Edith Kekesfalva is the seventeen-year-old daughter of a wealthy land owner. She is a smaller, young woman with thin auburn hair and gray, emotional eyes. Crippled by a disease, Edith is filled with rage and anger at her condition. Although she used to love to do things, her condition forces her to live within the walls of the castle, and her embarrassment at her condition forces her to stay inside. She lashes out at family and friends who aim only to help her, and she clings to ideas for cures. She is temperamental, frustrating, and often cruel. When Hofmiller begins showing her positive attentions, Edith mistakenly attributes his care as love, and falls in love with him.