folklore (2020) / Characters

Characters / folklore (2020)

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Characters featured in Taylor Swift's 2020 album folklore.

Betty

One of the characters in the 'Teenage Love Triangle,' the narrator of "Cardigan" and the subject of "Betty".

Betty and Veronica: Fittingly, she's the Betty in the triangle, as the nicer and more innocent girl in James's (Archie's) life.
Break the Cutie: She is implied to already be struggling with insecurity and baggage only for James to come in, betray her and make it worse.
You drew stars around my scars. But now I'm bleeding.
Parental Abandonment: It's implied her father left her family at some point, with references to James “leaving like a father.”
Wise Beyond Their Years: Her older self notes that teenage Betty was right about how long it would take to get over James and that James would come back to her.

The centre of the 'Teenage Love Triangle', the narrator of "Betty" and the subject of "Cardigan" and "August".

Ambiguous Gender: James's gender is never confirmed in song, although according to Word of God they were intended to be a boy.
Betty and Veronica: James is the centre of the love triangle, the Archie to Betty’s Betty and August’s Veronica.
Hypocrite: James gets angry when Betty dancing with someone else, then spends the summer sleeping with August.

The third character in the triangle, the narrator of "August" and referenced in "Betty" and "Cardigan".

Betty and Veronica: The Veronica to James's Archie, as the more seductive, morally ambiguous figure.
Hopeless Suitor: Realises she's this to James.
Wanting was enough, for me, it was enough - to live for the hope of it all...So much for summer love and saying "us" 'Cause you weren't mine to lose
No Name Given: The only member of trio who isn’t named. Word Of God states she thinks of her as Augusta or Augustine.
Sympathetic Adulterer: Despite being the “mistress” in the dynamic, she’s a sympathetic POV and genuinely fell for James over the summer. It’s also unclear how much she knew about Betty.

Swift’s depiction of Rebekah Harkness in "The Last Great American Dynasty."

Conspicuous Consumption: She fills pools with champagne and throws away her money on "boys, ballet and losing card games."

Interclass Romance: A middle-class woman to her oil-baron husband’s Uptown Boy.
Nouveau Riche: How she’s viewed after marrying into her husband’s dynastic family.
The wedding was charming, if a little gauche. There's only so far new money goes
Socialite: She spends her time partying with friends.
The Scapegoat: She is blamed for her husband’s death, the fall of his family name and generally “ruining everything.”