Adam Bede is the eponymous main character of George Eliot's novel Adam Bede (1859).
Adam is an upright and moral carpenter who lives in the fictional community of Hayslope — a rural, pastoral and close-knit community in 1799. He is Seth Bede's older brother and is the son of Thias and Lisbeth Bede. He has a dog called "Gyp", and works for Mr Jonathan Burge. He also takes evening classes with Bartle Massey.
He is a friend of the Captain, Arthur Donnithorne, who makes him steward of his estate. Adam is in love with Hetty Sorrel, a shallow, vain and selfish woman, who is nonetheless very pretty. Martin Poyser, Hetty's uncle, being very fond of Adam Bede, hopes that the two might marry.
When Adam interrupts a tryst between Hetty Sorrel and Capt. Donnithorne, the two of them end up fighting. After the Captain leaves, Hetty discovers she is pregnant. She agrees to marry Adam but shortly before their marriage, Hetty has second thoughts and leaves in search of Arthur.
Mary Burge, the daughter of Adam's boss, Jonathan, is also in love with Adam, and some hope the two will marry to cement a business relationship. But this does not come to pass.
Ultimately, Adam and Dinah Morris, a Methodist preacher related by marriage to Hetty, marry and live peacefully with his family.