Blessed Margaret Mary Alacoque

Blessed Margaret Mary Alacoque, a saint whose promises are prominently displayed in many Catholic homes, was born in a small French village in 1647. Although she is not a direct character in the story, a print of her promises hangs on the wall, prompting Eveline to reflect on her duties towards her home and family. Donald Torchiana has noted that several aspects of this saint’s life strangely mirror Eveline’s own experiences.

Frank

Frank embodies the classic Knight in Shining Armor or Savior archetype. When Eveline first encounters him, he exudes a healthy, robust nonchalance. He seemingly appears out of nowhere, offering a respite from Eveline’s dreary existence. As a sailor, he shares adventurous tales of distant places he has visited.

Sailing is a profession often associated with dubious morality. Sailors frequently lack a permanent home and are known to seduce women with false promises, only to abandon them when it’s time to embark on a new voyage. While Eveline is captivated by this charmer, her father is wary and forbids her from seeing him. If Eveline accepts Frank’s “proposal,” she will be at his mercy in a country far removed from her native Ireland.

The name “Frank” suggests honesty. Was Joyce being subtly ambiguous or overtly ironic in giving the sailor this name? Is Frank genuinely open with Eveline, or is he a dubious character? The reader is not even given his last name. Despite these uncertainties, Frank represents Eveline’s only chance for happiness. She must either trust him and face the potential consequences or resign herself to a fate similar to her mother’s.

Miss Gavan

Miss Gavan is Eveline’s immediate supervisor at the Stores. According to Eveline, she has a rather harsh demeanor, enjoys bossing her around, and will likely take pleasure in gossiping about Eveline’s affair.

Ernest & Harry Hill

Ernest, Eveline’s older brother, is deceased and is only mentioned briefly. The reader is never told how he died.

Harry no longer lives at home but sends money to support the family. His job involves church decoration.

Both Ernest and Harry are significant in their absence; they can no longer protect Eveline from her father’s abuse. Although Harry sends financial support, Eveline bears the primary responsibility of caring for her father.

Eveline Hill

All characters in the story are perceived through Eveline's perspective; she is the protagonist. Although she remains almost motionless for most of the narrative, the majority of the story unfolds in her mind as she contemplates whether to leave her father and start a new life with Frank, a sailor who has proposed to take her to Buenos Aires and marry her. At just nineteen, Eveline is responsible for cooking for her often abusive and ungrateful father and caring for two young children left in her charge. She has developed heart palpitations due to the fear of her father’s abuse, making her physically frail. Additionally, she works at a dry goods store where her superior, Miss Gavan, frequently bosses her around.

In the context of the time, Eveline’s decision is incredibly significant. If she leaves, she defies tradition, her family obligations, and a promise made to her mother to keep the family together. Religion also plays a role: a print of the promises made to Blessed Margaret Mary Alacoque, who blesses homes, hints at the saint Eveline is contemplating abandoning. To leave, Eveline must defy her father, who has forbidden her from seeing Frank. Moreover, emigrating while unmarried is likely to cause a scandal, especially in Irish-Catholic Dublin.

Although Joyce was not a major advocate of Jungian archetypes, he still managed to create characters with universal traits. The name Eveline literally means "little Eve," possibly alluding to the biblical Eve. Will Eveline, like her namesake, become a fallen woman?

The other characters are depicted subjectively through Eveline's eyes and emotions. They are significant only as they relate to Eveline's life and her decision to emigrate.

Mr. Hill

Through Eveline, the reader learns that her father is abusive. He tends to drink heavily on Saturdays (and probably on other days as well) and had physically abused his wife before her death and his older sons. While Eveline was not the primary target, she feels that his anger is increasingly directed toward her now that she is the only one left.

Eveline's perceptions of her father are overwhelmingly negative. He is miserly with the money needed to sustain him, often accusing her of squandering it, which is ironic since he is a drunk who wastes his own funds. More significantly, he tends to be violent, especially when intoxicated. The story opens with a memory of Mr. Hill chasing the children out of a field with a stick. Yet, it is noted that “her father was not so bad then.” This suggests that Mr. Hill's abusive behavior has been a constant in Eveline’s life. Even “not so bad” still implies negativity. As the narrative unfolds, Eveline attempts to justify her father’s drunkenness and abuse, mirroring the rationalizations commonly seen in victims of domestic abuse. Joyce effectively portrays the psychological complexities of such a victim through Eveline. Although she has a few positive memories of her father, these seem more like fleeting afterthoughts.

Mrs. Hill

The various recollections of Eveline’s late mother ultimately drive her to make a decision, albeit a temporary one. Eveline is determined to avoid her mother's fate: enduring Mr. Hill's abuse, succumbing to “the life of commonplace sacrifices,” and finally escaping into incoherent ramblings as a retreat from reality.

The story briefly hints that Mrs. Hill may not have married Mr. Hill promptly; she might have had an affair with him, leading to her being treated disrespectfully. However, Joyce remains ambiguous, and these vague references to disrespect quickly evolve into images of the abuse Mrs. Hill endured.

Mrs. Hill's memory leaves Eveline with conflicting images. On one hand, her mother made her promise to keep the family together for as long as possible. On the other hand, Eveline vividly recalls her mother repeatedly saying, “Derevaun Seraun.” This phrase is likely from a West Irish Gaelic dialect, the original language of the Irish before English colonization. Whether Mrs. Hill only uttered this phrase on her deathbed is unclear, but she may have descended into madness to escape the reality of her impending death or the fate awaiting Eveline. While the exact meaning of the phrase is debatable (though “Worms are the only end” is a probable interpretation), the memory of her mother’s voice and this Gaelic phrase ultimately compels Eveline to decide to flee.

The Priest

The priest, whose name is never revealed, appears in the story solely through a photograph on the wall. He was a friend of Mr. Hill and has since moved to Melbourne. Almost all the characters in the story have left, either due to death or emigration. Emigration is a central theme in the narrative, highlighted by Eveline's looming decision. In a way, Eveline's choice is between death and leaving her homeland. During the British Empire, criminals were frequently exiled to Australia.