sparknotes
Tender is the Night
Characters
Dick Diver -
The American son of a clergyman who is on the way to becoming a renowned psychologist when he falls in love with Nicole and marries her. Dick is extraordinarily charismatic and graceful at the start of the novel, but eventually falls to his ruin.
Nicole Diver -
Born Nicole Warren, the beautiful heiress to a wealthy Chicago magnate, Nicole was sexually abused by her father and suffers from mental breakdowns as a result. She falls in love with Dick at first sight, and the two enjoy an extravagant and turbulent life in Europe at the center of a sophisticated group of friends.
Rosemary Hoyt -
The beautiful young movie star, born in America but educated in France, who falls in love with Dick at first sight and contributes to his dissipation through their affair.
Tommy Barban -
The half-American, half French-mercenary soldier who is in love with Nicole. He ends up taking her away from Dick toward the end of the novel.
Abe North -
A dear friend of Dick's and a once brilliant musician who drinks away his career. He is ultimately killed at a speakeasy in New York.
Mary North -
The lovely and kind wife of Abe. She marries the wealthy Conte di Minghetti after Abe passes away.
Franz Gregorovius or Dr. Gregory -
Born into a line of fine psychologists, he opens a clinic with Dick.
Devereux Warren -
The wealthy father of Nicole and Baby. He sexually abused Nicole and then placed her in a mental clinic in Zurich.
Albert McKisco -
The once obnoxious American intellectual with an inferiority complex who establishes himself as a prize author following his duel with Tommy Barban.
Collis Clay -
A young Yale graduate and acquaintance of Rosemary. He gossips with Dick about Rosemary and helps rescue Dick from an Italian prison.
Conte di Minghetti -
The second husband of Mary North, whom Dick and Nicole manage to insult terribly.
Earl Brady -
An American filmmaker in France toward whom Rosemary maintains a momentary fascination.
Jules Peterson -
A black man who is killed in Rosemary's room in Paris on account of Abe North's careless drinking.






