Clive
Clive is a British colonial administrator and father to a family of four, whom he takes with him to a British colony in Africa while there for work. His entire identity is centered around Queen Victoria, England, and his work in colonial establishments. Clive represents patriarchal authority coupled with unchecked imperial pursuits – he is overbearing, domineering, and dismissive of women. Additionally, his position in Africa and his racism fosters a perception of himself as ‘father to the natives’ as well. He adheres strongly to traditional female roles and ideals of heterosexuality, disapproving of Edward’s preference for dolls and asking Betty if she’s had any fits of hysteria. He is extremely disgusted when he learns that Harry is a homosexual and immediately starts to ‘fix’ the situation. Though he frequently comments on the importance of his family, Clive is a hypocrite when he becomes upset with Betty for kissing Harry while having an affair with Mrs. Saunders.
Betty
Betty is married to Clive and mother to Edward and Victoria. Act I Betty is played by a man, representing the male ideal of what femininity and womanhood should look like. Betty thusly spends much of Act I as indecisive and suppressed, completely dependent on Clive to give her direction and purpose in life. However, her desire for a relationship with Harry indicates her desire for and capability to live a life of her own. Yet she remains restricted by her sense of duty to her family and to Clive. Her reliance on men and to the old way of life has persisted into Act II and her old age as she remarks on the quality of men’s company versus women’s, but her newfound independence in her separation from Clive marks the extent of her growth from Act I. She often speaks through lengthy lectures and unwanted commentary, and nervously courts her independence which she finds both exciting and frightening. Where romance initiated Betty’s liberation in Act I, her sexual renewal solidifies it in Act II as masturbation gives her the strength to break away from the hold of Clive and Maud.
Joshua
Joshua is the family's black servant. Like Betty, Joshua is played by a white man to represent the white male standard. The defiance he displays to Betty and his obedience to Clive indicate not only the Victorian ideal of race, but gender as well. Joshua appears dutiful, honest, and loyal, forsaking his own people to serve in Clive’s household, yet his loyalty is not sincere and seems to operate solely to his personal gain. He names Clive as both his mother and father, but when his biological parents are killed by British soldiers Joshua turns the gun on Clive.
Edward
Edward is the son of Betty and Martin. In contrast to Betty and Joshua, Edward as a nine-year-old boy played by a woman in Act I is an outward display of inner tendencies and gender incongruity. He discovers his preference for feminine things and his attraction to Harry, yet he attempts to suppress his desires and grow into the man Clive wants him to be. Embracing his sexuality does not directly translate into liberation for Edward. Instead, he determines his identity through exploration of his sexuality, similar to Victoria and Betty. Though he struggles to be the man he wants to be, Edward eventually finds his niche in the role of mother and housekeeper. He becomes the opposite of Clive and the person Clive meant to mold him into, and therefore represents the failure of Clive’s traditional and repressive system of values.
Harry Bagley
Harry is a friend of both Clive and Betty. He is similar to Clive in his superficial representation of the British empire, yet his aberrant nature is revealed despite the acclaim he has garnered as an explorer. He harbors the same sense of duty to Britain, though to a lesser degree than Clive, and considers his work to be important. Harry also demonstrates more sympathy for the natives than Clive does and therefore is portrayed as a more decent man than Clive. Yet his arrival at the family home marks the beginning of the family’s disintegration, bringing out the masked sexual desires of the other characters. However, Harry is as much subject to the arcane Victorian ideals as he is forced to relinquish his solitary freedom to avoid maltreatment for his homosexuality.
Maud
Maud is Victoria's mother and serves as the female counterpart to Clive’s traditionalism. She encourages women to behave as she does and warns of the consequences of female independent agency, represented by Mrs. Saunders. Maud holds strongly to the notion that women are meant to serve and support their husbands by looking after the home, not by enjoying themselves or even finding pleasure in domestic life. Maud spends much time often insisting that she knows best whenever characters do not uphold her expectations. She is well-meaning in her roles as mother and grandmother, but her cherished values seem dated and obsolete since no one adheres to her guidance.
Ellen
Ellen works as the governess to Edward and Victoria in Act I but she does not truly care for them. She is in love with Betty and confesses her feelings multiple times, always to be rewarded with Betty’s indifferent dismissal. Ellen is loyal to Betty alone, not the whole family, and even tells Betty that she hates children and doesn’t want a husband. Similar to Harry, Ellen would not be able to sustain herself unless she fulfilled her societal roles of wife and mother, and therefore marries Harry while remaining unhappy.
Victoria
Victoria is Clive and Betty's daughter. She is unimportant in the first act because she is played by a dummy and is even tossed around by Clive at one point. She is, quite literally, Clive’s puppet. Later she commands a central role in the second act. Victoria has moments of self-reliance in the beginning scenes of Act II but still automatically resorts to her dependence on Martin. Throughout the rest of the act, Victoria attempts to both establish her own identity and be a good mother to Tommy. She is no longer a dummy, but her relationship with Martin challenges her with another means of restriction as he makes her feel guilty for not responding positively to his attempts at giving her sexual pleasure. Her homosexual relationship with Lin, in contrast, gives her balance between freedom and love. On the other hand are Victoria’s shortcomings as a mother, represented by her losing him in the park. This provides a second degree of separation from Betty, who was always a dutiful mother, and forces an overturning of gender roles as Martin moves into the role of mother to Tommy in addition to Edward.
Mrs. Saunders
Mrs. Saunders is another British colonial living near the family in Africa. As a widow, Mrs. Saunders enjoys an independence denied to the other women of Act I who are expected to fulfill their duties as mothers and wives. She does not shy away from her sexuality and expects respect from the men she interacts with. Like Harry she also sympathizes with the natives and does not readily accept the punishment dispensed by British colonialists. Consistent with the other characters, Mrs. Saunders also experiences a complex and conflicted situation. Though she exhibits more agency as a woman in comparison to Betty, she is still victim to Clive’s authority demonstrated in his denial of her orgasm.
Gerry
Gerry, a promiscuous homosexual, is Edward's lover who seeks only sexual satisfaction from his partners rather than any true companionship. He prefers men not to talk during their short tryst, but only smile and leave once they are finished. All his relationships, like his with Edward, presumably have failed due to his lack of commitment. Gerry holds no shame in his homosexuality, but instead uses it to rebel against the institution of marriage and the wife-husband dichotomy. However, at the end of the play Gerry asks Edward out for a meal and it is implied that they resume their relationship. Earlier, when the stranger from the train asked Gerry to dinner after sex, Gerry was disappointed and disinterested. Now it seems as if Gerry has grown to understand that the benefits of having meaningful bonds outweigh the disadvantages of losing his freedoms.
Cathy
Cathy is Lin's daughter, a five-year-old girl who is played by a man and portrayed as a somewhat abnormal child. She knows many inappropriate words and phrases, likely mostly due to Lin’s unrestricted swearing in front of her, and has no qualms about uttering them in front of her mother or other adults. Cathy is difficult, willful, and aggressive, and her outbursts are motivated in part from fear that Lin will leave her. Like Lin, Cathy also has more tender wishes displayed in her wearing a dress after The Dead Hand Gang calls her a boy for wearing jeans.
Lin
Lin is a friend of Victoria's. As a lesbian, she is unafraid and demanding in her interactions with others. She is not prone to the same dependence as Victoria having left her abusive husband, but still finds obligation to the role of mother since she chose to raise Cathy alone. Yet beneath her bold exterior Lin is uncertain about her capabilities as a mother and sensitive to commentary regarding child-rearing. She may be brash and stubborn, but Lin is desperate for love and stability as much as any other character.
Martin
Martin is Victoria's husband, and most of his conversations revolve around sex and his inability to give Victoria satisfaction. He largely blames Victoria for his frustrations and incompetence. Martin’s thought process is vocalized and long-winded speeches are his preferred method of working out the changes to his relationship with his wife. He often tries to think for others – Victoria, for example, does not have any lines during his speeches but simply stands and listens, and he is supremely confident in his ability to write a novel about women from the woman’s point of view. Perhaps because of his ‘support’ for women’s liberation Martin does have a more forgiving, although flawed, side, demonstrated in his willingness to care for both Tommy and Cathy while Victoria settles into her new life.
Tommy
Tommy is Victoria and Martin’s son. He never appears onstage and has no lines in the play, but is often addressed and referred to.
