Aunt Lydia
One of the 3 protagonists of the story. Aunt Lydia was first featured in Atwood's novel The Handmaid’s Tale and was portrayed as a villain. In The Testaments, Aunt Lydia shows that she is cunning and ruthless, but her motives become clearer. She holds a high position in Gilead society as one of the Founding Aunts. Because of her high position, she also has access to many secrets and scandals among the Commanders and Gilead elite.
Like the other Aunts, Aunt Lydia lives at Ardua Hall, a former University that is now treated as a sacred sphere for the Aunts who oversee the instruction, safety, and day-to-day issues regarding the women of Gilead.
Before the political coup that saw Gileadian Commanders take over the northeastern part of the US, Aunt Lydia was a single, middle-aged woman with a successful career as a judge. She grew up in a low-income family, and became the first to go to university. She did not receive any help or encouragement from her family and put herself through law school with jobs and scholarships. After serving as a lawyer championing various causes for women, she was promoted to judge.
When the US government fell, Aunt Lydia and several of her colleagues were rounded up at work and taken to a stadium where they were emotionally and physically broken down through various methods of torture and abuse. After some time, she was given the opportunity to develop a strategy for the Commanders concerning women. Aunt Lydia and several other similar women come together to create laws that will govern the women of Gilead and keep them subservient and docile, as well as deeply pious. Aunt Lydia embarks on her new role as a means of survival and becomes a strategic ladder-climber in order to become the most powerful Aunt.
She plays the part of a true believer in Gileadian principles, while also collecting evidence against the Commanders that shows their blatant corruption, biding her time. Her goal is to eventually find a means to publicize the atrocities of Gilead to the world, in an attempt to overthrow the theocratic regime once and for all. She does so by communicating with Mayday sympathizers in Canada and finally getting a cache of evidence across the border. Her ultimate fate is unknown but it is presumed she was killed for her participation in the plot, which does bring about the end of Gilead.
Daisy/Jade/Nicole
Daisy was born in Gilead but smuggled across the border into Canada by her mother, an escaped Handmaid. It is later revealed that Daisy’s biological mother is Offred, from The Handmaid’s Tale, who had become pregnant by Nick and then escaped to Canada.
Daisy is known in Gilead as Baby Nicole, and they will do anything to get her back. For her safety, she is placed with adoptive parents, Melanie and Neil, and raised in Toronto without knowing her true identity. Melanie and Niel are part of the Mayday underground organization that attempts to help refugees escape Gilead.
On Daisy’s 16th birthday, Melanie and Neil are blown up in their car by terrorists from Gilead. Ada, a family friend and member of Mayday, quickly takes Daisy into hiding. Members of Mayday explain to Daisy who she is and that she will have to infiltrate Gilead as a Pearl Girl, receive the Gileadian insider’s cache of evidence, and somehow make it back to Canada in order to expose the truth. She undergoes training and eventually poses as a homeless girl named Jade who is then picked up by two Pearl Girls and taken to Gilead.
At Ardua Hall, Aunt Lydia chooses not to reveal that Daisy is Baby Nicole, grown and returned to Gilead. Instead, she bides her time, hoping to get Daisy out and back to Canada as soon as possible under the guise of a Pearl Girl leaving on a mission.
Throughout the novel, Daisy shows her teenage angst, often vocalizing it and swearing, which stands out in Gilead. She represents the normality of life outside of Gilead. Her outward behaviour is in deep contrast to her older half-sister who was raised in Gilead and forced to put on a more meek outward appearance, despite also feeling angry and often doomed.
Agnes Jemima
Agnes was born shortly before Gilead formed and was captured, along with her mother, while they were trying to flee. Her mother was sent to become a Handmaid, and Agnes was given to one of the Commanders and his wife, who could not bear children. Since she was so young when she was adopted, she doesn’t have clear memories of her biological mother and grows up believing that Tabitha and Commander Kyle are her parents.
As the daughter of a high-ranking Commander, Agnes is revered by many of the other girls at school. She is expected to make a prestigious marriage due to her rank. When her mother dies of a mysterious illness, her father marries a woman named Paula who is keen to have Agnes out of the house. When she is only 13, Paula calls upon the Aunts to find a match for Agnes. They come up with three prospective husbands, one of which is a much older, though very powerful, man named Commander Judd. Agnes is desperate not to marry him, and is not keen on either of the other choices but Paula and Commander Kyle are adamant that she marry Commander Judd due to his high status.
Shortly before the wedding, Aunt Lydia visits Agnes with a lifeline - the chance to come to Ardua Hall and train to become an Aunt, rather than becoming a Wife. Agnes is reunited with her friend Becka and they spend 9 years preparing to become full-fledged Aunts. At Ardua Hall, she assumes the name of Aunt Victoria, since all of the Aunts and Supplicant Aunts must take a name from a list of pre-approved names. Over the course of her time there, she learns to read and is finally able to peruse the Bible and see that it is not exactly as they have been taught. She also learns of her true parentage and that her biological mother was Offred, who escaped with her younger sister, Baby Nicole.
Although her and her half-sister seem unalike on the surface because of their different upbringings, they have many similarities. They are both raised unknowingly by adoptive parents, and they both show a determination to do what is right and make a positive difference in the world.
Agnes shows fierce determination throughout the story. She is deeply unsettled by the prospect of marrying Commander Judd and finds a way to circumvent her dreaded stepmother’s plans. She is pious because of her upbringing, but her thirst for knowledge leaves her often questioning where her allegiances should lie and if Gilead really is what it says. She understands that Aunt Lydia has a greater plan and she has faith in her ability to make a difference for other women.
Aunt Vidala
One of the Founding Aunts at Ardua Hall. She has a rivalry with Aunt Lydia, constantly trying to usurp her top position as the leader of the Aunts. There are times that she comes close, but Aunt Lydia is often one step ahead of her. She teaches privileged girls at the Vidala school, including Agnes, Becka, and Shunammite.
Aunt Helena
One of the Founding Aunts at Ardua Hall.
Aunt Elizabeth
One of the Founding Aunts at Ardua Hall. In her former life, she came from an upper class family and attended Vassar College.
Aunt Estée
One of the Aunts at Ardua Hall who also teaches at the Vidala school. She is more sympathetic than most of the other aunts and usually has a kind word to spare for the girls. She is helpful to Agnes when she comes to her to protest her impending marriage, and is instrumental in securing her a place at Ardua Hall.
Melanie
The adoptive mother of Daisy. She runs a second-hand clothing store on Queen St. W. in Toronto called The Clothes Hound. She is a part of the underground resistance group Mayday, which assisted Offred in fleeing Gilead. She is kind and motherly with Daisy, but also deeply protective because she knows how badly Gilead wants back Baby Nicole.
Neil
The adoptive father of Daisy. He assists his wife in running The Clothes Hounds and also has a collection of old cameras that fascinate Daisy as a child. It is later revealed that he was using one of these cameras to read microdots and gain insider knowledge from Aunt Lydia’s Pearl Girl brochures. The secrets hidden in these microdots contained valuable information for Mayday about good routes for the Underground Femaleroad from Gilead to Canada.
Ada
Part of the Mayday resistance group. She often comes to The Clothes Hound to pick up donations for the refugee centres, while also keeping an eye on Daisy. When Melanie and Neil are killed, Ada takes Daisy away to a safe place to prepare her for her mission to Gilead.
Garth
Part of the Mayday resistance group. He is young a young man, close to Daisy's age. He helps her to learn self-defense moves in preparation for her journey to Gilead. He also poses as her boyfriend when they are pretending to be homeless in order to look out for her and ensure she gets picked up by the Pearl Girls. Daisy has a crush on him.
Tabitha
The adoptive mother of Agnes. She is a high-ranking Wife, due to her marriage to Commander Kyle. She cherishes her daughter and treats her well. She dies from an illness and it is later implied that her husband may have had her poisoned so that he could marry Paula, with whom he was having an affair.
Commander Kyle
A high-ranking Commander and the adoptive father of Agnes. He never shows much interest in his daughter, which she later presumes is due to her not being his biologically. After his wife’s death, he marries Paula and they have a son through their Handmaid. He tries to get rid of Agnes by marrying her off to another Commander.
Paula
The second wife to Commander Kyle and subsequent stepmother to Agnes. Her first husband, Commander Saunders, was purportedly killed by their Handmaid. The Handmaid was caught and hung, but it is later revealed that Paula actually killed her husband, framing the Handmaid, so that she could marry Commander Kyle. She tries to get rid of Agnes by marrying her off but Aunt Lydia threatens to reveal her secret if she does not let Agnes come join Ardua Hall.
Ofkyle/Crystal
Ofkyle is the Handmaid given to Commander Kyle and his second wife Paula. She quickly becomes pregnant and gives birth to a baby boy, Mark. The doctor is called too late to the house and they cut the baby out of her, leaving her to die. Her death has an impact on Agnes, who sees firsthand how the women of Gilead are treated as mere objects, to be cast away when they no longer serve a purpose. Years later as a Supplicant Aunt at Ardua Hall, Agnes learns Ofkyle's real name was Crystal.
Becka
A schoolmate of Agnes’ at the Vidala School. Her status is lower than most of the other girls at the school because her father, Dr. Grove, is not a Commander. Instead, he is a highly sought after dentist, which grants her admission to the prestigious Vidala School. She is deeply sensitive and often tries to sit with Agnes.
Her parents arrange a marriage for her and she is so distraught that she tries to kill herself with scissors while arranging flowers at school. She is adamant that if she is made to marry, any man at all, she will kill herself.
Becka is then sent to Ardua Hall to try training as an Aunt. She succeeds in her 6 month trial period and is reunited with Agnes when she arrives shortly after at Ardua Hall. They become roommates, developing a deep and meaningful friendship. She reveals to Agnes that her deep fear of men comes from her father, who sexually abused her as early as 4 years old. Agnes was also accosted by Dr. Grove at one point, although she does not tell this to Becka in order to spare her feelings.
Becka is deeply pious and loyal. Her and Agnes love each other as sisters and often refer to each other as such. She agrees to help in the plot to free Gilead because she is deeply grateful to Aunt Lydia for sparing her from a life of marriage and guiding her throughout the years. She is also eager to do the right and noble thing. She sacrifices herself in order to cover for Agnes and Daisy, so that they can be successful in their flight from Ardua Hall.
Shunammite
A schoolmate of Agnes’ at the Vidala School. She is often jealous of Agnes, which makes her act cruel at times, telling Agnes that her real mother was a slut. At times, she also tries to ingratiate herself with Agnes because of her status. She ends up marrying Commander Judd after Agnes declines and is happy at first to be the mistress of a house with many servants. However, she is soon miserable, as Commander Judd is cruel and always looking for a way to discreetly kill his wives so that he can marry a new one.
Zilla
One of the three Marthas in Agnes’ childhood household. Zilla is Agnes’ favorite because she is kind to her and lets her help bake bread in the kitchen. Even though Zilla is sympathetic toward Agnes, she is powerless to help her get out of her prospective marriage. She does however, provide some knowledge of the world outside their home because the Marthas often gossip among themselves.
