Dick Diver
The American son of a clergyman who is on the way to becoming a renowned psychologist when he falls in love with Nicole and marries her. Dick is extraordinarily charismatic and graceful at the start of the novel, but eventually falls to his ruin.
Nicole Diver
Born Nicole Warren, the beautiful heiress to a wealthy Chicago magnate, Nicole was sexually abused by her father and suffers from mental breakdowns as a result. She falls in love with Dick at first sight, and the two enjoy an extravagant and turbulent life in Europe at the center of a sophisticated group of friends.
Rosemary Hoyt
The beautiful young movie star, born in America but educated in France, who falls in love with Dick at first sight and contributes to his dissipation through their affair.
Tommy Barban
The half-American, half French-mercenary soldier who is in love with Nicole. He ends up taking her away from Dick toward the end of the novel.
Abe North
A dear friend of Dick's and a once brilliant musician who drinks away his career. He is ultimately killed at a speakeasy in New York.
Mary North
The lovely and kind wife of Abe. She marries the wealthy Conte di Minghetti after Abe dies.
Baby Warren
The Anglophile older sister of Nicole.
Franz Gregorovius or Dr. Gregory
Born into a line of fine psychologists, he opens a clinic with Dick.
Devereux Warren
The wealthy father of Nicole and Baby. He sexually abused Nicole and then placed her in a mental clinic in Zurich.
Albert McKisco
The once obnoxious American intellectual with an inferiority complex who establishes himself as a prize author following his duel with Tommy Barban.
Violet McKisco
The obnoxious, self-important wife of Albert McKisco.
Collis Clay
A young Yale graduate and acquaintance of Rosemary. He gossips with Dick about Rosemary and helps rescue Dick from an Italian prison.
Mrs. Speers
The twice-widowed mother of Rosemary Hoyt.
Lady Caroline
A British snob whom Dick insults gravely and then rescues from prison.
Conte di Minghetti
The second husband of Mary North, whom Dick and Nicole manage to insult terribly.
Earl Brady
An American filmmaker in France toward whom Rosemary maintains a momentary fascination.
Campion
A heavy, effeminate friend of Albert McKisko's, he takes Rosemary to watch the duel.
Jules Peterson
A Black man who is killed in Rosemary's room in Paris on account of Abe North's careless drinking.
Lanier and Topsy
Dick and Nicole's son and daughter.
Maria Wallis
An American woman who snubs Nicole at the train station before killing an Englishman with a revolver.
Prince Chillicheff
The Russian Prince whom Tommy Barban rescues from Russia.
Dr. Dohmler
A psychologist who initially handles Nicole's case and urges Dick to terminate his relationship with her.