Great Expectations
This character is raised by his sister and her blacksmith husband, falls in love with Estella, and is secretly financed by Magwitch.
Pip
This French aristocrat renounces his title, marries Lucie Manette, and is saved from the guillotine by Sydney Carton.
Charles Darnay
This title character’s coming-of-age story mirrors Dickens’s own life experiences.
David Copperfield
This narrator of Bleak House discovers she is the illegitimate daughter of Lady Dedlock.
Esther Summerson
This orphan famously asks for more gruel in the workhouse.
Oliver Twist
This reclusive woman, jilted on her wedding day, forever wears her decaying bridal dress.
Miss Havisham
This alcoholic lawyer redeems himself by sacrificing his life in Darnay’s place, saying, “It is a far, far better thing that I do…”
Sydney Carton
This “’umble” clerk manipulates Mr. Wickfield in hopes of marrying Agnes.
Uriah Heep
This aristocratic woman hides her past affair and dies near the grave of her lover, Nemo.
Lady Dedlock
This criminal teaches young boys to pick pockets in London.
Fagin
This woman, raised by Miss Havisham to break men’s hearts, is the cold object of Pip’s affection.
Estella
Known as the “golden thread,” this woman brings light and comfort to her father, Dr. Manette.
Lucie Manette
This eccentric aunt becomes David’s guardian and names him Trotwood.
Betsey Trotwood
This benevolent guardian of Bleak House cares for Esther and is weary of the endless Chancery case.
John Jarndyce
This quick-witted pickpocket introduces Oliver to Fagin’s gang.
The Artful Dodger
This escaped convict becomes Pip’s secret benefactor.
Abel Magwitch
This physician spends 18 years unjustly imprisoned in the Bastille before being reunited with his daughter.
Dr. Alexandre Manette
This optimistic but perpetually indebted man insists “something will turn up.”
Mr. Micawber
This sinister lawyer blackmails Lady Dedlock and is later murdered
Mr. Tulkinghorn
This violent burglar murders Nancy and dies while trying to escape capture.
Bill Sikes
This kindly blacksmith is Pip’s brother-in-law and moral anchor throughout Great Expectations.
Joe Gargery
This revolutionary knits the names of her enemies into her work and plots vengeance against the Evremondes.
Madame Defarge
This “child-wife” of David dies young, leaving him heartbroken.
Dora Spenlow
This law clerk proposes to Esther, only to retract his proposal after learning her parentage.
Mr. Guppy
This sympathetic prostitute protects Oliver despite being murdered by her lover, Sikes.
Nancy