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Ambrosio
The monk Ambrosio is known throughout Madrid for his piety, his awe-inspiring sermons, and his severity toward sinners. His origins remain a mystery for much of the story, even to Ambrosio himself—he was found abandoned…
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Antonia
Antonia is Elvira’s daughter. She is a beautiful and virtuous young woman, but her innocence and inexperience leave her vulnerable to being taken advantage of. Ambrosio’s frequent and extremely obvious attempts to seduce…
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Elvira
Elvira is Leonella’s sister and Antonia’s mother. When she was a young woman, she eloped with the son of a marquis and moved with him to the West Indies. The marriage outraged the…
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Raymond
Raymond is a nobleman and a friend of Lorenzo’s. He is in love with Lorenzo’s sister, Agnes, whom he met after the baron—Agnes and Lorenzo’s uncle—invited him to stay with the family…
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Agnes
Agnes is a young nun at the convent of St. Clare. She is the sister of Lorenzo. Agnes was sent to St. Clare by her jealous aunt, the baroness, who sought to thwart…
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Lorenzo
Lorenzo is a nobleman who journeys to Madrid to see his sister, Agnes, a nun at the local convent. After witnessing a strange man clandestinely pass a love letter to Agnes, Lorenzo confronts the…
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Matilda/Rosario
At the end of the novel, it is revealed that Matilda is a demon sent by Lucifer to tempt Ambrosio into breaking his vows and living a life of sin and depravity. She disguises herself…
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The Prioress
The prioress is the leader of the convent of St. Clare. She assigns brutal and severe punishments to nuns who have been found guilty of committing sins. After Ambrosio catches Agnes with a letter from…
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Theodore
Theodore is Marguerite’s son and Baptiste’s stepson. He insists on serving as a page to Raymond in order to show his gratitude to Raymond for rescuing him and his mother from Baptiste and…
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The Bleeding Nun/Beatrice
The bleeding nun is a spectral figure who haunts the castle of Lindenberg (where Agnes, the baron, and the baroness live) following her brutal murder at the hands of her lover. She emerges…
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Baptiste
Baptiste presents himself as a woodsman, but he is really a bandit who lures unsuspecting travelers into his cottage in the forest outside Strasbourg in order to murder and rob them. He forces his wife…
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Marguerite
Marguerite is Baptiste’s wife and Theodore’s mother. Although Raymond initially finds Marguerite to be rude and unfeeling, he later realizes that her prickly demeanor is actually an expression of disgust at her husband’s…
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The Baroness
The baroness is Agnes and Lorenzo’s aunt. She is grateful to Raymond for rescuing her from Baptiste and his gang of bandits—so grateful, in fact, that she falls madly in love with him. She…
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Mother St. Ursula
Mother St. Ursula is an elderly nun at St. Clare who helps Lorenzo learn the truth about what happened to Agnes. She exposes the prioress’s murderous schemes to the public on the night…
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Leonella
Leonella is Elvira’s sister and Antonia’s aunt. She is an older woman who lacks self-awareness and tends to overshare, and her character serves as a source of comic relief in the novel. Leonella…
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Lucifer
Ambrosio sells his soul to Lucifer—the devil—to avoid punishment for the many sins he has committed ever since Matilda first seduced him into breaking his vow of celibacy. After Ambrosio has damned his soul for…
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Virginia
Virginia is a nun at St. Clare and a relative of the prioress. She leaves the convent after the angry mob burns it to the ground toward the end of the novel. Virginia nurses…
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The Wandering Jew
The wandering Jew is a mythical immortal figure who is said to be doomed to wander the earth for all eternity. He appears in the story as a stranger who helps Raymond learn the origins…
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Minor Characters
The Baron
The baron is Agnes and Lorenzo’s uncle. He’s a friendly but unworldly man. The baron invites Raymond to stay at the castle of Lindenberg as thanks for rescuing the baroness from Baptiste and his gang of bandits, and this is how Raymond becomes acquainted with Agnes.
Don Christoval
Don Christoval is Lorenzo’s friend. He has a cheeky, leering sense of humor and enjoys teasing Lorenzo about Antonia. Don Christoval is amused and horrified when Leonella misinterprets his polite offer to escort her and Antonia home as a romantic overture.
The Marquis de la Cisternas
The marquis de la Cisternas is Elvira’s late father-in-law. Following his son’s death, he supported Elvira and Antonia financially, though he rejected them as family.. Elvira and Antonia return to Spain following his death to ask his son to continue paying their pension.
Flora
Flora is Elvira’s servant. She cares deeply for Antonia and watches over her after Elvira’s death, though Ambrosio’s scheming thwarts her efforts.
Jacintha
Jacintha is the landlady who rents an apartment to Elvira. An outrageously superstitious woman, she arranges Elvira’s funeral in an effort to dissuade Elvira’s ghost from haunting her house. Jacintha’s precautions are ineffective, however, as Elvira’s ghost visits Antonia not long after.
Cunegonda
Cunegonda is Agnes’s governess. After she overhears Agnes’s plan to escape the castle of Lindenberg and elope with Raymond, Raymond imprisons her to prevent her from telling the baron and baroness about the elopement.
Claude
Claude is Raymond’s coach driver. He lures Raymond to Baptiste’s cottage in the forest outside Strasbourg, where Raymond overhears Claude scheming with Baptiste and pieces together the plan to rob him and the other travelers.
Don Ramirez
Don Ramirez is Lorenzo’s friend. He accompanies Lorenzo and his troops to Madrid to confront the prioress about her crimes against Agnes.
Father Pablos
Father Pablos is the monk at Ambrosio’s monastery who tends to the sick and dying.
Jacques
Jacques is Baptiste’s son and Marguerite’s stepson. He assists Baptiste and the other bandits with their murderous schemes.
Robert
Robert is Baptiste’s son and Marguerite’s stepson. He assists Baptiste and the other bandits with their murderous schemes.
