A 26-year-old unnamed man who has lived in St. Petersburg for eight years in near-total isolation. Identifying as a dreamer, he withdraws from reality to inhabit vivid fantasies drawn from literature and history. He possesses a sincere and deeply sensitive nature, projecting human emotions onto the city's buildings to cope with his lack of human contact.

A 17-year-old girl living a heavily restricted life under the strict supervision of her blind grandmother. She is emotionally vulnerable and candid, yearning for independence and authentic connection. Though she shares the narrator's need for companionship, she remains fixated on the hope of reuniting with her former lodger.

A young man who previously rented a room from Nastenka's family before relocating to Moscow for work. He introduces Nastenka to literature by lending her French novels and works by Pushkin. He is a polite and restrained figure whose absence and unfulfilled promises cast a long shadow over Nastenka's life.

An elderly, blind woman who raises her granddaughter in a small wooden house in St. Petersburg. She enforces a conservative, restrictive model of domestic life, going so far as to pin Nastenka's dress to her own. Despite her rigid methods and suspicion of outside influences, she acts out of a genuine desire to protect her granddaughter.

A hearty, youngish old woman who serves as the narrator's housekeeper. She provides for his basic domestic needs but shares no emotional intimacy with him. Grounded in practical tasks and surface-level order, she stands in direct contrast to her employer's highly emotional inner life.

A distant girl who serves as Nastenka's sole social connection outside her household prior to meeting the narrator. She exists on the periphery of Nastenka's highly sheltered life.