Emily St. Aubert
Emily is the protagonist of the story. She is a virtuous and sensitive young woman, who has an artistic temperament and is very appreciative of natural beauty. Emily's vivid imagination and heightened emotions can sometimes lead to her becoming overwhelmed. Emily is often put in dangerous situations and spends much of the novel trying to avoid danger, and trying to find a way to be with her beloved, Valancourt. At the end of the novel, Emily ends up very rich and happily married to Valancourt.
Monsieur St. Aubert
St. Aubert is Emily’s father. He is a very kind person, fond of nature and secluded life. St. Aubert is a devoted husband and father, and passes most of his good qualities on to his daughter. St. Aubert is also a good judge of character who can quickly discern that Valancourt is a good man worthy of Emily's love. Unfortunately, St. Aubert's early death places Emily in a perilous situation.
Valancourt
Valancourt is a young man from an aristocratic family. He is very sensitive and appreciative of beauty, but also strong and brave. Moreover, Valancourt has a good heart and acts with integrity. He remains devoted to Emily throughout the novel, although he does have a period of gambling and misbehaving in Paris. At the end of the novel, Valancourt receives an additional inheritance from his brother and marries Emily.
La Voisin
La Voisin is an elderly peasant who helps St. Aubert and his daughter when St. Aubert’s health worsens. St. Aubert ends up dying in the humble home of La Voisin. He helps Emily after the death of her father and tries to comfort her as much as he can.
Madame Cheron / Madame Montoni
Madame Cheron is St. Aubert ‘s sister. She becomes Emily’s guardian after the death of Monsieur St. Aubert. Unlike her brother, Madame Cheron is vain, superficial, and obsessed with enjoying the pleasures of a wealthy life. She is cold and unkind to her niece, even when Emily is devastated after her father's death. Madame Cheron marries Montoni as her second husband, and moves to Italy with him and Emily. She ends up very unhappy in her marriage, and dies a tragic death in the Castle of Udolpho.
Signor Orsino
Orsino is a friend of Montoni. When Emily and Madame Montoni come to Venice after the marriage between Signor Montoni and Madame Montoni, they meet Orsino. Orsino hires assassins to kill a fellow Venetian nobleman and takes refuge with Montoni, first in Venice, and then in Udolpho. Orsino is eventually executed for his crime, and Montoni also ends up arrested for his role in the crime.
Annette
Annette is Madame Montoni's servant. After the marriage, Annette travels to Italy with the Montoni family, and stays with them at Udolpho. She falls in love with Ludovico, a servant who works for Cavigni. Annette often provides Emily with information because she can freely move about the castle and exchange information with other servants. She marries Ludovico at the end of the novel.
Count Morano
Count Morano is a Venetian nobleman and initially a friend of Signor Montoni. He becomes obsessed with wanting to marry Emily, and tries to kidnap her from the Castle of Udolpho. Like many other characters, Morano appears to be wealthy, but does not actually have access to much wealth. He plays an important role in the eventual downfall of Montoni.
Carlo
Carlo is the old servant in the castle Udolpho.
Ludovico
Ludovico is a handsome young man who works as a servant for Cavigni. He travels with Cavigni to Udolpho, where he falls in love with Annette, and becomes a key source of information for Emily and Annette. Ludovico is kidnapped by Spanish pirates, and helps to rescue Blanche, the Count de Villefort, and the Chevalier St. Foix.
Sister Agnes / Signora Laurentini
Agnes is a nun in the monastery of St. Claire. She shows a tendency towards madness and being haunted by her previous life. It turns out that she was an Italian noblewoman who had an affair with the Marquis de Villeroi and persuaded him to murder his wife. Afterwards, both were consumed by guilt, and she took refuge in the convent. Her disappearance allowed the Castle of Udolpho to pass to Montoni, who is a distant relation. On her deathbed, she is shocked by Emily's resemblance to the murdered Marchioness and reveals her secret.
Michael
When Emily and her father go on their journey through the Pyrenees mountains, Michael is the muleteer (the servant who drives their mule-cart).
Theresa
Theresa works at the La Vallee estate, and is Emily's favorite maid. She and Emily have a very close relationship, and Theresa is very loyal to Emily. After Emily moves to Italy, she is outraged to find that Monsieur Quesnel fires Theresa without Emily's permission. Valancourt, however, provides Theresa with money and a place to live.
Monsieur and Madame Quesnel
Monsieur Quesnel is St. Aubert's brother-in-law, and Emily's maternal uncle (he is the brother of Emily's mother). Madame Quesnel is his wife, and her nationality is Italian. The Quesnels are not close with the St. Aubert family because they have very different values, preferring to live in the glittering and busy world of Paris. Monsieur Quesnel owns most of the St. Aubert estate, as Monsieur St. Aubert had been forced to sell it to him due to financial difficulties. Through Madame Quesnel's family, the couple inherits an estate in Italy, and they also manage Emily's estate on her behalf after she goes to Italy. Eventually, he sells the entire St. Aubert estate back to Emily.
Madame St. Aubert
Emily's mother and the wife of Monsieur St. Aubert. She seems to be a sweet and loving woman from a good family who enjoys her simple life at La Vallee. She dies from fever very early in the novel.
Monsieur Barreaux
He is a gentleman who lives close by La Vallee, and is a good friend of Monsieur St. Aubert. He is generally grumpy and reserved, but he is very kind to Emily after the death of her father.
Madame Clairval
A wealthy and fashionable widow who lives in Toulouse, not far from Madame Cheron, she turns out to be the aunt of Valancourt (her late husband was the brother of his mother). Because Madame Cheron is anxious to be associated with Madame Clairval, she begins to encourage the relationship between Emily and Valancourt.
Signor Cavigni
Cavigni is an Italian nobleman who is very close with Signor Montoni. The two of them attend the dinner party hosted by the Quesnels together, where Montoni first meets his future wife (Madame Cheron). Cavigni is present with Montoni throughout his time in France, and then journeys back to Italy with him after his marriage. He is a frequent guest at Udolpho.
Barnadine
He is the porter who works at Udolpho. He tricks Emily into thinking he will help her, but then tries to facilitate her kidnapping.
Bertolini and Verezzi
They are Italian noblemen who are close with Montoni. They associate with him in Venice, and then also come to stay with him at Udolpho. They are aggressive and violent, and their presence makes Emily very uncomfortable.
Ugo and Bertrand
They are two Italian hired thugs who escort Emily and Annette from Udolpho to Tuscany. They seem to have been involved in the murder carried out on behalf of Orsino, and Emily is very frightened of them.
Dorina and Marco
They are two Italian peasants who live in a cottage in Tuscany. They carry out tasks on behalf of Montoni, including housing Emily when it becomes dangerous for her to stay in the castle.
Maddelina
She is a young peasant girl, the daughter of Dorina and Marco. She shows kindness to Emily when Emily stays in her home.
Du Pont
He is a French nobleman who falls in love with Emily while living in Gascony near her estate. He follows her around in secrecy, and later finds himself imprisoned in the castle of Udolpho. When he realizes Emily is also in the castle, he helps her to escape and takes her back to France. Du Pont is an acquaintance of the Villefort family. He tries to woo Emily, but eventually accepts that she does not love him.
Marquis de Villeroi
A French nobleman who previously owned the Chateau Le Blanc, he has died by the time the novel begins. The Marquis was both the lover of Signora Laurentini and the husband of the Marchioness de Villeroi. He was duped by Signora Laurentini into believing that his wife was being unfaithful to him and murdered her. Afterwards, the Marquis was haunted by regret, and spent the rest of his life in guilty exile.
Count and Countess de Villeforte
They are a married couple who inherit Chateau Le Blanc from the Marquis de Villeroi, and move there. The Count has two children from a previous marriage, Henri and Blanche. The Countess is a spoiled and selfish woman who does not like living in the country. The Count is a thoughtful and protective man who tries to look out for Emily; he accidentally damages Emily and Valancourt's relationship because he tells Emily about Valancourt's bad behavior in Paris.
Henri Villefort
The son of the Count de Villefort, and the brother of Lady Blanche, he moves to the Chateau Le Blanc with his family.
Blanche Villefort
She is a beautiful young woman who lives with her family at the Chateau Le Blanc. Much like Emily, she is sensitive and poetic. Blanche marries the Chevalier St. Foix at the end of the novel.
Dorothee
She is an elderly servant who works as a housekeeper at Chateau Le Blanc, and knew the Marquis and Marchioness Villeroi. She tells Emily about the strange death of her former mistress.
Mademoiselle Bearn
She is a close friend to the Countess de Villefort, and goes to stay with her and her family at Chateau Le Blanc.
Baron de St. Foix
A French nobleman and a friend of the Count de Villefort, his son eventually marries Blanche.
Chevalier de St. Foix
A handsome young man, he is the son of the Baron de St. Foix. He is in love with Blanche, and the two of them marry at the end of the novel.
Marchioness de Villeroi
A mysterious woman, she is dead prior to the beginning of the novel. She was married to the Marquis de Villeroi and lived at the Chateau Le Blanc, where she died a mysterious death. She is reputed to haunt the Chateau, although these strange events are later revealed to be the result of Spanish pirates hiding their treasures in her rooms. It is eventually revealed that the Marchioness is Emily's maternal aunt, the sister of Monsieur St. Aubert. She was unhappy but resigned in her marriage. Signora Laurentini was obsessively jealous of her and persuaded the Marquis to poison her.
Monsieur Bonnac
A French nobleman, and friend of the Count de Villefort, Valancourt helps him when he is imprisoned, and Bonnac later restores Valancourt's reputation by explaining that he is actually a good man. Bonnac and his wife end up inheriting the lands of Signora Laurentini and the Castle of Udolpho at the end of the novel.
Signor Montoni
An Italian nobleman, he is the antagonist and villain of the novel. He marries Emily's aunt, Madame Cheron, and for a large portion of the novel, she and Emily live with him in Udolpho, his isolated castle in the Italian mountains. Montoni is cold, selfish, and obsessed with money. He torments his wife and contributes to her death, and also repeatedly threatens Emily. Montoni eventually dies in prison due to his involvement with other criminals and his activities as a warlord.
