Protagonist

Character Role Analysis

Azalea

The fact that we see the whole story from Azalea's perspective is a pretty big clue that she's the protagonist. On top of that though, we like her and want her to succeed. Because Azalea is "worried" about how her first Yuletide ball will go (2.2), we worry with her—and when her thoughts go to her sisters, "caged up in their room" (2.16), we also start to wonder how her sisters are doing.

All this establishes that she cares a lot about her sisters, and also that if she's not thinking about them, she's probably thinking about dancing. These tidbits help us get to know Azalea, and have us rooting for her to find a way to maximize the dancing in her life while looking out for her endearingly annoying siblings.