On Beauty Characters

Michael is a tall businessman of Caribbean heritage. He is the son of Monty and Carlene and the brother of Victoria. Like Monty, he is deeply conservative and religious, and also like Monty, this makes him oblivious to the hidden challenges that the women in his family are facing.

Smith is Howard’s teaching assistant. He is one of Howard’s few but devoted fans, and he constantly nudges Howard to accept new technology like PowerPoint presentations and cell phones.

Harold is Howard’s father. Being a butcher from a working-class area of London, he shares little in common with his academic son. Harold’s racism is also part why Howard stays away from his father, since Howard’s wife, Kiki, is Black.

Monique is the Haitian cleaner for the Belsey family. Despite Howard’s supposedly liberal values, he doesn’t pay Monique well, which is a sign of his hypocrisy.

Warren is Claire’s longtime partner who eventually marries her—right around the same time when she cheats on him with Howard.

Lydia is an administrative assistant who helps Dean French and others in the humanities department. Unlike the dean, she knows how to speak clearly and to the point.

Christian is a graduate student at Wellington who is a fan of Howard’s. Although he can talk about weighty topics, he struggles with everyday situations, like when the Belseys’ dog Murdoch starts to bother him.

LaShonda is a coworker of Levi’s at the music megastore who, like most of Levi’s other Black coworkers, declines to join his strike because she needs to keep working to earn money to support her children.

At age 16, Katie is one of the youngest students at Wellington College, and she is in awe of everything she sees, particularly in Howard’s class.

Tom is a coworker of Levi’s at the music megastore who is white and works in the folk section. Although his musical tastes differ greatly from Levi’s, they share similar politics.

Bailey is Levi’s supervisor at the music megastore. He is a Black man in his forties, and he is strict about following workplace rules to the letter.

Ron is a student in Claire’s poetry class who is friends with Zora and mostly writes poems about sex.

Daisy is a student in Claire’s poetry class who is friends with Zora and mostly writes poems about New York City.

Yousef is the owner of a Moroccan restaurant, which he inherited from his parents. To attract a younger crowd, he converted the basement into a performing arts space called the Bus Stop, where poets like Carl perform spoken word.

Meredith is a friend of Christian’s who likes to wear elaborate outfits to parties, including Howard and Kiki’s 30th anniversary party.

Candy is a coworker of Levi’s at the music megastore who is white and who works in the alternative music section.

Doc Brown is the MC at the Bus Stop, a local performing arts space that unites several characters in the story, including Levi, Carl, Claire, and Zora.

Joan is Howard’s mother who died when he was young.

Amelia is Michael’s fiancé, who is English and the daughter of Jamaican immigrants.

Carol is a religious woman who helps take care of Harold.