Although The Trap is the second shortest book inPilgrimage, Miriam’s move to her room in Flaxman Court introduces a new cast of players centered on its landlord, tenants, and neighbors.
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Alma Wilson | A former schoolmate of Miriam’s now married to the writer Hypo Wilson. She corresponds to Amy Catherine Robbins Wells, wife of H. G. Wells. |
| Mrs. Bailey | The landlady at the boarding house on Tansley Street where Miriam takes a room. |
| Mrs. Cameron | A Scotswoman and housekeeper at the dental practice on Wimpole Street. |
| Eleanor Dear | A woman Miriam first encountered in The Tunnel. Miriam sees her as manipulative and playing to the stereotype of the helpless female. She reappears in Revolving Lights, now married to Rodkin and with two children (Lancelot and Lobelia) and Miriam recalls her in The Trap. |
| Dr. Densley | A Scotsman and Eleanor Dear’s doctor, first introduced in The Tunnel |
| Dora and George Taylor | Radicals who publish a magazine that Miriam eventually writes for. |
| Elsbeth | Miriam’s niece, the daughter of Harriett and Gerald Ducayne. |
| Arnold Engelhart | A zealous Lycurgan Miriam encounters at the dance |
| Eve Henderson | Miriam’s older sister, now running a gift shop in a seaside town in Essex |
| Florrie and Grace Broom | Sisters and former students of Miriam’s at the school run by the Perne sisters (Backwater). They remain friends and visit Miriam in The Trap. |
| Mr. and Mrs. Grimshaw | Friends of the Wilsons |
| Mr. Hancock | A dentist and Miriam’s employer. She remains working for him for over eleven years. Corresponds to John Henry Badcock. |
| Harriet Henderson | Miriam’s youngest sister, married to Gerald Ducayne |
| Mr. Hayle-Vernon | A distinguished-looking older gentleman Miriam meets at the Lycurgan dance. |
| Selina Holland | A spinster and night-school teacher with whom Miriam takes the flat in Flaxman Court with very little contemplation. She ultimately proves too rigid and disapproving for Miriam’s liking. |
| Hypo Wilson | A writer of growing fame and husband of Alma Wilson. Corresponds to H. G. Wells, whom Dorothy Richardson would later have an affair with and become pregnant by, eventually losing the child to a miscarriage |
| Jan and Mag | Long-time friends of Miriam’s who room together and represent the independent “new woman” on the turn of the 20th century |
| Michael Shatov | A Russian Jew who begins taking English lessons from Miriam. Their relationship then develops intellectually and romantically, though Miriam ultimately refuses him. He remains a friend and ultimately marries Amabel, who rooms with Miriam in Dawn’s Left Hand. Corresponds to Benjamin Grad. |
| Nora Beaworthy | A beautiful young woman Miriam encounters at the Lycurgan dance. |
| Mr. and Mrs. Orly | The senior couple in the dental practice at Wimpole Street and his wife. They live in a flat that’s part of the practice building. |
| Perrance and his wife | A man who repairs sculptures for a living and who lives with his wife on the ground floor at Flaxman Court. Miriam often hears them arguing at night. |
| Mrs. Philps | The aunt with whom Florrie and Grace Broome live. |
| Sarah Henderson | Miriam’s oldest sister, correponds to Frances Kate Richardson |
| Sheffield | The landlord at Flaxman Court |
| Mr. and Mrs. Taunton | A “curate-like” man and his wife. |
| Mr. and Mrs. Taunton | A “curate-like” man and his wife. |
| Mis Trevelyan | A friend of Miss Holland’s |
| Mrs. Wheeler | A woman from Texas who is in London to support her daughter, Estella, who is studying music |
| William Butler Yeats | The Irish poet, who lives in a flat that Miriam can see from her. |