Frederick: Frederick Clegg, he introduces himself as Ferdinand towards Miranda,, is the protagonist of part one in The Collector. Frederick is a butterfly collector, and his biggest desire is to have Miranda for himself. Frederick doesn’t have many friends, and he is often alone looking out for Miranda. Frederick wins a lot of money, and with this money he buys a house in the countryside. He then captures Miranda and brings her to this house. Frederick however isn’t saying that he captures her, but that Miranda is his guest. During this period he starts hating Miranda more and more since she just doesn’t seem to realize what his goal is. Furthermore Frederick accepted a lot of what Miranda said in the beginning of the novel, however in the end he gives her less freedom and is annoyed with her behaviour. His goal is to let Miranda love him, however he is carrying this too far which eventually leads to the death of Miranda.

Miranda: Miranda Grey is an art student from the middle-class in society. She is the protagonist in the second part of the book which is written in a diary form. Miranda isn’t aware of the fact that Frederick is stalking her, and she finds out he does when she gets captured. Miranda thinks that Frederick is only looking for sex with her, and she tries to seduce him. Furthermore Mirande keeps on trying to escape, however she is unsuccessful. Miranda trying to escape shows that she has hope for still being able to somehow leave Frederick behind. Later in the novel however we find out that she knows the situation is hopeless, and she tries to ignore Frederick as much as possible. Another important thing to know about her is that she is in love with G.P. (George Paston), and her time in the basement makes her realise this even more. Eventually Miranda dies from some illness for which Frederick didn’t want to get a doctor.

George Paston: George Paston, in the book often referred to as G.P., is the person who is very passionate about arts. He teaches Miranda to appreciate arts in her life, and eventually Miranda also falls in love with him.

Aunt Annie: Aunt Annie is the aunt of Frederick, she brought him up after Frederick’s mother left him and his father died. She however moves to a different country and therefore doesn’t play a big role in the novel anymore.