As an erotic romance novel, ’Fifty Shades of Grey’ features characters with a keen sexual sense. Its main character, Anastasia, has no life experience leading to a journey of self-discovery, romance, love, and sex as she develops a relationship with Christian Grey.

Anastasia Steele

Ana is the main character of ‘Fifty Shades of Grey.’ As a young, naïve, and shy English major undergrad, her love life is convoluted as she finds herself unable to form a relationship with the guys who have feelings for her. She never meets her father because he dies before she is born.

Everything changes after she agrees to fill in for her sick roommate’s interview. On reaching Grey Enterprises, she comes face to face with billionaire Christian Grey, and her inferiority complex makes her become attached to him. However, her magnetic attraction to Christian begins dragging her down.

After agreeing to go out on a second date with Christian, Ana realizes that he is not only a control freak but a dominant BDSM-obsessed man. She realizes that his character comes from a dark past, but it only makes her more attracted to him. Her life starts tumbling as Christian’s lack of emotional reciprocation weighs heavily on her. In the last bid to get to him emotionally, she agrees to let him go extreme with her. However, after painfully getting whipped by him, she decides to let him go for good.

Christian Grey

Christian Grey is a billionaire and the owner of Grey Enterprises. As a young boy, he witnessed his mother getting abused by her pimp as she was a prostitute. With her pimp injuring and beating him, Christian got scarred many times on his chest. After his mother dies, he gets adopted by Grace Grey, a doctor. He meets Elena Robinson, Grace’s friend, and she introduces him to BDSM. He eventually rises to the top and becomes a billionaire. However, he gets addicted to the sexual lifestyle of BDSM dominance.

Christian’s insatiable want for control arises as he tries to own Ana. He has sex with her without a contract after she tells him of her virginity. When she reveals to him that she wants their relationship to go further, he becomes conflicted as he realizes that he also is gradually falling in love with her. He masks his feelings, and after realizing he will not open up to her, Ana agrees to him going all-out on her. Taking things too far, he whips her with a belt, and finally realizing she will never fit in, Ana leaves him.

Katherine Kavanagh

Kate is Anna’s roommate and friend. She is intelligent, quick-witted, bold, and beautiful, a long shot from Ana’s perceived view of herself. As the editor of the Washington State University newspaper, Kate secures an interview with Christian Grey but asks Ana to take her place due to falling sick. Kate asks about Christian after Ana returns, but Ana hides her ordeal with Christian. When Christian breaks Ana’s heart, Kate takes her to a party with Josei.

Christian tracks Ana down and comes to the party with his brother Elliot after she drunk dials him. Kate meets Elliot, and they instantly fall for each other. She sleeps with him, and they become a couple. On noticing that Ana keeps crying over Christian, she tries to prevent him from seeing her but is unsuccessful. 

Kate graduates as Valedictorian, and her relationship with Elliot grow blissfully. She leaves Ana to go on a vacation to Barbados with her parents.

Josei

Josei is a photographer and Ana’s close friend from school. Though he is in love with her, she does not love him romantically. When Ana meets Christian, he gets jealous because of his feelings for her. 

Josei goes to a party with Ana after her first argument with Christian. At the party, she gets drunk and dials Christian. Josei finds her and tries to kiss her, but she declines, and Christian comes into the scene. Feeling guilty for his actions, Josei apologizes to Ana and remains friends with her.

Paul Clayton

Paul Clayton is Ana’s boss’s son. He always asks Ana out on a date every time he returns from Princeton. When Christian comes to the store to get some things, he meets Paul and instantly becomes cold. She introduces Paul to Christian and later lets him know she is not in a relationship with him.

Carla Adams

Carla is a woman whose inability to commit to a specific goal leads to multiple failed marriages. Her love for her daughter, Ana, makes her constantly advise her to go out into the world. 

When Ana meets Christian, she starts feeling sad because he does not want to show Ana what he feels for her. She eventually meets Christian in Georgia, and they talk before she excuses him and Ana.

Elliot

Elliot is Christian’s brother and Kate’s lover. After Ana gets drunk and calls Christian, he and Elliot head over to the party, where Elliot meets Kate. Ana gets a bit jealous because she envies Kate and Elliot’s relationship. Elliot reveals to Ana that Christian never allows anyone to get close; this makes Ana realize that Christian likes her beyond her body.

Mrs. Elena Robinson

Mrs. Elena is Grace’s friend. She made Christian a submissive when he was only 15, and their relationship persisted for six years. When Christian meets Ana, he gradually opens up to her and lets her in on his past relationship with Mrs. Elena. 

Ana messages Christian and learns of his meeting with Elena; this makes her furious. Christian travels to Georgia, and he and Ana argue as she tells him to cut off from Elena, who she says is a child molester.

Taylor

Taylor is Christian’s driver and bodyguard. Being Christian’s trusted personnel, he helps Ana out with selling her old car. When Ana asks Christian if Taylor is up to the task of selling her car, he lets her know that Taylor is ex-military and has an experience that far exceeds his job as his driver.

Dr. Grace Trevelyan Grey

Grace is Christian’s adopted mother. As a doctor, she meets Christian after his mother gets rushed into the hospital, where she dies. On meeting Ana, she expresses joy as she tells her that Christian barely has anyone with him. When Christian invites Ana to his family dinner, she forms a bond with Grace as she admits she likes her.

Other characters from the novel include Mia Grey, Ray Steele, Dr. Greene, Ethan Kavanagh, and Bob Adams.

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