The first character is Harriet. She's a dreamy woman, full of ambition.

The second character represents her « old fashion » face. In fact, it seems she's living in a time which is not hers. In the book The Fifth Child , Doris Lessing said that Harriet prefers staying a virgin and waiting for the one she'll love and live with. Harriet doesn't even like this new generation, the seventies. She's not in her world.

The last character is a child. It shows the « young » face of Harriet. Indeed, she's immature, and she's always asking for help to her mother, Dorothy. She's not independent.