Beauty is a sixteen-year-old who prefers intellectual pursuits, like learning Greek and Latin, over societal expectations for young women. When her father’s merchant business collapses, she embraces the physical labor of their new rural life in Blue Hill. Her fierce loyalty to her family drives her to willingly take her father's place as a captive in an enchanted forest.

The Beast is a cursed being living in solitary exile within an enchanted castle surrounded by a magical forest. He possesses a fearsome, monstrous exterior but demonstrates courtesy and gentleness toward his captive guest. He lives with a curse that requires a maiden to love him despite his frightening appearance.

Roderick is a loving father and successful businessman who loses his fortune when his ships vanish at sea. He moves his family to a humble country home to rebuild their lives. His protective instincts fail him when he gets lost in a blizzard and makes a desperate bargain to save his life from a terrifying castle host.

Grace is the eldest Huston daughter, possessing conventional physical attractiveness that contrasts with Beauty's plainness. She faces profound grief when her fiancé’s ship goes missing at sea. She remains supportive of her family during their transition to rural poverty.

Hope adapts cheerfully to the family's loss of wealth. She falls for an ironworker who lacks her family's original social standing, demonstrating her disregard for class divisions. She transitions into rural life seamlessly by taking on household chores and starting a family of her own.

Gervain is a practical, hardworking blacksmith who provides the Huston family with a lifeline after their financial ruin. He arranges their move to Blue Hill, where he sets up a rural forge and establishes a modest, stable life for his new bride.

Robbie is an ambitious sailor engaged to Grace Huston. His disappearance at sea aboard the ship White Raven triggers the Huston family's financial collapse and leaves Grace in a state of extended mourning.

Melinda is a widowed mother of six who runs the Red Griffin public house in Blue Hill. She uses her standing in the community to ensure the townsfolk embrace the newly relocated Huston family.

Ferdy works as an apprentice ironworker under Gervain. He develops an unrequited crush on Beauty, creating a slight awkwardness in their daily rural interactions before she departs for the castle.

Lydia is one of the invisible, enchanted servants bound to the Beast's castle. Lacking a physical body, she interacts with Beauty as a helpful gust of wind that provides food, draws baths, and gossips about the castle's mysteries.

Bessie is an invisible maidservant who attends to Beauty's needs in the enchanted castle. Alongside Lydia, she attempts to play matchmaker by presenting Beauty with ornate dresses, hoping to break their master's isolation.

Greatheart is Beauty's fiercely loyal horse. Beauty saved him as a foal through bottle-feeding, creating a permanent bond between them. He accompanies her into the enchanted forest and serves as her primary comfort in the strange castle.

Pat Lawrey is a young minister who takes an interest in Grace Huston during Beauty's absence. He represents a safe, respectable future for Grace, though she remains devoted to her missing fiancé.