbert](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/three_lives_se/characters/melanctha_herbert.md): Melanctha Herbert grows up unloved and unlovable in her own memory, closer in temper to her black, angry father than to her sweet, wandering mother. She has a break-neck courage and a tongue that can be nasty, and she is
- [Anna Federner](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/three_lives_se/characters/anna_federner.md): The good Anna runs Miss Mathilda's household for five years, ruling kitchen and street with a strained voice, a glittering eye, and the friendship of every policeman on the beat. She is worn thin by under-servants, by Mi
- [Lena Mainz](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/three_lives_se/characters/lena_mainz.md): Lena Mainz works as a servant in Bridgepoint, minding a small child in the park on sunny afternoons while the quicker Irish girls tease her into helpless confusion. Her flat chest, forward-falling shoulders, and wondrous
- [Jane Harden](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/three_lives_se/characters/jane_harden.md): Jane Harden moves through Melanctha's early years as a mentor in experience rather than virtue, offering the restless girl a knowledge of the world that her mother and father never could. She is sharp where Miss Mary Wad
- [Rose Johnson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/three_lives_se/characters/rose_johnson.md): Rose Johnson married Sam Johnson, a decent deck hand, and considers herself no common nigger because white folks raised her — though her training made habits, not nature. She laughs when happy and grumbles when troubled,
- [Herman Kreder](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/three_lives_se/characters/herman_kreder.md): Herman Kreder is a German tailor in Bridgepoint who marries Lena, the sweet, patient servant girl brought over from Germany. Where Lena is yielding and eager to please, Herman is stiff, anxious about appearances, and inc
- [Mrs. Lehntman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/three_lives_se/characters/mrs_lehntman.md): Mrs. Lehntman is a widow and midwife in Bridgepoint whose warmth and easy generosity make her irresistible to the loyal Anna, who is soon entirely subdued by her sympathetic charm. She takes in young girls in trouble, ca
- [Jem Richards](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/three_lives_se/characters/jem_richards.md): Jem Richards is a gambler in Bridgepoint who takes up with Melanctha Herbert after her long, exhausting affair with Jeff Campbell. Where Jeff was earnest and analytical, Jem is careless, restless, and casually unkind — d
- [Sam Johnson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/three_lives_se/characters/sam_johnson.md): Rose's husband, a hardworking but passive man.
- [Miss Mary Wadsmith](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/three_lives_se/characters/miss_mary_wadsmith.md): Miss Mary Wadsmith is the wealthy elderly woman Anna serves for years in Bridgepoint, a position Anna holds with fierce loyalty and pride. During the last years with her Miss Mary, Anna's health grows steadily worse, and
- [Julia Lehntman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/three_lives_se/characters/julia_lehntman.md): Mrs. Lehntman's daughter, a flighty young woman.
- [Molly](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/three_lives_se/characters/molly.md): An Irish servant girl who works with Anna.
- [Mrs. Drehten](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/three_lives_se/characters/mrs_drehten.md): A German woman who boards with Anna and later becomes her companion.
- [Sallie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/three_lives_se/characters/sallie.md): A young girl who works as a servant in the Wadsmith household.
- [Peter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/three_lives_se/characters/peter.md): A young man who briefly courts Melanctha.
- [James Herbert](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/three_lives_se/characters/james_herbert.md): Melanctha's father, a black man who abandons the family.
- [Mathilda Haydon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/three_lives_se/characters/mathilda_haydon.md): Anna's cousin, a dull, fat girl who comes to live with her.
- [Baby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/three_lives_se/characters/baby.md): Anna's blind, elderly dog, whom she dotes on.

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