Gemma Doyle
Gemma Doyle is the heroine of A Great and Terrible Beauty. The meaning of the name Gemma is "jewel". Doyle, her last name, is derived from the Irish Dubhgall, which is Gaelic for "dark stranger". Hence, 'Gemma Doyle' means "jewel who descends from a dark stranger".
Gemma was born in 1879 and was raised in India. However, in a sudden turn of events on evening in a crowded Bombay bazaar, her mother dies a strange death and leaves a crescent shaped amulet for Gemma. After that, Gemma starts having strange visions that show her frightening images. Devastated by her mother's death, Gemma and her father move back to England. Gemma, who is then 16 years old, is sent to Spence Academy, a boarding school for girls. There, she meets her roommate Ann Bradshaw, Felicity Worthington and Pippa. They girls then uncover a dark and magical world into which they get hopelessly entwined.
In between all that chaos, Gemma starts to develop feeling for a boy named Kartik, who is also a part of the magical realm. However, since Kartik is Indian and Gemma is a proper English young lady, she would be sacrificing her and her family's reputation if she chooses to be with him.
Felicity Worthington
Felicity is constantly defined as a physically and emotionally stong person. She expresses her wish to be the most powerful lady all of England would see, when she grows up. She, along with her friend Pippa, are the most popular girls at Spence Academy. Hence, they constantly bully the other "lower class" girls at the school.
Another dominant attitude of Felicity's is her daring promiscuity. She tells her friends about the number of men she would be with when she grows up. She also secretly meets with a gypsy named Ithal.
Throughout the novel, Felicity shows how loyal she can be. She never hesitates, and is very quick to stand up for her friends, both verbally and physically. In the end of the novel, she even shows her loyalty to the "good" realm by choosing to go with Gemma and Ann, instead of staying on the "bad" realm with Pippa, whom she was in love with. However, any reminder of "weakness" she has shown in the past (for example, her father's sexual abuse of her as a child) causes her to become enraged or depressed, or both. Felicity also suffers from feelings of guilt and self-loathing because of her feelings for other girls. In the strict Victorian society, she has been told that homosexuality is wicked, and that she is "degenerate." She also feels guilt because of her father's sexual abuse of her, as a small child—he told her that she "[brought] it out in him," and so Felicity grew up blaming herself and trying to believe that her father really did care about her as his child, and not just as something to abuse.
Felicity, though very rich, had a miserable childhood. Her father molested her, and Lady Worthington, Felicity's mother, largely ignored both this and everything else relating to her daughter. Admiral Worthington convinced his daughter, then a very small girl, that the abuse was her fault, not his, saying that she "brings it out in him." When Felicity was quite young, just after a family holiday to Scotland, Lady Worthington left her husband and daughter and eloped to France with an artist, where she was a "paid consort" and ran an artist's salon. Felicity is forced to hide her mother's infidelity and abandonment; it cannot be known that Lady Worthington is a "courtesan".
Felicity is hurt by her mother's abandonment—first in not doing anything when Felicity told her of Admiral Worthington's abuse, and later for "[running] away and leaving [Felicity] behind". Fee does not see her mother or father for three years at one point—until Christmastime in 1895. Despite this, she holds out hope, while her mother is away, that "she will send for Felicity". Felicity explains what is expected of high-born girls in their society. Felicity has attended Spence Academy ever since her mother ran off to Paris. At Spence, girls learn few subjects that will be useful to them, as fine ladies who needn't work for a living. Amongst other things, students study singing and ballroom dancing. Felicity, although quite intelligent and a perfectionist, is not especially good at either subject. She has proved proficient in French, however; Felicity's French is "absolutely flawless". She also is a fairly talented painter, once painting a castle from the Realms into the "pastoral scenes befitting a paradise" that are to be used as decoration at a ball.
However, while Felicity is not the most studious at the school, she is the brightest in many respects. She is fiercely loyal, though it is a rather contradictory statement as in the first book, she abandons Pippa in a heartbeat to keep Gemma from telling of her relationship with Ithal after Gemma caught them both in the boathouse. In other manners, however, Fee is intensely endearing.
Some people, however, see Fee as too harsh and demanding, when her dominant and usually bubbly personality takes a turn for the morose. However, her commanding attitude foreshadowed her past from the start, especially when she said, "No. No admirals," when asked about what kinds of men she would "have." Her promiscuous and sometimes bullying attitude is an obvious cry for attention from the two parents who ignore her. Instead, she has to turn to Gemma to find friendship and strength once again. One of the more interesting and engaging characters, she has depth and emotion that neither Ann nor Pippa ever have.
Felicity has many opinions that are, for her day and age, quite radical. She vows to have a "new suit of trousers... fashioned in Paris" and doesn't see why a woman "has to give up her name". She also speaks of perhaps becoming a painter or an artist's model, once she lives in Paris. This would have been deemed unacceptable by society, since at that time, women were only known to stay at home.
Ann Bradshaw
Ann attends Spence Academy, where she has been for many years. She was sent to Spence, as a "scholarship pupil" by her nouveau riche aunt and uncle who wish Ann to be well-learned; they can then employ her as an unpayed governess for their odious children. Ann is thankful for this measly bit of a sacrifice, but she wishes that she had her parents alive and well so that she could marry a respectable young man, and live her life to the fullest like other young, rich, and well bred English girls.
Ann managed to stay fairly invisible while at school. The only subject that she stood out in was singing; Ann proved to have a beautiful voice. She lacked the money and beauty of the other girls, and so lacked friends. She was often bullied by the other girls, especially Felicity Worthington and Pippa Cross. When Gemma Doyle became Ann's roommate the two girls became friends by virtue of their having no other friends and of being roommates. When Felicity came into Gemma's debt, Gemma became friend with Felicity and Pippa, under condition that they would befriend Ann, too. This relationship, first one of obligation, later became real. The girls bonded, and came to love each other.
Pippa Cross
Pippa "Pip" Cross (c. 1878- September 1895) is one of the main characters in A Great and Terrible. Pippa is described as the most beautiful woman in Libba Bray's alternate world. In Pippa's own words, "Being beautiful creates problems. It's misery."
Pippa's first name means "lover of horses". While it may have been short for Philippa, this is never stated in any of the novels. Pippa is not a very widely-used name and, though it comes from the Greek language, is predominantly an English name. Pippa's surname, Cross, refers to a place where to roads intersect, or where a cross could be erected—also, often at a crossroads. This may refer to how torn Pippa is, between her duty (marriage) and desire (freedom to find true love). Later, after her death, Pippa will also fear to "cross over", from the Realms, into where-ever the dead go.
Pippa, like Felicity and Ann, did not have a happy childhood. Because of her good looks everyone wanted to own her and were constantly fussing over her so there was no room to breathe.Pippa suffered from epilepsy, a fact that her mother insisted she hide. If anyone knew that Pippa was not perfectly healthy, she would be unlikely to marry well. Pippa's mother told her that if she felt a fit "coming on", she was to say that she had a headache and excuse herself-- something that, of course, would not be possible.
From a young age, probably about age seven, Pippa attended Spence Academy. Though she was easily the most beautiful-looking girl at the school, and one of the most popular, she did not stand-out for her wit. "I'm not clever like you are", Pippa once tells Ann. "I don't mean half of what I say."
On the September Assembly Day of 1895, Pippa became engaged to Mr Bartleby Bumble, Esquire. It was not a happy occasion for Pippa, but Pippa's family informs her that she must marry to save the family from ruin. Despite her daughter's longing for true love, Mrs. Cross insists that love, desire, and marriage are not at all related; she assures Pippa that, one day, she will thank her for insisting on the marriage to Mr Bumble.
A desperate Pippa is able to break off her engagement by telling Bumble of her illness. Bumble is described to see Pippa as a "fine piece of china" that he has purchased which has a very bad crack. He is relieved to know of this before the wedding and plans to forget about the wedding. However, when he informs Mr. and Mrs. Cross of his plans, they tell Mr. Bumble that Pippa got cold feet and lied about her condition. Mr. Bumble agrees again to marry her.
