Tender is the Night Major Characters

Dr. Dick Diver: An American psychologist who works in Zurich. Dick marries Nicole Warren, one of his mental patients. He is intelligent, and his work is the most important thing to him. He has an affair with Rosemary, and his marriage to Nicole starts to fail over time. Dick himself starts to fall apart both physically and emotionally, and he develops a drinking problem. At the end of the novel, Dick moves back to America and his condition starts to improve.

Nicole Warren Diver: Dr. Diver's strikingly beautiful mental patient (and then wife) originally from Chicago. Her family is very wealthy and she likes to travel all over Europe and live extravagantly. Nicole is always slipping back and forth between sanity and insanity. After her marriage to Dick fails, she marries Tommy Barban.

Rosemary Speers: Dick's younger lover. She is a beautiful actress who has many boyfriends. She tells Dick that he is the only one she has ever really loved. Dick thinks he loves her, but then realizes she is too immature for him.

Minor Characters

Luis Campion: A gentleman Rosemary met on the beach when she arrived in France.

Mrs. Abrams: A woman Rosemary met on the beach upon arriving in France.

Mrs. Violet McKisco: A woman Rosemary met on the beach when she arrived in France. Violet saw something horrendous while at the party at the Diver's; however, Tommy stopped her from telling anyone.

Mr. Dumphry: A gentleman Rosemary met at the beach in France.

Abe North: Mary's first husband and a good friend of Dick's who dies in a bar brawl. He causes much trouble throughout the story.

Mrs. Elsie Speers: Rosemary's mother. Rosemary admires her and listen to everything she ever says. She tells Dick that he is the only man Rosemary ever cared about.

Gausse: The owner of the hotel in Southern France, and a friend of the Divers.

Tommy Barban: A handsome, adventurous friend of Dick and Nicole's, who loves war. Nicole suspects that he loves her. He and Nicole have an affair and eventually marry.

Brady: The producer in the studio in France. Rosemary feels uncomfortable around him.

Mary North: Contessa di Minghetti -A wealthy and shallow friend of Dick and Nicole's.

Collis Clay: Initially a friend of Rosemary's, he also becomes well acquainted with Dick and Nicole. He is in love with Rosemary and tells Dick the story of Rosemary and Bill Hillis. He helps Dick get out of trouble in Rome.

Maria Wallis: An acquaintance of Nicole's who refuses to say hello to her and then shoots a man.

Laura: Maria's sister who lives in Paris.

Bill Hillis: A young gentleman who Rosemary was alone in a train compartment with, and who Dick becomes jealous of.

Mr. Crawshow: A Negro who comes to the hotel in Paris, looking for the Divers.

Mr. Freeman: This man was thrown in jail for no reason, according to Mr. Crawshow.

Mr. Jules Peterson: A Negro who helped Abe, he then is murdered for doing so.

Beth (Baby) Warren: Nicole's flighty and shallow older sister who desperately tries to find ways to cure Nicole's condition.

Mr. Devereux Warren: Nicole's wealthy father who lives in Chicago. He molested her after her mother died.

Franz Gregorovius: A pathologist in Zurich and a friend and colleague of Dick's. Franz admires Dick for his brilliance, and Dick admires Franz for his level-headedness. They open a clinic together in Zurich, but end their partnership due to Dick's alcoholism and degenerated state.

Dr. Dohmler: The head doctor of the clinic in Zurich where Franz and Dick first work together.

Lanier Diver: Dick and Nicole's curious son. He is two years older than his younger sister, Topsy.

Topsy Diver: Dick and Nicole's daughter who has Nicole's fair looks.

Lady Caroline (Sibly-Biers): A stuck up friend of Mary North's and an acquaintance of Dick and Nicole's.

Mr. McKisco: A novelist Rosemary met at the beach in France. In defending his wife's honor, he challenged Tommy to a duel.