Celestina

A 23-year-old wealthy caballero of noble blood, Calisto sets off the story when he falls in love with Melibea and grows desperate to win her. Calisto’s pining for Melibea is excessive and humorous, and he trusts too easily those who promise to help him woo her. He places his faith in Celestina despite her reputation for untrustworthiness and refuses to believe Pármeno’s warnings about her despite his proven faithfulness. Calisto does not treat his servants particularly well but expects their loyalty. When Sempronio and Pármeno die after killing Celestina, he worries about his own reputation more than their fate. He is selfish and self-involved, much more preoccupied with his desire for Melibea than her reputation or lack of desire for him.

Melibea is the beautiful only daughter of wealthy parents who brought her up to protect her virginity at all costs, and whose looks cause jealous sniping from other women. When Calisto professes his love, she insults him, presuming that he is only interested in having sex with her. When Celestina’s spell causes Melibea to fall in love with Calisto, she does not understand what is happening because she has been sheltered her entire life. Like Calisto, Melibea trusts Celestina without question, even after both Lucrecia and her mother warn her against it. Melibea’s relationship with Calisto changes her values and her sense of honor. Rather than protect her virginity like a dutiful daughter, after the relationship begins she decides to be a good mistress rather than marry according to her parents’ wishes. Her relationship with Calisto does not just “ruin” her virginity, but also ruins her life—she determines that without him, her life is no longer worth living.

Calisto’s servant Sempronio is actually faithful to Celestina, the madam who controls his lover Elicia. When Calisto falls for Melibea, Sempronio pushes him to ask Celestina for help. However, although Sempronio is loyal to Celestina, he does not follow her blindly and is aware of the implications of his actions. Sempronio forms a true friendship with fellow servant Pármeno even though they do not get along at first. When Celestina refuses to share the payment she received from Calisto with them, Sempronio flies into a rage and stabs her. He and Pármeno decide to throw themselves out the window rather than be arrested; they nearly die from the fall and are executed on the spot.

At first, Pármeno faithfully serves Calisto, warning his master about trusting Celestina, who was close to Pármeno’s mother. When his mother died, Celestina cared for Pármeno until he ran away. But Celestina wins Pármeno over by bringing up his dead mother and treating him like a son, expressing sadness that Pármeno lives the life of a servant. When Pármeno tells Celestina that he is in love with Areúsa, who is presumably another of Celestina’s prostitutes, Celestina persuades Areúsa to become his lover. Although Pármeno distrusts Sempronio at first and fights with him, they develops a friendship. When Sempronio kills Celestina, Pármeno throws himself out the window with Sempronio in order to avoid arrest. They are both close to death when they are beheaded on the spot.

One of Celestina’s prostitutes, Elicia lives in Celestina’s house and is completely devoted to the old woman. She is in love with Sempronio, who either doesn’t know or doesn’t care that she is having sex with other men for money. Elicia has a fiery temper and becomes extremely angry with Sempronio for failing to visit her often enough and for daring to call Melibea beautiful. Elicia tries to stop Sempronio from killing Celestina, weeping over the woman’s body after he succeeds. After Sempronio and Pármeno are killed, Elicia mourns at first but then realizes that she doesn’t like the lack of attention. Instead, she helps Areúsa, her cousin and close friend, take revenge on Calisto and Melibea. 

The beautiful Areúsa is one of Celestina’s prostitutes. When Celestina brings the lovelorn Pármeno to her, Areúsa declines to be with him at first because she worries that her other steady lover will get jealous. But Areúsa gives in for Celestina’s sake. When Sempronio and Pármeno are killed, Areúsa is determined to take revenge. She uses her beauty to convince Sosia to give her information and to persuade her other lover Centurio to kill Calisto.

Lucrecia is Elicia’s cousin and Melibea’s servant. She is devoted to Melibea and tries to warn her away from Celestina. However, she also wants Celestina’s help to find a husband, so she gives in to Celestina’s demands when the old woman promises her cosmetics to make her more attractive. Against her better judgment, Lucrecia helps Melibea to meet with Calisto, although she is annoyed when Melibea acts coy instead of being grateful and accepting his advances. When Melibea dies, Lucrecia is heartbroken.

Alisa is Melibea’s mother. Although she invites Celestina into their home, when she discovers that Melibea has been meeting with her daughter, she warns Melibea to stay away. When Alisa arranges a marriage for her daughter, Alisa is proud that Melibea is so sheltered she knows nothing about love, sex, or reproduction. 

Melibea’s wealthy father, Pleberio is very strict and protective of his daughter. When he discovers that she has killed herself over love, Pleberio is devastated and questions the worth of all of his riches or of having managed to live into old age, since he will have no heir. 

After Sempronio and Pármeno die, Calisto enlists the help of Tristán, another servant, in his secret meetings with Melibea. Tristán is extremely loyal to Calisto, if a bit stupid.

Sosia, Calisto’s stable boy, helps Calisto after Sempronio and Pármeno die. He is loyal to Calisto, but naively gives in to Areúsa’s flattery and tells her about Calisto’s visits to Melibea. He believes that Areúsa is in love with him until Tristán points out that she was most likely manipulating him.