The poem rests on a handful of figures, and each has their own logic.
Heroine
Narspi
Daughter of the well-off peasant Miheter, beautiful and headstrong. Unwilling to accept someone else's decision about her own fate.
The beloved
Setner
A young man from a poor family, a worker in Miheter's household. His feelings for Narspi are mutual, but poverty makes him unsuitable in her father's eyes.
The unwanted husband
Tăhtaman
The wealthy, elderly groom to whom Miheter marries off Narspi. A symbol of a marriage of calculation.
Narspi's father
Miheter
A well-off peasant who decides his daughter's marriage based on the groom's wealth rather than her feelings.