The main characters in A Long Fatal Love Chase by Louisa May Alcott revolve around the two families at the center of the story: the Vivian family and the Tempest family.
Rosamond Vivian
Rosamond Vivian is the orphaned granddaughter of a reclusive old gambler. Alone and unloved she makes the reckless assertion that she often feels “as if I’d gladly sell my own soul to Satan for a year of freedom.” (1) When Philip Tempest visits them at the island, the freedom of his lifestyle seduces her and makes her a willing victim for his love-making and he easily persuades her to leave with him.
When Rosamond discovers that their marriage is a falsehood and that Tempest is a villainous and dangerous man she flees. Her flight results in a violent chase that ends in her untimely death.
Grandfather Vivian
Rosamond’s grandfather is a crabby, unloving old gambler who lives as a recluse. Crippled and alone he succumbs to boredom and gambles with Tempest, his old student, for Rosamond. Vivian almost immediately regrets his foolishness and gives a loving farewell to his granddaughter, who he never sees alive again.
Philip Tempest
Tempest is a man of the world, who arrives at the island home of Rosamond and her grandfather to visit the old man who was once his teacher. He enters the story immediately after Rosamond’s Faustian declaration that she would willingly sell her soul to the devil for one year of freedom. A few pages later, Rosamond remarks that Tempest resembles Mephistopheles in a painting that hangs in her grandfather’s house. As the book progresses, the reader discovers that if Philip Tempest is not Mephistopheles, he has indeed sold his soul to that demon and is irrevocably damned like the early Faustian incarnations in German lore.
Philip Tempest’s obsession with Rosamond leads him to chase her to her death.
Father Ignatius
Father Ignatius is one of two priests at the convent where Rosamond takes refuge during her flight. Because he is young Rosamond decides she would more comfortable in confessing to Father Dominic. Her concerns are confirmed when Father Ignatius begins to follow her everywhere.
Father Ignatius is dedicated to his life as priest. However, he falls in love with Rosamond and defends her against Tempest and helps her to escape.
Before he was a priest, Ignatius was a wealthy young nobleman and soldier in a student revolution.
Ippolito Tempest
Ippolito is the son of Marion and Philip Tempest. He lives with his father as a favored boy companion or servant. At the beginning of the novel, he doesn’t know that Tempest is his father. However, he discovers the true nature of their relationship after his mother contacts him and attempts to steal him away.
Ippolito loves his mother and Rosamond but still feels a strong attachment to his father.
Marion Tempest
Marion Tempest is the estranged wife of Philip Tempest and the mother of Ippolito. Tempest became bored with Marion and Ippolito. Once when Marion left home for a brief time, Tempest betrayed her and sent the boy away to live in secret and told her that their child was dead. A short time afterwards, Marion left Tempest. She did not know her son was alive until a friend of hers reported seeing Ippolito in Valrosa.
After years of fleeing Philip, Rosamond finally escapes to Marion’s home where the threesome live happily for a few short weeks.
Baptiste
Baptiste is Philip Tempest’s intensely loyal manservant. An escaped convict, he was rescued and protected by Philip Tempest. His unquestionable loyalty is tested by Rosamond’s innocence and bravery. However, he is Tempest’s man and remains so until his death.
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