Aunt Phillis's Cabin - Characters

Characters

• Aunt Phillis - A 50-year-old slave living on a Virginia cotton plantation. She is pious, temperant and proud, being likened to a Nubian queen. Phillis does not appear in the novel until Chapter IX.
• Uncle Bacchus - The sociable enslaved husband of Phillis. He is kindly, currently named after the Roman god Bacchus due to his alcoholism. He and Phillis have three children: a son William, and two daughters, Lydia and Esther.
• Mr. Weston - A kindly English American planter and the master of Phillis, Bacchus, and several other slaves, all of whom he treats with respect and kindness. He is a widower, descended from a long line of English feudal lords. He lives on the plantation with his daughter-in-law, Anna Weston, and several other members of his family.
• Alice Weston - Niece of Mr. Weston, who is betrothed to his son Arthur, making them a cousin couple. She is one of the main protagonists of the novel, in which she is the object of affections between her fiance and a rival slaveholder.
• Arthur Weston - The fiance of Alice, who is studying at Yale College in New England during events in the novel. Because of his Southern roots, Arthur is confronted by several abolitionists throughout his time at Yale. He is a spokesman in the novel for criticisms of abolitionism in general.
• Miss Janet / Cousin Janet - An elderly friend of Mr. Weston, who resides with him on the plantation. She acts as an instructor to the women slaves in the arts of sewing, embroidery, and other domestic tasks. She also acts as an aunt figure to Alice.
• Aunt Peggy - A senile, 90-year-old slave from Guinea, who lives on the plantation without having to work, because of her age. She irritates Bacchus and Phillis, mocking the other slaves from the comfort of her cabin. She dies in Chapter XII, after mocking Alice's sudden chill and claiming that Alice would die.
• Abel Johnson - A friend of Arthur studying at Yale College. Abel acts as the middleman in the argument over slavery, preferring to remain neutral in most cases. He is shown to be something of a philanthropist, and displays some sympathy for slaves without attacking slavery outright.
• Captain William Moore - An army captain living in New England with his wife, Emmy Moore. Captain Moore is a military officer, who has recently been assigned to calm trouble in New England that has been brought about by abusive abolitionists "rescuing" runaway slaves, only to enslave them for their own ends. One such slave, Susan, eventually becomes a maid to the Moores after being rescued from abolitionist masters.
• Other characters in the novel include several planters - Mr. Barbour (the first character to appear in the novel), Mr. Kent (an abolitionist-turned-slaveholder, similar to the situation of The Planter's Northern Bride), Walter Lee (the rival for Alice's affections), Mr. Chapman (a critic of the fugitive slave laws) - and several slaves, including Mark, John, Nancy (of the Weston plantation) and Aunt Polly (an ex-slave and servant of the Moores).