Characters
Many of the Puritans' names are qualities such as "Mercy," "Thankful," and "Grace," because the parents wanted these character traits to influence their children.
- Katherine Tyler: Better known as "Kit," she is the protagonist, an independent, rebellious, strong-willed, and kind girl from Barbados who lived with her grandfather before he died and struggles to find a new identity in Wethersfield. She ends up marrying Nat Eaton.
- Hannah Tupper: A Quaker and outcast who is often rumored to be a witch.
- Nathaniel Eaton: Called "Nat" by most. He is Captain Eaton's son, and also Kit Tyler's true love and eventual husband.
- Rachel Wood: Kit's gentle aunt, the timid wife of Matthew Wood.
- Matthew Wood: Kit's strict Anti-Royalist uncle, an independent man. Husband of Rachel Wood.
- Mercy Wood: Kit's compassionate and patient cousin, sister of Judith, daughter of Matthew and Rachel Wood, a cripple. Marries John Holbrook.
- Judith Wood: Kit's haughty cousin, sister of Mercy, daughter of Matthew and Rachel Wood. Marries William Ashby.
- William Ashby: Kit's rich suitor, ends up marrying Judith.
- John Holbrook: Student of Dr. Gershom Bulkely, who teaches him about theology, religion, and medicine, who is absorbed in learning, considers his teacher the highest of them all, and often doesn't think for himself. Marries Mercy.
- Dr. Gershom Bulkeley: Royalist minister (historical figure), teacher of John Holbrook.
- Goodwife Cruff: Narrow-minded local woman who accuses Kit of being a witch. Mother of Prudence Cruff.
- Goodman Adam Cruff: Goodwife Cruff's meek husband and father of Prudence Cruff.
- Prudence Cruff: Cruff's young, mistreated daughter who befriends Kit.
- Captain Eaton: Captain of the Dolphin and Nat's father.
- Mistress Eaton: Captain Eaton's wife.
- Eleazer Kimberly: Puritan schoolmaster (historical figure).
- Governor Edmund Andros: Governor of the Dominion of New England (including Connecticut), an officer of the King's Dragoons, and a knight (historical figure).
- Captain Samuel Talcott: Magistrate (historical figure).
Read more about this topic: The Witch Of Blackbird Pond
Famous quotes containing the word characters:
“We are like travellers using the cinders of a volcano to roast their eggs. Whilst we see that it always stands ready to clothe what we would say, we cannot avoid the question whether the characters are not significant of themselves.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“White Pond and Walden are great crystals on the surface of the earth, Lakes of Light.... They are too pure to have a market value; they contain no muck. How much more beautiful than our lives, how much more transparent than our characters are they! We never learned meanness of them.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Of the other characters in the book there is, likewise, little to say. The most endearing one is obviously the old Captain Maksim Maksimich, stolid, gruff, naively poetical, matter-of- fact, simple-hearted, and completely neurotic.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)