Adam Bede Characters

You're a Good Man, Adam BedeThis isn't any old character summary—this is a summary for Adam Bede, in a novel titled Adam Bede. So take a deep breath there, Shmoopers.Adam Bede is a strong, handso...

Ahead of Her TimeDinah's awesome. She's wicked smart. She has a lot of common sense. She's not afraid to defend her beliefs in public. It gets better. Some people are great talkers, some are great...

Oh Captain, My CaptainBefore there was Captain America, or Captain Crunch, or any of those jokers, there was… Captain Arthur Donnithorne. He's the captain of the local militia, a.k.a. "the guy wh...

Hayslope's Own Material GirlHetty Sorrel is a very pretty girl, and an efficient-enough dairymaid. But she isn't particularly accomplished. Or particularly smart. Or particularly nice. You are perf...

Because Somebody Has to LoseThere isn't much that's massively wrong with Seth's life. And yet, despite his dreamy, helpful, generous disposition, we can't help wondering how happy Seth "Let's Just...

Principles and PrincipalsMr. Irwine is a dignified, prosperous, learned man: a Reverend in the Church of England. Okay. So why does he come off less like a religious leader and more like the vice p...

Respect Your EldersOh, Lisbeth. She annoys Adam. She cries too much. She believes that you can solve plenty of problems with little more than a good warm meal. Quaint, sentimental, not particularly...

A 19th-Century Tiger Mother"I am Poyser, hear me roar!" Okay, okay, so maybe a contented farmer's wife like Mrs. Poyser isn't a raging proto-feminist. She's more concerned with keeping a clean hous...

Mr. Massey's NeighborhoodIn Hayslope, you don't have Mr. Rogers or Sesame Street. You've got this guy. What with his gruff demeanor and short temper, Bartle Massey is the last person you'd want on...

King of the Hill (or of the Hall Farm)Martin Poyser is one of the pillars of the Hayslope farming community. He's also Hetty's guardian. But Martin spends a lot of Adam Bede playing second, third,...

Mr. Craig is a longwinded Scottish gardener… and he's as interested in Hetty as Adam is. But Adam is a vigorous, handsome man. In Hetty's eyes, Mr. Craig: […] was a sensible man enough, to be s...

Every time Totty pops up, Adam Bede reads like a 19th-century version of Rugrats. Just take it from Totty's mother, Mrs. Poyser: "The child's allays i' mischief if your back's turned a minute. What...

Does anything good ever happen to Bessy Cranage? She's a pretty, slightly dimwitted, apparently harmless blacksmith's daughter, but she certainly takes a lot of abuse. The first time Bessy appears,...

Joshua Rann isn't a bad guy. He has good manners, owns a respectable shoemaking business, loves going to church, and takes pride in his nice singing voice—yet he's still a nuisance. He comes into...

When we say prominent here, we don't mean "face on a billboard" prominent. Rather, these are characters who are absolutely secondary to the action of Adam Bede, but who each get their proverbial fi...