Amy "Little" Dorrit
Frequently called Little Dorrit, Amy is the youngest member of the Dorrit family. She was born inside the debtors’ prison and at the beginning of the novel, she is a twenty-year-old woman.
Mr. William Dorrit
William Dorrit is Amy’s father, imprisoned in a debtors’ prison for most of his life.
Arthur Clennam
Arthur is a 40-year-old man at the start of the novel, freshly returned to England after spending 20 years living in China. He has grown up wealthy but has also lived a lonely life.
Fanny Dorrit
Fanny is also William Dorrit’s daughter and Amy’s older sister. She eventually marries Edmund Sparkler because she wants to be a wealthy woman with a high rank in society.
Daniel Doyce
Daniel Doyce is an inventor and business man who becomes business associates with Arthur. At the end of the novel, he repays Arthur's debts in order to free him from prison.
Mr. Merdle
Mr. Merdle is a wealthy businessman in London; he is the husband of Mrs. Merdle and the stepfather of Edmund Sparkler. Mr. Merdle tricks and deceives many people, and commits suicide before being exposed as a fraud.
Mrs. Merdle
Mrs. Merdle is Mr. Merdle’s wife and Edmund Sparkler's mother. She is very vain and conscious of her social reputation.
Mr. Nandy (Old Nandy)
Mr. Nandy is Mrs. Plornish’s father, an impoverished old man who decided to go and live in a workhouse in order to help his family.
Edmund Sparkler
Edmund is Mrs. Merdle’s son, who eventually marries Fanny Dorrit. He is given a job at the Circumlocution Office by his stepfather.
Mr. Chivery
Mr. Chivery is John’s father and the turnkey in the debtors’ prison where the Dorrit family was imprisoned.
Mrs. Chivery
Mrs. Chivery is John’s mother and the turnkey’s wife. She is happy to see her son pursue Amy and encourages him in the beginning.
Flora Casby Finching
Flora is a woman in her forties, a widow who lives with her parents in London. In her youth, she was Arthur’s fiancée, but because Arthur’s parents disapproved of the relationship, the engagement ended. When they reunite, Flora is still vain and silly and believes she might be able to get Arthur to fall in love with her again.
Flintwinch
Flintwinch is an old servant working in Mrs. Clennam’s house; he is married to another servant named Affery, whom he abuses. Flintwinch knows many of Mrs. Clennam's secrets and is good at manipulating people to get them to do what he wants.
Monsieur Rigaud/Blandois/Lagnier
Rigaud is a sinister, criminal figure who murders his wife before the start of the novel and then goes on to blackmail Mrs. Clennam with the secret he knows about her family. He dies at the end of the novel when the Clennam mansion collapses on top of him.
Mrs. Clennam
Mrs. Clennam is presented as Arthur's mother for most of the novel, although it is finally revealed that she did not give birth to him at the end. She is a bitter and vengeful woman who sees herself as justified in condemning and judging others.
Affery
Affery works as a servant in Mrs. Clennam’s house, and is married to Jeremiah Flintwinch, who abuses her. As a result, she does not trust her own judgment even though she is privy to some of the secrets hidden in the Clennam house.
Pet Meagles
Pet is the beautiful and spoiled daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Meagles. She marries Henry Gowan in the middle of the novel, and ends up being unhappy as a result of this decision.
Jean-Baptiste Cavalletto/Mr. Baptist
Cavalleto is an Italian man who meets Blandois by chance in a French prison, and then becomes entangled in the plot after he is helped by Arthur Clennam in London.
Tattycoram
Tattycoram is an orphan girl adopted by the Meagles family. Tattycoram initially runs away with Miss Wade, but at the end of the novel, she returns to her adoptive family.
Mrs. General
Mrs. General is a governess hired by Mr. Dorrit after he becomes wealthy. She is a very severe and snobbish woman who makes Fanny and Amy unhappy.
Mrs. Gowan
Mrs. Gowan is Henry’s mother, a proud woman who manipulates others. She creates conflict with the Meagles family.
Henry Gowan
Henry is an artist who marries Pet Meagles. He is not himself wealthy but has distant family connections to wealthy people. He is also lazy, spoiled, and unmotivated.
Miss Wade
Miss Wade is an embittered woman who once had an affair with Henry Gowan and remains obsessed with him. She has some sort of relationship with Tattycoram which leads to the two women living together, and she also pays Blandois to spy on Henry and Pet.
Mr. Casby
Mr. Casby is Flora’s father and the landlord of Bleeding Heart Yard. He is the employer of Pancks, and although everyone thinks Pancks is greedy and cruel, it is actually Mr. Casby who insists on exploiting his tenants.
Pancks
Pancks is the man who gathers the rent money for Mr. Casby. He has a bad reputation, but he is actually kind and helpful. Pancks leads the effort to restore Mr. Dorrit to his lost fortune.
Mr. and Mrs. Plornish
Mr. and Mrs. Plornish are Amy’s friends, who live in Bleeding Heart Yard with their family. After the Dorrits regain their fortune, they give money to the Plornish family who open a small store.
John Chivery
John is the son of the turnkey in the Marshalsea prison. He falls in love with Amy and he remains committed to helping her even after she turns him down.
Tite Barnacle
Tite is a government official who works at the Circumlocution Office, and a member of the wealthy and socially elite Barnacle family.
Maggy
Maggy is a young woman who is developmentally delayed due to illness and therefore has the mental capacity of a child. Amy takes care of her, and Maggy refers to Amy as her "little mother."
Mr. Rugg
Mr. Rugg is a lawyer who is also Panck’s landlord. He becomes involved in the effort to re-establish Mr. Dorrit's inheritance, and later tries to give Arthur legal advice after the discovery of Merdle's fraud.
Miss Rugg
Miss Rugg is Mr. Rugg’s daughter.
Clarence Barnacle
Clarence Barnacle is Tite Barnacle’s son.
