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Calixta
The story’s protagonist, a housewife in rural Louisiana. A dutiful wife to Bobinôt and mother to Bibi, Calixta’s robust beauty once made her the belle of the town, and she is described in “At the ’Cadian Ball” as a “little Spanish vixen” whom all the young men find bewitchingly attractive.
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Alcée Laballière
Owner of a rice plantation, a married man whose wife and children are well known. Alcée is a former admirer of Calixta and, had it not been for an ill-timed interruption at the ’Cadian ball, might have courted or perhaps seduced her before either of them married. He is handsome and self-possessed.
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Bobinôt
Calixta’s husband and Bibi’s father. Bobinôt, who farms sugarcane on small acreage, clearly cares for Calixta. Their marriage is dutiful if not particularly romantic. Though only slightly developed, he acts as a foil to Alcée.
Bibi
Calixta’s four-year-old son. Serious beyond his age, Bibi worries about his mother’s safety and is perhaps a bit intimidated by her.
Clarisse Laballière
Alcée’s wife and mother of his children. At the time of the story, Clarisse is staying with old friends in Biloxi; readers know her only through a letter that her husband sends her and through the narrator’s description of her response to it.
