A Fortunate Man

A self-assured engineering student who leaves rural Jutland for Copenhagen. He embraces modern ideas and free-thinking colleagues, but his pride and impatience drive a rift with his family and eventually contribute to his downfall as the project falters and he faces personal reckoning.

Daughter of a wealthy Jewish banking family, she falls for Peter and defies her social circle by pursuing love and a future with him. Her pregnancy catalyzes conflict with family expectations and leads to a life of charity work after their separation.

A little older, wealthy, and established Jewish man intended to marry Jakobe. His betrothal to Jakobe highlights the clash between tradition and Peter's modern ambitions, and his role serves to illustrate the social pressures of arranged unions.

A wealthy banker who becomes Peter's patron, providing support and introducing him to free-thinking circles. His backing helps Peter pursue his high-stakes engineering plans, reflecting the financing role of the era's elite in innovation.

Senior patriarch of the Salomon family who decides to send Peter to Austria for further study and evaluation, signaling the tension between family authority and the young engineer's wishes. This move also reveals how parental power shapes the course of a generation.

The vicar's daughter who becomes Peter's wife after his estrangements. The relationship brings domestic life and children but also emotional distance, reflecting the tensions between personal longing and social expectations.

Peter's pious, overbearing father figure who anchors the family in Calvinist tradition. His disapproval and moral rigidity influence Peter's sense of guilt and the perceived judgment of his lifestyle. His presence embodies the conflict between faith and personal ambition.

Peter's brother who reveals his father's illness and acts as a conduit for family news. He represents a more pragmatic, worldly side of the Sidenius clan amid the family's upheaval.