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Characters

The Father - Originally married to The Mother and insisted on The Son being sent off to live in the country. Afterwards, he told The Mother to marry another man whom he felt she loved more. Later, he nearly has an affair with The Stepdaughter, until The Mother interferes. When he learns that The Mother's second husband died, he brings her, The Son, The Stepdaughter, The Child, and The Boy back to live with him.

The Mother - Originally married to The Father, she falls in love with one of his clerks and leaves with him at The Father's orders. She has three children, The Boy, The Child, and The Stepdaughter with the second husband and has The Son with The Father.

The Son - The son of The Father and The Mother. To make him stronger, the father has him sent off to the country to live with a wet nurse when he is a baby. Therefore, he grew up not knowing his parents and dislikes them. He also dislikes his stepfamily, not considering them a part of the family.

The Stepdaughter - The spirited daughter of The Mother and her second husband. She is employed by Madame Pace and after she is "two months an orphan", she nearly has an affair with The Father. It is stated that she runs away from home later in the story. According to her, she went to the author of the story constantly, trying to get him to finish the tale.

The Boy - The middle child and only son of The Mother and her second husband. He is disliked by The Stepdaughter, who thinks he is an idiot. He never speaks during the play. At the end of the play, he commits suicide by shooting himself with a revolver.

The Child - The youngest daughter of The Mother and her second husband. She is the favorite of The Stepdaughter. It is mentioned once that her name is Rosetta. She never speaks during the play. At the end of the play, she drowns in a fountain she was playing in, although The Son tries to pull her out.

Madame Pace - Employer of The Mother and (later) The Step-Daughter. She runs a brothel out of her store. She only appears for a short period of time in the play, when The Stepdaughter and The Father perform their scene in the shop together. She speaks in a comical jargon "half Italian, half Spanish".