Firdaus
Firdaus is the protagonist of the story and the primary narrator, based on an actual woman Nawal El Saadawi met in Qanatir Prison. Firdaus is born in rural Egypt to a poor family in the…
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Nawal El Saadawi
Nawal El Saadawi is the author and secondary narrator who recounts the days before she meets Firdaus in prison and her reaction to Firdaus’s story. Saadawi is a psychiatrist, interviewing female inmates to study neurosis…
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Firdaus’s Uncle
Firdaus’s uncle is a religious scholar and later a government official. He teaches Firdaus to read and write, and is her only childhood mentor, but he also sexually abuses her frequently. When Firdaus’s parents…
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Sheikh Mahmoud
Sheikh Mahmoud marries Firdaus when she is 18 and he is over 60. On his face, a large infection dribbles blood and pus, and it sometimes drips on Firdaus when he kisses her face. He…
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Sharifa Salah El Dine
Sharifa gives Firdaus shelter after she runs away from Bayoumi. She is a wealthy woman and lives in a luxurious apartment that overlooks the Nile River. Sharifa teaches Firdaus she must be “hard” to survive…
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Ibrahim
Ibrahim works at Firdaus’s industrial company and leads a “revolutionary” group campaigning for workers’ rights. Firdaus and Ibrahim briefly fall in love and tell each other all about their lives, their pasts, and their…
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Bayoumi
Bayoumi is the owner of a coffee shop, who gives Firdaus shelter after she runs away from Sheikh Mahmoud. For the first several months, Bayoumi is kind and generous to Firdaus and never tries…
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Firdaus’s Mother
Firdaus remembers nothing about her mother except that she loved her, and that her eyes seem to watch over Firdaus when she was a small child. Whenever Firdaus feels love for another person, their eyes…
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The prince
The prince solicits Firdaus right after she murders Marzouk and kills her fear, paying her a massive sum of 3,000 pounds. Midway through sex, Firdaus stops, tears the prince’s money to pieces, and says that…
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Miss Iqbal
Miss Iqbal is one of Firdaus’s secondary school teachers. When Miss Iqbal finds Firdaus crying alone one night, she sits with her. Firdaus thinks Miss Iqbal’s eyes look like her mother’s, as if light…
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Minor Characters
Firdaus’s Father
Firdaus’s father is a poor farmer who pretends to be religiously devout. However, he beats his wife, steals from his neighbors, and neglects his children, demonstrating both his own hypocrisy and the oppressively sexist world into which Firdaus is born.
Marzouk
Marzouk is a powerful and well-connected pimp, who takes control of Firdaus after she returns to prostitution. Marzouk takes the majority of Firdaus’s earnings, so she decides to leave. When Marzouk tries to stop her, she recognizes fear in his eyes and stabs him to death.
Mohammadain
Mohammadain is Firdaus’s childhood friend. Before her mother circumcises her, Mohammadain and Firdaus often sneak away to play “bride and bridegroom,” where they sexually explore each other. Playing this game is how Firdaus has her first and only experience of sexual pleasure uninhibited by genital mutilation.
Firdaus’s Stepmother
After Firdaus’s mother presumably dies, her stepmother takes her place. All Firdaus remembers of her is that she knew she wasn’t her real mother.
Firdaus’s Uncle’s Wife
Firdaus’s Uncle’s wife comes from an upper-class family and hates Firdaus. She encourages her husband to marry Firdaus off to Sheikh Mahmoud.
Fawzy
Fawzy is one of Sharifa’s clients who tries to take Firdaus away from her. When Sharifa resists him, Fawzy rapes Sharifa, and Firdaus escapes while they sleep.
Di’aa
Di’aa is one of Firdaus’s friends while she is an independent prostitute. Di’aa tells Firdaus that, despite Firdaus’s success, she is “not respectable,” which deeply wounds Firdaus and compels her to leave prostitution and find a legal job.
Wafeya
Wafeya is Firdaus’s friend in secondary school, who suggests that Firdaus is in love with Miss Iqbal.
