Old Bellair is a lecherous man in his mid-fifties, accustomed to imposing his will upon others and being obeyed. He disregards Harry’s feelings about marriage, and he flirts with Emilia by disparaging her. But he is not a villain: when he realizes his will has been irreversibly thwarted he yields, even admiring his son’s pluck in standing up to him.

Young Harry Bellair, a companion to Dorimant and Medley, thus outwardly seeming to be a libertine, is a stalwart devotee of love and fidelity. He has the conviction to resist his father and the wit to fool him as he does.

Bellinda is a willing accomplice in Dorimant’s plot to inflame Mrs. Loveit’s jealousy because she loves Dorimant. She also senses that his love for her is lust rather than real love. Nevertheless, she yields to him. She sees that his behavior toward Loveit, even though she furthers it for her own self-interest, shows an ill-nature in him. She is clear-sighted but guided by passion.

Dorimant is a charming, witty libertine, whose major interest is to satisfy his appetite for pleasure. A man-about-town, he frequents theaters, parks, markets, and malls, and he is more concerned with the suave image he projects than with the substance of his character. Women are toys to enhance his self-delight and self-admiration. Once the novelty and intoxication of a romance wears off, after flirtation and seduction have succeeded, Dorimant’s excitement gives way to boredom and is stimulated by his need to escape the clutches of the woman he has professed to love and to conquer another one. Despite his deserved reputation as a rake, Dorimant seems to undergo a conversion after he meets Harriet. He renounces liberty and libertinism and promises to be true to and content with her, but there is some remaining ambiguity about his future relationship with both Loveit and Bellinda.

Emilia is an ingénue—pretty, innocent, true in her love, and with a touch of wit. She does not understand, as Townley does, that Old Bellair’s rebukes are flirtatious, but she is able to imitate his expressions playfully when Townley does.

Sir Fopling Flutter, a foolish dandy, is vain and self-indulgent. He has a taste for French manners and fashion, but his attempts to use French words make him ridiculous. His love of excess allows him to use a candelabra to light the way even in daylight. He represents all the characteristics of foppishness taken to their extreme, and his toast at the end of the first scene in Act IV provides a good picture of life among the Restoration dandies. He is, despite his foolishness, not entirely a fool. Although he pursues Mrs. Loveit, he senses her antipathy to him.

Harriet has a wild streak hidden by her seemingly demure manner. She pursues Dorimant’s acquaintance despite her mother’s objections and hides her attraction to him from her mother. She is levelheaded and independent; although she refuses to let her mother choose her husband, she will not disobey her and marry without her consent. She is a keen observer of social manners and knows what poses signify flirting, as she shows when she and Harry pretend to be lovers.

Mrs. Loveit loves Dorimant and is jealous of him when he neglects her and pursues other women. Her jealousy moves her to an anger equal to her love, and she tries to take vengeance against him, not just because of Dorimant’s infidelity but also because he tried to effect a breakup by foisting Fopling, whom she despises, off on her. She countered his trick by encouraging Fopling’s advances and making Dorimant look foolish. Despite her love for Dorimant, she refuses to see Fopling a third time and scorn him publicly in order to restore Dorimant’s pride.

Lady Townley, Old Bellair’s sister, is a sophisticated and liberal-minded woman who helps Harry and Emilia circumvent her brother’s opposition to their marriage. She understands that Old Bellair’s apparent expressions of disapproval for Emilia are actually expressions of fondness.

Lady Woodvill, Harriet’s mother, has never met Dorimant, but having heard of his reputation, she is dedicated to keeping her daughter from meeting him. She is an admirer of what she sees as the virtues of the past and condemns the license of the present. She succumbs to Dorimant’s charm when he undertakes to woo her as Mr. Courtage.