Content Warning: This section of the guide contains discussions of domestic violence, murder, sexual violence, and alcohol addiction.

Mary Yellan is the protagonist of Jamaica Inn. 23 years old and on her own for the first time after the death of her parents, Mary is used to struggling. Mary follows her mother’s dying wish that Mary lives with her only surviving relative, Aunt Patience, and her husband, Joss Merlyn, at Jamaica Inn. Mary is assertive and adventurous—which lands her in trouble once in her uncle’s hostile world. Mary holds unsentimental beliefs about love and romance, privileging her brain and intellect over her heart, but her character development hinges on the idea that she gradually begins to open her heart to the idea of love throughout the novel. Mary grew up in Helford, a small town in the south of Cornwall, where she was well-known and well-liked. Now, she finds herself a stranger in the hostile north. This fact has an important function throughout the novel: Du Maurier uses Mary’s position as a stranger to craft the exposition of a new setting and new characters.

Immediately upon arriving at the notorious Jamaica Inn, Mary is confronted with the fact that Joss Merlyn has destroyed her aunt.