Speaker
The speaker spends all eight stanzas of the poem rejecting a suitor's advances, her techniques shifting from bewildered questioning of his motives to sharp refusals and eventually to diplomatic coaxing. Her mood seems to change, with frustration sometimes overcoming her, but her resolve remains firm. Readers are left with no doubt that she will stick to her stance and continue to refuse John's advances. The speaker is remarkably unconcerned with her own pride and reputation, suggesting that her desire to end John's courtship overrules any other motives. She is frustrated that John claims, or implies, that she has lied to him about her feelings—but she also offers to forgive him, in exchange for him leaving her alone. She also concedes that heartlessness may be the reason for her rejection of John. In general, the speaker has a single goal, and is willing to make compromises and try out any number of methods in order to escape John.
John
Any insight into John is filtered through the perspective of the speaker. From the speaker's perspective, John comes across as slightly pitiable but largely unsympathetic, and probably deserving of the speaker's rejection. He makes false statements about his relationship with the speaker, portrays her lack of interest as a moral failing, and seems not to care that he is driving her to despair. Perhaps most frustratingly, John seems not to care or notice that he won't succeed. The speaker is clearly not going to change her mind, and her tone suggests that she has refused John many times before. Despite the futility of his cause, John insists on wasting both his own time and the speaker's. Arguably, John is something of a composite character, intended to exemplify a certain variety of male aggression rather than to be a distinct and three-dimensional character.
