Me Before You Characters: Full List & Analysis

Who drives the story

Main characters

Louisa 'Lou' Clark

A 26-year-old café worker in Stortfold with a wardrobe of wild colours and bumblebee tights, supporting her working-class family. Hired to be Will's companion, she falls in love with him and spends six months trying to talk him out of dying — then inherits his money and, finally, a reason to live for herself.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Girl Who Needed a Job, the Man Who Wanted to Die; Part 2: Six Months to Change His Mind; Part 3: Mauritius, and the Answer She Already Knew; Part 4: Just Live Well
Themes:: Is love enough reason to live?; Class and small lives; Bodily autonomy and the right to die; The masks people wear; Grief with a deadline

Will Traynor

A wealthy 35-year-old former high-flyer, paralyzed from the chest down by a motorcycle accident. Bitter, sharp, and secretly determined to end his life at Dignitas, he slowly opens up to Louisa — and spends his last months quietly giving her the freedom he lost.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Girl Who Needed a Job, the Man Who Wanted to Die; Part 2: Six Months to Change His Mind; Part 3: Mauritius, and the Answer She Already Knew; Part 4: Just Live Well
Themes:: Is love enough reason to live?; Class and small lives; Bodily autonomy and the right to die; The masks people wear; Grief with a deadline

Camilla Traynor

Will's mother, who refused his first plea to die and then promised to take him to Dignitas if he lived six more months — betting she could change his mind. She loses the bet, and in the end invites Louisa to Switzerland.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Girl Who Needed a Job, the Man Who Wanted to Die; Part 3: Mauritius, and the Answer She Already Knew
Themes:: Is love enough reason to live?; Bodily autonomy and the right to die

Patrick

Louisa's boyfriend of seven years, an obsessive runner and personal trainer who dismisses her job as 'not a proper career.' Jealousy over Will ends the relationship, and he tips off the press about the Dignitas plan.

Appears in:: Part 2: Six Months to Change His Mind; Part 3: Mauritius, and the Answer She Already Knew

Treena

Louisa's single-mother sister, studying for a degree, and the first person Louisa tells about the Dignitas pact. She researches it online and co-plots the outings meant to save Will.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Girl Who Needed a Job, the Man Who Wanted to Die; Part 2: Six Months to Change His Mind; Part 3: Mauritius, and the Answer She Already Knew

Steven Traynor

Will's father, who offers Louisa's father a maintenance job at the castle after the factory closes — part of Will's quiet plan to free Louisa from her family.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Girl Who Needed a Job, the Man Who Wanted to Die; Part 2: Six Months to Change His Mind

Also in the story

Supporting characters

Nathan

Will's full-time carer — a cheerful, kind male nurse who handles the medical realities and becomes a friend to both Will and Louisa, accompanying them to Mauritius.

Appears in:: Part 3: Mauritius, and the Answer She Already Knew

How they are connected

Key relationships

Louisa 'Lou' Clark Will Traynor
Hired to be Will's companion, she falls in love with him and spends six months trying to talk him out of dying — then inherits his money and, finally, a reason to live for herself.
Camilla Traynor Will Traynor
Will's mother, who refused his first plea to die and then promised to take him to Dignitas if he lived six more months — betting she could change his mind.
Camilla Traynor Louisa 'Lou' Clark
She loses the bet, and in the end invites Louisa to Switzerland.
Patrick Louisa 'Lou' Clark
Louisa's boyfriend of seven years, an obsessive runner and personal trainer who dismisses her job as 'not a proper career.
Patrick Will Traynor
' Jealousy over Will ends the relationship, and he tips off the press about the Dignitas plan.
Treena Louisa 'Lou' Clark
Louisa's single-mother sister, studying for a degree, and the first person Louisa tells about the Dignitas pact.
Treena Will Traynor
She researches it online and co-plots the outings meant to save Will.
Nathan Louisa 'Lou' Clark
Will's full-time carer — a cheerful, kind male nurse who handles the medical realities and becomes a friend to both Will and Louisa, accompanying them to Mauritius.
Nathan Will Traynor
Will's full-time carer — a cheerful, kind male nurse who handles the medical realities and becomes a friend to both Will and Louisa, accompanying them to Mauritius.
Steven Traynor Louisa 'Lou' Clark
Will's father, who offers Louisa's father a maintenance job at the castle after the factory closes — part of Will's quiet plan to free Louisa from her family.
Steven Traynor Will Traynor
Will's father, who offers Louisa's father a maintenance job at the castle after the factory closes — part of Will's quiet plan to free Louisa from her family.

Go deeper

Me Before You themes & symbols

Is love enough reason to live? · Class and small lives · Bodily autonomy and the right to die · The masks people wear

Themes explained

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The full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.

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