The main character of the story is Trysdale. Through  he is described  through his own meditation in a very ironic way (“The scene was the night when he had asked her to come up on his pedestal with him and share his greatness”). The main thing that leads Trysdale’s fate become so bad is his habit of paraphrasing some Castillian proverbs from dictionaries. Perhaps knowing a little means that you know anything and it will make you looked more educated, that is what Trysdale trying to do. Unfortunately,  he targeted wrong person, Carruthers. He who admires Trysdale’s fake knowledge and shows it off to a woman that brings Trysdale’s bad luck in the end. Even Trysdale himself cries over spilt milk of this unexpected luck (“Now, Carruthers was an idiot.” and “Carruthers, who was one of his incontinent admirers, was the very man to have magnified this exhibition of doubtful erudition”). However, he cannot confess it after the woman makes a judgment about him. He wants to build a prestige of his own image in the woman’s eyes, another Trysdale’s foolish act to go to his end of the story. Trysdale is depicted mostly throught indirect characterization: “As she had slowly moved up the aisle toward the altar he had felt an unworthy, sullen exultation that had served to support him. He had told himself that her paleness was from thoughts of another than the man to whom she was about to give herself.” These words present the main character as  narcissistic person which overestimate himself.

     Her image is created through both direct and indirect characterization.

     Indirect: “She had always insisted upon placing him upon a pedestal, and he had accepted her homage with royal grandeur”.  These words prove that she admired  Trysdale.. 

     Direct: “How glad, how shy, how tremulous she was!”, “her convincing beauty that night — the careless wave of her hair, the tenderness and virginal charm of her looks and words”.