Captain Cat is a retired, blind ship's captain who relies entirely on his heightened sense of hearing to understand the town of Llareggub. Because of his blindness, he carefully listens to the daily routines and idiosyncratic footsteps of the townspeople, naturally acting as a guide for the audience. He carries the heavy weight of his past at sea, regularly enduring painful dreams of his former colleagues and his deceased romantic partner.

Polly is a single mother in Llareggub who cares for several children out of wedlock. She is harshly judged and intensely gossiped about by the townspeople, particularly the local women, who harbor deep prejudices against her lifestyle. She seeks physical comfort through romantic affairs as a direct attempt to cope with the profound grief of losing the only man she truly loved.

Reverend Jenkins is the local priest who serves as the gentle moral center for the town of Llareggub. He is a steadfast, reliable figure whose morning sermons act as a predictable part of the town's daily routine. He deeply loves his community and spends his time writing a comprehensive history book documenting the lives of all the townspeople, treating the poorest residents with the exact same respect as the wealthiest.

These two unnamed, omniscient narrators gently guide the audience through the events in the small coastal town of Llareggub. As detached observers, they know the private thoughts, deepest dreams, and hidden desires of every resident. Though they work together to present the story, they occasionally disagree on how long to pause on specific characters, demonstrating a highly subjective approach to storytelling.

Mog is the town draper and dry goods seller. He is deeply infatuated with a local dressmaker and composes elaborate, passionate letters expressing his adoration. He never actually meets his beloved in person, preferring to keep his romance safely confined to paper and dreams.

Myfanwy is a local dressmaker who harbors a deep, mutual infatuation for Mog Edwards. Like her counterpart, she writes long, affectionate letters promising to knit fine gifts for him. She actively chooses to keep their relationship within the safe, controlled realm of correspondence rather than risking a real-life encounter.

Mr. Pugh is a henpecked husband who spends his days quietly harboring dark, murderous fantasies about his spouse. He reads books about historical poisoners while eating lunch, lying that they are about saints to avoid his wife's aggressive scrutiny. He maintains a polite exterior while secretly plotting her theoretical demise.

Mrs. Pugh is a notorious gossip and complainer who constantly nags her husband and relentlessly criticizes the other townspeople. She is acutely aware of her husband's dark reading habits but chooses to ignore his potential threats, preferring instead to direct her intense judgment toward women she deems immoral.

Mr. Waldo is a widower in Llareggub who struggles to define himself outside of his grief following his wife's death. He spends his days attempting to hide from paternity summonses in the local pub, eventually seeking out physical comfort in the woods to briefly distract himself from his profound loss.

A highly demanding woman who has been widowed twice. She spends her time reflecting on the memories of her deceased spouses, interacting with their ghosts in her dreams as if they were still alive. Her overbearing nature persists even after their deaths, as she continues to forcefully nag them from beyond the grave.

Willy Nilly is the local postman who serves as a primary conduit for town gossip. He and his wife regularly use steam to secretly open and read the residents' private letters before delivering them, ensuring they are fully informed about everyone's personal affairs and secret passions.

Jack is the town cobbler and a fiercely moralistic man who views himself as a crusader against local indecency. Each night, he ventures into Milk Wood hoping to disrupt the romantic rendezvous of the local residents, driven by a strict belief that the forest is a place of absolute sin.

Gossamer is the local schoolteacher and the daughter of the town butcher. She attracts significant attention from the local men when she walks down the street in her high heels. She harbors a secret mutual attraction for the pub owner, but strict class differences and her own personal pride prevent her from acting on her feelings.

Sinbad is the owner of the local pub, the Sailors Arms. He is deeply in love with the educated schoolteacher but feels completely paralyzed by their perceived class differences, believing himself to be far too uneducated and common for a woman of her social standing.

Dai is the local baker who lives a highly unconventional domestic life. He is married to two women simultaneously, a routine he strictly maintains and completely expects to run smoothly, particularly concerning his daily meals.

One of the local baker's two wives. She represents a much more traditional stereotype of a Welsh woman and successfully maintains a surprisingly friendly and cooperative relationship with her husband's other wife.

The darker and more mysterious of the local baker's two wives. She confidently claims to have strong clairvoyant abilities and uses a crystal ball to show dramatic visions of their shared husband to her domestic counterpart.

A local resident known primarily for his exceptionally heavy drinking. He routinely wakes up with absolutely no memory of his drunken escapades from the night before, relying entirely on his wife's highly amused retellings to discover what he did.

The surprisingly cheerful and exceptionally patient wife of a local drunkard. Rather than being angry about her husband's destructive and childish antics, she finds them highly entertaining and laughs delightedly as she recounts them to him over breakfast.

Mr. Beynon is the town butcher who greatly enjoys winding up his wife by confidently joking that he sells totally unsuitable meats, such as cat or dog. His household maid accurately considers him the biggest liar in town due to his constant, unrelenting teasing.

The perpetually anxious wife of the local butcher. She is easily fooled by her husband's dark jokes about selling illegal meat and constantly worries that his supposed actions will inevitably bring the police to their front door.

The incredibly dedicated organist for the local church. He is entirely consumed by his burning passion for music, to the point that he completely ignores his wife's daily gossip and plays his instrument happily for absolutely anyone who will listen.

A local shopkeeper and an avid gossiper who desperately tries to engage her entirely distracted husband in the latest rumors about the townspeople. She becomes severely emotionally distressed when she fully realizes he pays absolutely no attention to her words.

The working maid for the Beynon household. She goes about her repetitive daily chores, such as thoroughly washing the steps and making tea, while quietly reflecting on her secret lovers and totally dismissing her employer's tall, lying tales.

An informational narrating voice that occasionally takes over to present factual, totally unbiased details about Llareggub. This distinct voice highlights the town's picturesque but visibly decaying reality, struggling to articulate exactly what makes the location so fascinating.

A highly lazy, incredibly apathetic local fisherman who spends his extensive free time actively avoiding his work. He complains heavily about his total lack of success catching fish and generally exhibits a highly careless attitude toward his life and authority.

The elderly grandmother of the local pub owner. She is a deeply religious woman who miraculously finds a pure spiritual escape in Milk Wood and views the chaotic world around her strictly through the lens of pure biblical innocence.

A young man from the town's distant past who tragically drowned. Though he is dead, his profound memory casts a very long shadow over the present, particularly affecting the specific woman he left behind, who compares all other living men unfavorably directly to him.

A deceased woman who currently resides in the afterlife, slowly forgetting that she was ever truly born. She represents the fading nature of human memory and directly serves as the primary object of a retired sailor's profound grief and nostalgia.

One of the two deceased husbands of a notoriously demanding local woman. Even strictly in death, he completely fails to escape his former wife's incredibly strict household orders and intense daily nagging.

The second perfectly deceased husband of a highly demanding local widow. He currently spends his complete afterlife being forcefully ordered around by the living woman who effectively survived him.

The equally nosy wife of the town postman. She actively participates daily in steaming open the locals' sealed letters, enjoying the stolen town gossip just as much as her highly indiscreet husband.

A deeply poor and incredibly lonely woman who lives quietly in the community. She lives a totally marginalized existence but is affectionately fully included in the local priest's comprehensive history of the town, proving her inherent worth.