List of Shakespearean characters (A–K): Difference between revisions

This is an index of characters appearing in the plays of William Shakespeare.

NOTE: Characters who exist outside Shakespeare are marked "(hist)" where they are historical, and "(myth)" where they are mythical. Where that annotation is a link (e.g. (hist)), it is a link to the page for the historical or mythical figure. The annotation "(fict)" is only used in entries for the English history plays, and indicates a character who is fictional, not historical.

Contents: A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y | Sources | Links

A

Statue of William Shakespeare, who, according to tradition, played Adam in his own play As You Like It.

• Aaron is an evil moorish character in Titus Andronicus. He incites most of the other evil characters.

• The Abbott of Westminster (fict) supports Richard and the Bishop of Carlisle in Richard II.
• Abhorson is an executioner in Measure for Measure.
• Abraham Slender is a foolish suitor to Anne, and a kinsman of Shallow, in The Merry Wives of Windsor.
• Abram, a Montague servant, fights Sampson and Gregory in the first scene of Romeo and Juliet.
• Achilles (myth) is portrayed as a former hero, who has become lazy and devoted to the love of Patroclus, in Troilus and Cressida.
• Adam is a kindly old servant, rumoured to have been played by Shakespeare himself, in As You Like It.
• Adrian:
  • Adrian is a lord, a follower of Alonso, in The Tempest.
  • For Adrian in Coriolanus, see Volsce.
• Adriana is the frequently angry wife of Antipholus of Ephesus in The Comedy of Errors.
• Don Adriano de Armado is an arrogant Spanish braggart in Love's Labour's Lost.
• Aediles (officers attending on the Tribunes) appear in Coriolanus. One is a speaking role.
• For Aegeon (or AEgeon or Ægeon) see Egeon.
• For Aenobarbus (or AEnobarbus or Ænobarbus) see Enobarbus.
• Aemelia is an abbess in The Comedy of Errors. She proves to be the long-lost wife of Egeon, and the long-lost mother of the Antipholus twins.
• Aemilius:
  • Aemilius is Roman nobleman who acts as ambassador between Saturninus and Lucius in Titus Andronicus.
  • Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (hist) is one of the Triumvers - the three rulers of Rome after Caesar's death, in Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra.
• Aeneas (myth) is a Trojan leader in Troilus and Cressida.
• Agamemnon (myth) is the general leader of the Greek forces, in Troilus and Cressida.
• Sir Andrew Aguecheek is a foolish knight, and suitor to Olivia, in Twelfth Night.
• Agrippa:
  • Agrippa (hist), a follower of Caesar in Antony and Cleopatra, proposes that the widowed Antony should marry Octavia.
  • Menenius Agrippa is a friend and supporter of Coriolanus in his political struggles.
• Ajax (myth) is the (sometimes foolish) champion of the Greeks in Troilus and Cressida.
• Alarbus is the eldest son of Tamora, sacrificed by Titus' sons, in Titus Andronicus.
• The Mayor of St. Albans appears briefly in the "Simpcox" episode in Henry VI, Part 2.
• The Duke of Albany is Gonerill's husband in King Lear.
• Alcibiades (hist) is a solider who turns renegade when one of his junior officers is sentenced to death, and true friend of Timon of Athens.
• The Duke of Alençon (hist) is one of the French leaders in Henry VI, Part 1.
• Alexander:
  • Alexander is Cressida's servant in Troilus and Cressida.
  • Alexander Court (fict) is a soldier in Henry V's army.
  • Alexander Iden (hist) kills Jack Cade in Henry VI, Part 2.
• Alexas is a follower of Cleopatra, in Antony and Cleopatra.
• Alice:
  • Alice (fict) gives the French princess Katharine an English lesson in Henry V.
  • See also Mistress Ford, whose first name is Alice.
• For Aliena see Celia from As You Like It, who calls herself Aliena while in her self-imposed exile in the Forest of Arden.
• Alonso is the King of Naples, an enemy to Prospero, in The Tempest. He mourns for his son, Ferdinand, who he believes is drowned.
• Ambassador:
  • Some ambassadors from France present Henry V with a gift of tennis balls, from the Dauphin.
  • Some ambassadors from England bring news that Rozancrantz and Guildenstern are dead, in Hamlet.
  • Several characters act as Ambassadors, including Cornelius (in Hamlet), Lucius (in Cymbeline), Montjoy and Voltemand.
  • See also Schoolmaster, in Antony and Cleopatra.
• Amiens is a follower of Duke Senior in As You Like It.
• For Ancient (in the military sense - a standard-bearer), see Iago and Pistol.
• Sir Andrew Aguecheek is a foolish knight, and suitor to Olivia, in Twelfth Night.
• Andromache (myth) is Hector's wife in Troilus and Cressida.
• Andronicus:
  • Marcus Andronicus is the brother of Titus Andronicus.
  • Titus Andronicus is the central character of Titus Andronicus. Broken and sent mad by Tamora and her followers, he eventually exacts his revenge by killing her sons, and cooking them for her to eat.
  • See also Lavinia, Lucius, Quintus, Martius, Mutius and Young Lucius, members of the Andronicus family in Titus Andronicus. Also Sempronius, Caius and Valentine in the same play are "kinsmen" of the Andronicus house.
• Angelo:
  • Angelo deputises for the Duke during the latter's absence from Vienna, but proves corrupt, seeking the sexual favours of Isabella, in Measure for Measure.
  • Angelo is a goldsmith who has been commissioned to make a chain by Antipholus of Ephesus, which he delivers to Antipholus of Syracuse in error. Antipholus of Ephesus later refuses to pay for it, causing much consternation, in The Comedy of Errors.
• Angus is a thane in Macbeth.
• Anne:
  • Anne Page is the daughter of Master and Mistress Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor. She loves Fenton, but her father wishes her to marry Slender and her mother wishes her to marry Caius.
  • Lady Anne (hist) is the widow of Prince Edward, wooed by Richard over the corpse of her late father-in-law (Henry VI) in Richard III.
• Antenor is a Trojan leader in Troilus and Cressida.
• For Anthony see Antony/Anthony below.
• Antigonus is a courtier of Leontes in The Winter's Tale, who takes the infant Perdita to Bohemia. He famously exits, pursued by a bear, which eats him.
• Antiochus, king of Antioch, is engaged in an incestuous relationship with his daughter. He orders the death of Pericles, who has discovered his secret.
• Antipholus:
  • Antipholus of Ephesus, twin of Antipholus of Syracuse - with whom he is often confused, is a central character in The Comedy of Errors.
  • Antipholus of Syracuse, twin of Antipholus of Ephesus - with whom he is often confused, is a central character in The Comedy of Errors.
• Antonio:
  • Antonio is the title character, although not the central character, of The Merchant of Venice. Shylock claims a pound of his flesh.
  • Antonio is the brother of Leonato in Much Ado About Nothing.
  • Antonio is a sea captain who rescues, and loves, Sebastian in Twelfth Night.
  • Antonio is the brother of Prospero in The Tempest. He conspires with Sebastian to murder Alonzo and Gonzalo.
  • Antonio is Proteus' father, in The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
• Antony/Anthony:
  • For Anthony in Romeo and Juliet see Servingmen.
  • Mark Antony (hist) (Often just Antony, and sometimes Marcus Antonius) turns the mob against Caesar's killers and becomes a Triumver in Julius Caesar. His romance with Cleopatra drives the action of Antony and Cleopatra.
• Apemantus, a churlish philosopher who exerts his influence upon Timon of Athens.
• Three Apparitions appear to Macbeth, with prophecies.
• Apothecary is a small but vital role in Romeo and Juliet. He sells Romeo the poison which ends his life.
• For Aragon, see Arragon/Aragon, below.
• For Arcas, see Countryman.
• Archbishop:
  • Archbishop of Canterbury:
    • The Archbishop of Canterbury (hist) is an important character in the first act of Henry V. He expounds Henry's claim to the French throne.
    • See also Cardinal Bourchier, who was Archbishop of Canterbury at the time dramatised in Richard III.
  • Archbishop of York:
    • The Archbishop of York (1) (hist) is one of the rebel leaders in Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2.
    • The Archbishop of York (2) (hist) assists Queen Elizabeth and the little Duke of York to obtain sanctuary in Richard III.
• For Archibald, see Earl of Douglas.
• Archidamus is a Bohemian lord in The Winter's Tale.
• Arcite and Palamon are the title characters of The Two Noble Kinsmen. Their friendship endures even though they engage in a mortal quarrel for the love of Emilia.
• Arragon/Aragon:
  • The Prince of Arragon is an unsuccessful suitor to Portia in The Merchant of Venice.
  • Queen Katherine of Aragon (hist) is the first wife of Henry VIII.
  • See also Don Pedro, who is a prince of Arragon.
• Ariel is a spirit, controlled (but eventually freed) by Prospero in The Tempest.
• Artemidorus prepares a scroll warning Julius Caesar of danger, and tries to present it to Caesar in the form of a petition. Caesar refuses to accept it.
• Arthur (hist) is a child, the nephew of King John. He persudes Hubert not to put out his eyes, but dies in an attempt to escape captivity.
• Don Adriano de Armado is an arrogant Spanish braggart in Love's Labour's Lost.
• Arviragus (also known as Cadwal) is the second son of Cymbeline, stolen away in infancy by Morgan, and brought up as Morgan's child.
• For Astringer, meaning a keeper of hawks, see Gentleman in All's Well That Ends Well, who is described as the "Astringer to the King" in his entry stage direction.
• An Old Athenian objects to his daughter's involvement with Lucilius, until Timon of Athens offers to endow Lucilius with money to make him her equal.
• An attendant on the King of France speaks four words, "I shall, my liege", in All's Well That Ends Well.
• Audrey is a "foul slut" loved by Touchstone in As You Like It.
• Tullus Aufidius, leader of the Volscians, is the arch-enemy, and briefly the ally, of Coriolanus.
• Aumerle (hist) is a companion of Richard in Richard II.
• For Duke of Austria see Limoges.
• Autolycus is a rogue, singer, and snapper up of unconsidered trifles in The Winter's Tale.

B

The Ghost of Banquo by Théodore Chassériau.

• Bagot (hist) is a favourite of Richard in Richard II.
• Balthasar:
  • Balthasar is Romeo's servant in Romeo and Juliet.
  • Balthasar is a singer, attending on Don Pedro in Much Ado About Nothing.
  • Balthasar is a merchant in The Comedy of Errors.
  • Balthasar is a servant of Portia in The Merchant of Venice.
  • See also Portia in The Merchant of Venice, who takes the name Balthasar in her disguise as a lawyer from Rome.
• Three Bandits seek Timon of Athens' gold, but he persuades them to give up villainy.
• Banquo is a captain who, with Macbeth, meets the three witches and hears their prophecies. He is later murdered on Macbeth's orders, but his ghost haunts Macbeth at a feast.
• Baptista Minola is the father of Katherine and Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew.
• For Barbary, see Countrywomen.
• Bardolph:
  • Bardolph (fict) is a follower of Sir John Falstaff in Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2. In The Merry Wives of Windsor he becomes a drawer for the Host of the Garter. He is hanged for stealing a pax in Henry V.
  • Lord Bardolph (hist) is a nobleman, one of the Percy faction, in Henry IV, Part 2.
• Barnardine is too drunk to consent to be executed, in Measure for Measure.
• Barnardo and Marcellus are soldiers who invite Horatio to see the ghost of Old Hamlet, in Hamlet.
• For Bartholomew, or Barthol'mew, see the Page in the induction to The Taming of the Shrew.
• Bassanio, loved by Antonio, is the suitor who wins the heart of Portia in The Merchant of Venice.
• Basset (fict) is a follower of the Duke of Somerset, in Henry VI, Part 1.
• Bassianus is the younger brother of Saturninus, and is betrothed to Lavinia, in Titus Andronicus. Chiron and Demetrius murder him, laying the blame on Martius and Quintus.
• Bastard:
  • The Bastard of Orleans (hist) is one of the French leaders in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • Philip (the Bastard) Faulconbridge is a central character in King John, the bravest and most articulate of John's supporters.
  • Several characters are bastards, most notably Don John and Edmund.
• John Bates (fict) is a soldier in Henry V's army.
• A Bavian (a baboon) is played by one of the Maying entertainers in The Two Noble Kinsmen.
• A Bawd and a Pander run the brothel into which Marina is sold, in Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
• Beadle:
  • A Beadle arrests Doll Tearsheet in Henry IV, Part 2.
  • A Beadle whips Simpcox in Henry VI, Part 2.
• For Beaufort see Bishop of Winchester.
• Beatrice is a central character in Much Ado About Nothing. She falls in love with Benedick.
• For Bedford see Prince John of Lancaster, who was the Duke of Bedford.
• Belarius (also known as Morgan) steals the two infant sons of Cymbeline, and raises them as his own.
• Sir Toby Belch is a drunken knight, and kinsman to Olivia, in Twelfth Night.
• Benedick is a central witty character in Much Ado About Nothing. He falls in love with Beatrice.
• Benvolio is a friend and kinsman of Romeo in Romeo and Juliet.
• Berkeley:
  • Berkeley and Tressell (fict) are the two gentlemen accompanying Lady Anne, and Henry VI's coffin, in Richard III.
  • Lord Berkeley (hist) acts as messenger from York to Bolingbroke, in Richard II.
  • Lord Bigot, together with Salisbury and Pembroke, fears for the life of young Arthur, and later discovers his body, in King John.
• Berowne is a witty lord of Navarre in Love's Labour's Lost. He breaks his oath by falling in love with Rosaline.
• The Duke of Berry (hist) is a French leader in Henry V.
• Bertram is the Count of Roussillon in All's Well That Ends Well. He is married, against his will, to Helena.
• Bianca:
  • Bianca is the younger sister of Katherine in The Taming of the Shrew. She is loved by Gremio and Hortensio, and eventually marries Lucentio.
  • Bianca is Michael Cassio's mistress in Othello.
• Lord Bigot, together with Salisbury and Pembroke, fear for the life of young Arthur, and later discover his body, in King John.
• Biondello is a servant to Lucentio in The Taming of the Shrew.
• Bishop (title):
  • The Bishop of Carlisle (hist) supports Richard in Richard II.
  • Bishop of Ely:
    • The Bishop of Ely (1) (hist) conspires with the Archbishop of Canterbury in the opening scene of Henry V.
    • The Bishop of Ely (2) (hist) ultimately shows his opposition to Richard, in Richard III.
  • The Bishop of Winchester (hist) (later "the Cardinal") is the chief enemy of Humphrey Duke of Gloucester in Henry VI, Part 1 and Henry VI, Part 2.
• Blanche (hist) is King John's niece, married (by arrangement among the kings, to seal an alliance) to the Dauphin.
• Blunt:
  • Sir James Blunt is a supporter of Richmond in Richard III.
  • Sir John Blunt is a supporter of the king in Henry IV, Part 2.
  • Sir Walter Blunt is a soldier and messenger to the king in Henry IV, Part 1. He is killed by Douglas while wearing the king's armour.
• The Boatswain is a character in the first and last acts of The Tempest.
• Bolingbroke:
  • Bolingbroke, later King Henry IV (hist) leads a revolt against King Richard in Richard II. He is the title character of Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2 which chart the rebellions against him by the Percy faction, and his difficult relationship with his eldest son, Hal.
  • Bolingbroke, with Southwell, Jourdain and Hume, are the supernatural conspitators with Eleanor Duchess of Gloucester in Henry VI, Part 2.
• Borachio is a villain, a servant of Don John, in Much Ado About Nothing.
• Nick Bottom is a weaver, one of the mechanicals, in A Midsummer Night's Dream. While rehearsing a play, Puck changes Bottom's head for an ass's head. Titania falls in love with him. He plays Pyramus in Pyramus and Thisbe.
• Boult is a servant of the Pander and the Bawd in Pericles, Prince of Tyre. He resolves to rape Marina, but is persuaded to help her to leave the brothel, instead.
• The Duke of Bourbon (hist) fights on the French side in Henry V.
• Cardinal Bourchier (hist) delivers the little Duke of York from sanctuary, and into the hands of Richard and Buckingham, in Richard III.
• Boy:
  • Boy (hist) in Richard III is the young son of the murdered Clarence (described in one speech as little Ned Plantagenet).
  • Boy is young Martius, son of Caius Martius Coriolanus, in Coriolanus.
  • The Boy (fict) is a follower of Sir John Falstaff in Henry IV, Part 2 and The Merry Wives of Windsor (in which he is called Robin). He is also a character in Henry V, who goes to war with Pistol, Bardolph and Nym.
  • A boy sings the wedding song which opens The Two Noble Kinsmen.
  • A boy is a servant of Troilus, in Troilus and Cressida.
  • A boy attends on Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing.
  • A boy sings a song to Mariana, in Measure for Measure.
  • A boy sings "Come, thou monarch of the vine...", in Antony and Cleopatra.
  • The Master Gunner's Boy kills Salisbury, in Henry VI, Part 1.
• Boyet, a French lord, is the Princess of France's personal assistant, in Love's Labour's Lost.
• Brabantio is the father of Desdemona, who objects to her marriage to Othello.
• Brackenbury (hist) is the Lieutenant of the Tower of London in Richard III.
• The Duke of Britain (hist) is a French leader in Henry V.
• For Master Brook see Master Ford, who calls himself Master Brook when he disguises himself to encounter Falstaff.
• Brother(s):
  • The Jailer's Brother accompanies his niece, in her madness, in The Two Noble Kinsmen.
  • See Leonatus
  • See Stafford's Brother.
• Brutus:
  • Decius Brutus (hist) is one of the conspirators against Caesar in Julius Caesar.
  • Junius Brutus and Sicinius Velutus, two of the tribunes of the people, are Coriolanus' chief political enemies, and prove more effective than his military foes.
  • Marcus Brutus (hist) (usually just Brutus) is a central character of Julius Caesar, who conspires against Caesar's life and stabs him.
• Buckingham:
  • The Duke of Buckingham (1) (hist) is a Lancastrian in Henry VI, Part 2. His death is reported in Henry VI, Part 3.
  • The Duke of Buckingham (2) (hist) is a Yorkist in Henry VI, Part 3, and is a co-conspirator with Richard - although he is eventually rejected, then murdered on Richard's orders - in Richard III.
• Bullcalf is nearly pressed into military service by Falstaff in Henry IV, Part 2.
• Burgundy:
  • The Duke of Burgundy (1) (hist) brokers the peace treaty between the kings of France and England in the last act of Henry V.
  • The Duke of Burgundy (2) (hist) fights firstly in alliance with the English, and later in alliance with the French, in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • The Duke of Burgundy (3) refuses to marry Cordelia without a dowry, in King Lear.
• Bushy (hist) is a favourite of Richard in Richard II.
• Dick the Butcher (fict) is a follower of Jack Cade in Henry VI, Part 2.

C

The Death of Cleopatra by Reginald Arthur

• Jack Cade (hist) leads a proletarian rebellion in Henry VI, Part 2.
• Cadwal (real name Arviragus) is the second son of Cymbeline, stolen away in infancy by Morgan, and brought up as Morgan's child.
• Caesar:
  • Julius Caesar (hist) is the title character of Julius Caesar, an Emperor of Rome who is stabbed in the Capitol, on the Ides of March.
  • Octavius Caesar (hist) is one of the Triumvers - the three rulers of Rome after Caesar's death, in Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra.
• Caius:
  • Caius, Sempronius and Valentine are minor characters, kinsmen and supporters of Titus, in Titus Andronicus.
  • Caius Cassius (hist) is a central character in Julius Caesar. He incites the conspiracy against Caesar, and recruits Brutus to the conspirators' ranks.
  • Caius Ligarius (hist) is one of the conspirators against Caesar in Julius Caesar.
  • Caius Lucius is the Roman ambassador to Cymbeline, and the leader of the Roman forces.
  • Caius Martius Coriolanus (hist) is the central character of Coriolanus, who earns the tile "Coriolanus" in recognition of his skill at smiting Volscians in Coriolai.
  • Doctor Caius (hist-ish) is a French doctor in The Merry Wives of Windsor. He challenges Parson Hugh to a duel.
  • See also the Earl of Kent, who calls himself Caius in his disguise as a servant of King Lear.
• Calchas, Cressida's father, has defected to the Greeks, and negotiates his daughter's exchange for a Trojan prisoner in Troilus and Cressida.
• Caliban, son of a devil and a witch, is a deformed slave to Prospero in The Tempest.
• Calphurnia (hist) is the wife of Caesar, whose dream predicts her husband's death, in Julius Caesar.
• For Cambio see Lucentio, who calls himself Cambio in his disguise as a schoolmaster.
• The Earl of Cambridge (hist) is one of the three conspirators against the king's life (with Scroop and Grey) in Henry V.
• Camillo is a follower of Leontes, ordered to kill Polixines, but who instead warns Polixines of his danger and becomes his companion, in The Winter's Tale.
• Canidius (hist) is a follower of Antony in Antony and Cleopatra.
• Canterbury:
  • The Archbishop of Canterbury (hist) is an important character in the first act of Henry V. He expounds Henry's claim to the French throne.
  • See also Cardinal Bourchier, who was Archbishop of Canterbury at the time dramatised in Richard III.
• Caphis is the servant of a Senator in Timon of Athens, sent to collect a debt due from Timon.
• For Capilet see the Widow in All's Well That Ends Well, whose surname is Capilet.
• Capulet:
  • Capulet is Juliet's father in Romeo and Juliet.
  • Lady Capulet is Juliet's mother in Romeo and Juliet.
  • Old Capulet is a minor character - a kinsman of Capulet - in the party scene of Romeo and Juliet.
  • See also Juliet and Tybalt.
• Captain:
  • A Captain survives the shipwreck at the start of Twelfth Night with Viola, and helps her with her disguise.
  • A Captain of the Welsh army brings Richard the bad news that his army, believing him dead, has deserted him, in Richard II.
  • A Captain brings Duncan news of Macbeth and Banquo's victories, in the first act of Macbeth.
  • A Captain attending on Edgar delivers Lear and Cordelia to be hanged in King Lear.
  • A Captain of the Norwegian army meets Hamlet, and explains Fortinbras' mission against the Poles.
  • A Captain in Antony's army is a minor speaking role in Antony and Cleopatra.
  • An English Captain witnesses the retreat of the cowardly Fastolfe, in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • An English Captain accompanies Lucy on his mission to obtain assistance from the English Lords, in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • A French Captain on the walls of Bordeaux defies Talbot, in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • A Roman Captain in Cymbeline attends on Lucius.
  • Two British Captains in Cymbeline arrest Posthumus, thinking him an enemy.
  • Several characters hold (or purport to hold) the rank of captain, including Fluellen, Gower, Jamy, Macmorris and Pistol.
  • Several characters are sea captains, including Antonio in Twelfth Night. See also Master.
• Cardinal:
  • Cardinal Bourchier (hist) delivers the little Duke of York from sanctuary, and into the hands of Richard and Buckingham, in Richard III.
  • Cardinal Pandulph is the Papal legate in King John. He incites the Dauphin against John, but later tries to placate him.
  • See also the Bishop of Winchester, who becomes a Cardinal in the course of Henry VI, Part 1.
• The Bishop of Carlisle (hist) supports Richard in Richard II.
• A carpenter and a cobbler are among the crowd of commoners gathered to welcome Caesar home enthusiastically in the opening scene of Julius Caesar.
• Casca (hist) is one of the conspirators against Caesar, in Julius Caesar. He has an important role in the early parts of the play, reporting offstage events.
• Cassandra (myth) is a prophetess in Troilus and Cressida.
• Michael Cassio is a lieutenant in Othello. Iago persuades Othello that Cassio is having an affair with Othello's wife, Desdemona.
• Caius Cassius (hist) is a central character in Julius Caesar. He incites the conspiracy against Caesar, and recruits Brutus to the conspirators' ranks.
• Catesby (hist) is a double agent - seemingly loyal to Lord Hastings but actually reporting to Buckingham and Richard - in Richard III.
• For Catherine see Katherine.
• Cathness is a thane in Macbeth.
• Simon Catling, Hugh Rebeck and James Soundpost are minor characters, musicians, in Romeo and Juliet.
• Young Cato is a soldier of Brutus' and Cassius' party, in Julius Caesar.
• Celia is Rosalind's companion and cousin, and is daughter to Duke Frederick in As You Like It.
• Ceres (myth) is presented by a masquer in The Tempest.
• Cerimon is a lord of Ephesus in Pericles, Prince of Tyre. He opens the chest in which Thaisa had been buried at sea and, being skilled in medicine, he realises that she is not dead and nurses her back to health.
• For Cesario see Viola, who calls herself Cesario in her male disguise, and her brother Sebastian who is sometimes called Cesario, being mistaken for his sister.
• Charles:
  • Charles is a wrestler, defeated by Orlando, in As You Like It.
  • The Dauphin, later King Charles VII of France (hist) leads the French forces, with Joan, in Henry VI, Part 1.
• Charmian is the main attendant to Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra and dies by snakebite.
• Emmanuel the Clerk of Chatham (fict) is murdured by Jack Cade's rebels in Henry VI, Part 2.
• Chatillion is an ambassador from France to King John.
• The Lord Chief Justice (hist) is a dramatic foil to Falstaff in Henry IV, Part 2.
• Chiron and Demetrius, are two sons of Tamora in Titus Andronicus. They rape and mutilate Lavinia, and are eventually killed and cooked by Titus, who serves them to Tamora to eat.
• Chorus:
  • The Chorus speaks the opening sonnet in Romeo and Juliet, and a further sonnet at the beginning of the second act.
  • The Chorus (fict) is the second most major character, after the king himself, in Henry V. He speaks a lengthy prologue to each of the five acts, and an epilogue.
  • See also John Gower, Rosalind, Rumour and Time, each of whom act as a chorus in their play.
  • See also Prologue.
• Christopher:
  • Christopher Sly is a drunken tinker in the induction to The Taming of the Shrew. He is gulled into believing he is a lord.
  • Christopher Urswick (hist) is a minor character: a priest acting as messenger for Lord Stanley, in Richard III.
• Cicero, a senator, hears Casca's account of strange portents, in Julius Caesar.
• Metellus Cimber (hist) is one of the conspirators in Julius Caesar.
• Cinna:
  • Cinna (hist) is one of the conspirators against Caesar in Julius Caesar.
  • Cinna is a poet, mistaken for the conspirator Cinna in Julius Caesar. Realising they have the wrong man, the mob "kill him for his bad verses".
• Citizen:
  • A citizen of Antium briefly meets the disguised Coriolanus, and directs him to Aufidius' house.
  • A mob of citizens, seven of them speaking roles, appear both in opposition and in support of Coriolanus in several scenes of the play. Speaking as one, the mob's speech prefix is Plebeians.
  • Three citizens debate the succession of Edward V, in Richard III.
  • See also Plebeians.
• Clarence:
  • George, Duke of Clarence (hist) is the younger brother of Edward and the elder brother of Richard in Henry VI, part 3 and Richard III. He is often known as "perjured Clarence", having broken his oath to Warwick and fighting instead for his brother's faction. He is eventually drowned in a butt of malmesy wine.
  • Thomas, Duke of Clarence (hist) is Hal's younger brother, who appears in Henry IV, Part 2 and Henry V.
• Claudio:
  • Claudio is a friend to Benedick and a follower of Don Pedro, in Much Ado About Nothing. He falls in love with Hero but is persuaded, wrongly, that she has been unfaithful.
  • Claudio, brother to Isabella, is sentenced to death for fornication in Measure for Measure.
• Claudius:
  • Claudius and Varro are guards in Brutus' tent, in Julius Caesar. They do not see Caesar's ghost.
  • King Claudius is the uncle and stepfather of Hamlet. He has murdered his brother Old Hamlet, has taken over his crown, and has married his queen, Gertrude.
• Cleomines is a courtier to Leontes, who, with Dion delivers the oracle from Delphos in The Winter's Tale.
• Cleon is governor of Tarsus in Pericles, Prince of Tyre. Pericles brings food to save Cleon's starving people, and later trusts his new-born daughter into Cleon's care.
• Cleopatra (hist) is the lover of Antony in Antony and Cleopatra. She commits suicide using a poisonous asp.
• Emmanuel the Clerk of Chatham (fict) is murdured by Jack Cade's rebels in Henry VI, Part 2.
• Clifford:
  • Clifford (sometimes called Young Clifford) (hist) is a staunch Lancastrian, and is the Yorkists most hated enemy — as the killer of Rutland — in Henry VI, Part 2 and Henry VI, Part 3.
  • Old Clifford (hist), father of Clifford, is a Lancastrian leader in Henry VI, Part 2.
• Clitus is a soldier, a follower of Brutus, in Julius Caesar. He refuses to aid Brutus' suicide.
• Cloten, son of the Queen and stepson to Cymbeline, vainly loves Imogen, and eventually resolves to rape her.
• Clown:
  • The Clown is the good-natured son of the Old Shepherd, gulled by Autolycus, in The Winter's Tale.
  • The Clown appears briefly to make fun of the musicians, and later to banter with Desdemona, in Othello.
  • The Clown delivers some pigeons, and letters from Titus Andronicus, to Saturninus. He is hanged for his pains.
  • The Clown delivers a poisonous asp to Cleopatra in a basket of figs, in Antony and Cleopatra.
  • For the two clowns in Hamlet see "Gravedigger".
  • For "Clown" in All's Well That Ends Well, see Lavatch.
  • See also Touchstone, who is simply called "Clown" until he reaches the Forest of Arden.
  • Numerous characters are clowns, or are comic characters originally played by the clowns in Shakespeare's company.
  • See also Fool.
• A cobbler and a carpenter are among the crowd of commoners gathered to welcome Caesar home enthusiastically in the opening scene of Julius Caesar.
• Cobweb is a fairy in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
• Sir John Coleville is a rebel captured by Falstaff in Henry IV, Part 2.
• Cominius and Titus Lartius are leaders of the Roman forces against the Volscians, alongside Coriolanus.
• Conrade is a villain, a servant of Don John, in Much Ado About Nothing.
• "Three or four" Conspirators, three of them speaking roles, conspire with Aufidius to murder Coriolanus.
• The Constable of France (hist) leads the French forces in Henry V.
• Constance (hist) is Arthur's mother in King John: a fierce advocate for her son's right to the English throne.
• Cordelia (myth) is the goodly youngest daughter of King Lear. She marries the King of France. At the end of the play she is hanged on Edmund's instructions.
• Corin is a kindly shepherd in As You Like It.
• Caius Martius Coriolanus (hist) is the central character of Coriolanus, who earns the tile "Coriolanus" in recognition of his skill at smiting Volscians in Coriolai.
• Cornelius:
  • Cornelius and Voltemand are two ambassadors from Claudius to the Norwegian court, in Hamlet.
  • Cornelius, a doctor in Cymbeline, provides a fake poison to the Queen, which is later used on Imogen. He also reports the Queen's last words.
• The Duke of Cornwall is Regan's husband, who puts out Gloucester's eyes, in King Lear.
• For Corporal, see Bardolph and Nym, who hold that rank.
• Costard is a clown and country bumkin from Love's Labour's Lost.
• Count (title):
  • A number of characters have the title Count, including Claudio (from Much Ado About Nothing) and Paris.
• Countess (title):
  • The Countess of Auvergne tries to entrap Talbot in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • The Countess of Rousillon is Bertram's mother, and Helena's protector, in All's Well That Ends Well.
  • See also Olivia.
• A number of countrymen, together with Gerald, provide Maying entertainment in The Two Noble Kinsmen. Four of them are speaking roles. Three of them are called Arcas, Rycas and Sennois. They may, or may not, include Timothy and the Bavian.
• Five countrywomen (called Barbary, Friz, Luce, Maudlin and Nell) dance at the Maying entertainment in The Two Noble Kinsmen.
• Alexander Court (fict) is a soldier in Henry V's army.
• Courtesan:
  • A courtesan dines with Antipholus of Ephesus, who finds himself locked out of his own home, in The Comedy of Errors.
  • Several characters are courtesans, or are accused of being courtesans, most notably Cressida from Troilus and Cressida.
• Crab is Launce's dog, in The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
• Cressida is one of the titular characters in Troilus and Cressida. The Trojan prince Troilus falls in love with this young daughter of a Trojan defector.
• Cupid (myth) reads the prologue to a masque in Timon of Athens.
• Curan is minor character, a follower of the Earl of Gloucester, in King Lear.
• Curio is an attendant on Orsino in Twelfth Night.
• Curtis is a servant of Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew.
• Cymbeline (hist), the title character of Cymbeline, is king of the Britons, and father to Imogen, Guiderus and Arviragus.

D

Desdemona by Frederic Leighton

• Dardanius is a soldier, a follower of Brutus, in Julius Caesar. He refuses to aid Brutus' suicide.
• Daughter:
  • The Daughter of Antiochus is a famed beauty, engaged in a secret incestuous relationship with her father, in Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
  • The Jailer's Daughter develops an obsessive love for Palamon, and releases him from prison, in The Two Noble Kinsmen. She descends into madness.
• Dauphin (sometimes Dolphin in older texts):
  • The Dauphin (hist) is Henry V's chief enemy.
  • The Dauphin, later King Charles VII of France (hist) leads the French forces, with Joan, in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • See also Lewis.
• Davy (fict) is justice Shallow's servant in Henry IV, Part 2.
• DeBoys:
  • Jaques DeBoys is a brother to Oliver and Orlando in As You Like It.
  • See also Oliver and Orlando from As You Like It, whose surname is also DeBoys.
• Decius Brutus (hist) is one of the conspirators against Caesar in Julius Caesar.
• For Decretas, see Dercetus.
• Deiphobus (myth), a brother of Hector and Troilus, is a minor character (with the one line "It is the Lord Aeneas.") in Troilus and Cressida.
• Demetrius:
  • Demetrius is in love with Hermia at the start of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Later, he loves and marries Helena.
  • Demetrius and Chiron, are two sons of Tamora in Titus Andronicus. They rape and mutilate Lavinia, and are eventually killed and cooked by Titus, who serves them to Tamora to eat.
  • Demetrius and Philo, Romans following Antony, regret his infatuation with Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra.
• Dennis is a minor character - a servant to Oliver - in As You Like It.
• Lord Stanley, Earl of Derby (hist) is a military leader who ultimately reveals his loyalty to the Richmond faction, in spite of his son being a hostage to Richard, in Richard III.
• Dercetus (hist) is a follower of Antony in Antony and Cleopatra. He informs Caesar of Antony's death.
• Desdemona is Othello's wife. He strangles her, in the mistaken belief that she is unfaithful.
• Diana:
  • Diana is desired by Bertram, and pretends to agree to have sex with him. Instead, under cover of darkness, she exchanges places with Helena, who becomes pregnant with Bertram's child, in All's Well That Ends Well.
  • Diana (myth) the goddess of chastity, appears in a vision to Pericles, telling him to visit her temple at Ephesus: leading to his reconciliation with Thaisa, there.
• Dick:
  • Dick the Butcher (fict) is a follower of Jack Cade in Henry VI, Part 2.
  • See also Richard.
• Diomedes:
  • Diomedes is a follower of Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra. He informs Antony that Cleopatra is alive, and informs Cleopatra that Antony is dying.
  • Diomedes (myth) is one of the Greek leaders in Troilus and Cressida.
  • Diomedes' Servant is sent with a message to Cressida, in Troilus and Cressida.
• Dion is a courtier to Leontes, who, with Cleomines delivers the oracle from Delphos in The Winter's Tale.
• Dionyza, the wife of Cleon of Tarsus, is entrusted with the upbringing of Marina, in Pericles, Prince of Tyre. However, she comes to see Marina as a rival to her own daughter, and orders Leonine to kill Marina.
• Doctor (title):
  • A Doctor in Cordelia's train tends the mad King Lear.
  • A Doctor suggests that the wooer can cure the Jailer's Daughter's madness by having sex with her pretending to be Palamon, in The Two Noble Kinsmen.
  • Doctor Caius (hist-ish) is a French doctor in The Merry Wives of Windsor. He challenges Parson Hugh to a duel.
  • An English Doctor is a minor character in Macbeth.
  • A Scottish Doctor witnesses Lady Macbeth sleepwalking in Macbeth.
  • See also Pinch in The Comedy of Errors, who is sometimes referred to as "Doctor Pinch".
• Dogberry, accompanied by Verges, is a clownish officer of the watch in Much Ado About Nothing.
• Dolabella (hist) is a follower of Caesar in Antony and Cleopatra. He tells Cleopatra that Caesar intends to lead her, in triumph, through Rome.
• Doll Tearsheet (fict) is a whore, who is emotionally involved with Falstaff, and is later arrested for murder in Henry IV, Part 2.
• For Dolphin see Dauphin.
• For Domitus see Enobarbus.
• Don (title):
  • Don John is the bastard brother of Don Pedro, and is the chief villain in Much Ado About Nothing.
  • Don Pedro is the prince of Arragon in Much Ado About Nothing.
  • Don Adriano de Armado is an arrogant Spanish braggart in Love's Labour's Lost.
• Donalbain (hist) is the second son of Duncan in Macbeth.
• Dorcas and Mopsa are shepherdesses, usually portrayed as rather tarty, in The Winter's Tale.
• Dorset (hist) and Grey (hist), are the two sons of Queen Elizabeth from her first marriage, who are arrested and executed on the orders of Buckingham and Richard in Richard III.
• The Earl of Douglas leads the Scottish rebel forces in Henry IV, Part 1.
• Dromio:
  • Dromio of Ephesus, servant to Antipholus of Ephesus and twin of Dromio of Syracuse - with whom he is often confused, is a central character in The Comedy of Errors.
  • Dromio of Syracuse, servant to Antipholus of Syracuse and twin of Dromio of Ephesus - with whom he is often confused, is a central character in The Comedy of Errors.
• Duchess (title):
  • Duchess of Gloucester:
    • The Duchess of Gloucester (hist) is the widow of Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester. His murder (before the play opens) drives much of the action of Richard II.
    • Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester is the wife of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester in Henry VI, Part 2, in which she dabbles in witchcraft with disastrous results.
  • Duchess of York:
    • The Duchess of York (1) (hist) is a (partly comic) character in Richard II, who must plead for the life of her son, Aumerle.
    • The Duchess of York (2) (hist) is the wife of Richard, Duke of York (1) in Henry VI, Part 3. She outlives him to mourn the death of two of their sons in Richard III.
• Duke (title):
  • The Duke of Albany is Gonerill's husband in King Lear.
  • The Duke of Alencon is one of the French leaders in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • The Duke of Arragon is an unsuccessful suitor to Portia in The Merchant of Venice.
  • For Duke of Austria see Limoges.
  • For Duke of Bedford see Prince John of Lancaster.
  • The Duke of Berry (hist) is a French leader in Henry V.
  • The Duke of Bourbon (hist) fights on the French side in Henry V.
  • The Duke of Britain (hist) is a French leader in Henry V.
  • Duke of Buckingham:
    • The Duke of Buckingham (1) (hist) is a Lancastrian in Henry VI, Part 2. His death is reported in Henry VI, Part 3.
    • The Duke of Buckingham (2) (hist) is a Yorkist in Henry VI, Part 3, and is a co-conspirator with Richard - although he is eventually rejected, then murdered on Richard's orders - in Richard III.
  • Duke of Burgundy:
    • The Duke of Burgundy (1) (hist) brokers the peace treaty between the kings of France and England in the last act of Henry V.
    • The Duke of Burgundy (2) (hist) fights firstly in alliance with the English, and later in alliance with the French, in Henry VI, Part 1.
    • The Duke of Burgundy (3) refuses to marry Cordelia without a dowry, in King Lear.
  • Duke of Clarence:
    • George, Duke of Clarence (hist) is the younger brother of Edward and the elder brother of Richard in Henry VI, part 3 and Richard III. He is often known as "perjured Clarence", having broken his oath to Warwick and fighting instead for his brother's faction. He is eventually drowned in a butt of malmesy wine.
    • Thomas, Duke of Clarence (hist)is Hal's younger brother, who appears in Henry IV, Part 2 and Henry V.
  • The Duke of Cornwall is Regan's husband, who puts out Gloucester's eyes, in King Lear.
  • Duke of Exeter:
    • The Duke of Exeter (1) (hist) is an uncle of Henry V. He acts as emissary to the French King in Henry V. He has a more choric role in Henry VI, Part 1.
    • The Duke of Exeter (2) (hist) is a Lancastrian leader in Henry VI, Part 3.
  • The Duke of Florence discusses the progress of the war with the two French Lords, the brothers Dumaine, in All's Well That Ends Well.
  • Duke Frederick is the villain (the usurper of Duke Senior) in As You Like It.
  • Duke of Gloucester:
    • Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester (hist) appears as a brother of Hal in Henry IV, Part 2 and Henry V. He is a much more important character as the protector in Henry VI, Part 1 and Henry VI, Part 2, in which he is murdered by his rivals.
    • Richard, Duke of Gloucester, later Richard III (hist), brave but evil, is the third son of Richard, Duke of York (1). He is a fairly minor character in Henry VI, Part 2, is more prominent in Henry VI, Part 3, and is the title character - and murderer of many other characters - in Richard III.
    • See also Earl of Gloucester.
  • Duke of Lancaster:
    • John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (hist), uncle to King Richard and father to Bolingbroke, dies in Richard II, having delivered his famous "This sceptred isle..." speech.
    • See also Bolingbroke, son to John of Gaunt, who claims the dukedom of Lancaster on his father's death.
  • Duke of Milan
    • The Duke of Milan is patron to both Valentine and Proteus, and is the father of Silvia, in The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
    • See also Prospero and Antonio from The Tempest, who are dukes of Milan.
  • Duke of Norfolk:
    • The Duke of Norfolk (hist) is a supporter of the Yorkists in Henry VI, Part 3 and Richard III.
    • Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk (hist) is Bolingbroke's enemy, exiled by Richard, in Richard II.
  • The Duke of Orleans (hist) fights on the French side in Henry V.
  • Duke Senior is the father of Rosalind. He is the true duke, and has been usurped by his brother, Duke Frederick, at the start of As You Like It.
  • Duke of Somerset:
    • The Duke of Somerset (1) (hist) is a follwer of King Henry in Henry VI, Part 1.
    • The Duke of Somerset (2) (hist) appears among the Lancastrian faction in Henry VI, Part 2. His head is carried onstage by Richard (later Richard III) in the opening scene of Henry VI, Part 3.
    • The Duke of Somerset (3) (hist and hist) is a conflation by Shakespeare of two historical Dukes of Somerset. He supports both factions at different stages of Henry VI, Part 3.
  • The Duke of Suffolk (William de la Pole) (hist) is a manipulative character, loved by Queen Margaret, in Henry VI, Part 1 and Henry VI, Part 2.
  • The Duke of Surrey (hist) accuses Aumerle of plotting Woodstock's death in Richard II.
  • Duke of Venice:
    • The Duke of Venice tries the case between Shylock and Antonio in The Merchant of Venice.
    • The Duke of Venice hears Brabantio's complaint against Othello.
  • For Duke of Vienna see Vincentio in Measure for Measure.
  • Duke of York:
    • The Duke of York (1) (hist) is the uncle of both Richard and Bolingbroke in Richard II.
    • The Duke of York (2) (hist) is a minor character, the leader of the "vaward" in Henry V. (TRIVIA: Historically this character is one and the same person as Aumerle.)
    • Richard, Duke of York (1) (hist) is a central character in Henry VI, Part 1, Henry VI, Part 2 and Henry VI, Part 3. He is the Yorkist claimant to the throne of England, in opposition to Henry VI, and he is eventually killed on the orders of Queen Margaret.
    • Richard, Duke of York (2) (hist) is the younger of the two princes in the tower, murdered on the orders of Richard in Richard III.
  • For The Duke in Measure for Measure, see Vincentio.
  • Numerous characters are Dukes, including Antonio (from The Tempest), Orsino, Prospero, Solinus, Theseus and Vincentio (from Measure for Measure).
• Dull is a constable in Love's Labour's Lost.
• Dumaine:
  • Dumaine, with Berowne and Longaville, is one of the three companions of The King of Navarre in Love's Labour's Lost.
  • See also the two Lords in All's Well That Ends Well, who are described as the brothers Dumaine.
• Duncan (hist) is the king of Scotland, murdered by Macbeth.
• A Dutchman, a Frenchman and a Spaniard are guests of Philario, in Cymbeline.

E

The historical Edward IV, a character in Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part 1, Henry VI, Part 2 and Richard III.

• Earl (title):
  • Lord Stanley, Earl of Derby (hist) is a military leader who ultimately reveals his loyalty to the Richmond faction, in spite of his son being a hostage to Richard, in Richard III.
  • The Earl of Douglas leads the Scottish rebel forces in Henry IV, Part 1.
  • The Earl of Essex (hist) is a minor character at the court of King John.
  • The Earl of Cambridge (hist) is one of the three conspirators against the king's life (with Scroop and Grey) in Henry V.
  • The Earl of Gloucester is the father of Edgar and Edmund, who has his eyes put out by the Duke of Cornwall, in King Lear.
  • The Earl of Grandpre (fict?), a French leader, makes an unduly optimistic speech on the morning of Agincourt, in Henry V.
  • The Earl of Huntingdon (hist) is a non-speaking follower of the king in Henry V.
  • The Earl of Kent is a follower of King Lear who evades banishment by disguising himself as a servant, and calling himself Caius.
  • Earl of Northumberland:
    • The Earl of Northumberland, Henry Percy, (hist) is an important character in Richard II), where he is Bolingbroke's chief ally, and in Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2, in which he leads the rebellion against his former ally, who is now king.
    • The Earl of Northumberland (hist) fights for the Lancastrians in Henry VI, Part 3.
    • See also Seyward in Macbeth.
  • The Earl of Oxford (hist) is a staunch Lancastrian, supporting Henry in Henry VI, Part 3, and Richmond in Richard III.
  • Earl of Pembroke:
    • The Earl of Pembroke (hist), together with Salisbury and Bigot, fear for the life of young Arthur, and later discover his body, in King John.
    • The Earl of Pembroke (hist) is a non-speaking Yorkist in Henry VI, Part 3.
  • The Earl of Richmond, later King Henry VII (hist) leads the rebellion against the cruel rule of Richard III, and eventually succeeds him as king.
  • Earl Rivers (hist), is the brother to Queen Elizabeth in Richard III. He is arrested and executed on the orders of Richard and Buckingham.
  • Earl of Salisbury:
    • The Earl of Salisbury (hist) delivers bad news to Constance, in King John.
    • The Earl of Salisbury (hist) remains loyal to King Richard in Richard II.
    • The Earl of Salisbury (hist) fights for the king in Henry V. He is killed by the Master Gunner's Boy in Henry VI, Part 1.
    • The Earl of Salisbury (hist) supports the Yorkists in Henry VI, Part 2.
  • The Earl of Surrey is a supporter of the king in Henry IV, Part 2.
  • Earl of Warwick:
    • The Earl of Warwick (1) (hist) is a supporter of the kings in Henry IV, Part 2 and Henry V.
    • The Earl of Warwick (2) (hist) is an important player in the Wars of the Roses, firstly for the Yorkist party, and then for the Lancastrians. He appears in Henry VI, Part 1, Henry VI, Part 2 and Henry VI, Part 3.
  • Earl of Westmoreland:
    • The Earl of Westmoreland (1) (hist) is one of the leaders of the royal forces in Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2 and Henry V.
    • The Earl of Westmoreland (2) (hist) fights for King Henry in Henry VI, Part 3.
  • The Earl of Worcester (hist) is the brother of the Earl of Northumberland, and a leader of the rebel forces, in Henry IV, Part 1.
• Edgar is the worthy, legitimate son of Gloucester in King Lear. He disguises himself as "Poor Tom".
• Edmund:
  • Edmund is the bastard son of Gloucester, and the most calculating of the villains, in King Lear.
  • Edmund Mortimer (1) (hist) is a claimant to the English throne, and a leader of the rebel forces, in Henry IV, Part 1.
  • Edmund Mortimer (2) (hist) explains the Yorkist claim to the crown to Richard Duke of York (1), in Henry VI, Part 1.
• Edward:
  • Edward later King Edward IV (hist) is the eldest son of Richard, Duke of York (1) in Henry VI, part 2 and Henry VI, part 3 - in which he becomes king. He dies in Richard III.
  • Prince Edward:
    • Prince Edward (hist) is the son of Henry VI, who joins his mother Queen Margaret as a leader of the Lancastrian forces in Henry VI, Part 3. He is killed by the three Yorks (Edward, George and Richard).
    • Prince Edward of York later King Edward V (hist) is the eldest son of Edward IV and Queen Elizabeth. He appears in Henry VI, Part 3, and is the elder of the two princes in the tower in Richard III.
  • See also Ned.
• Egeon is a merchant from Syracuse, father of the Antipholus twins in The Comedy of Errors. He is under Solinus's sentence of death unless he can pay a thousand marks' fine.
• Egeus is the father of Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream. He wishes to have her married, against her will, to Demetrius.
• Sir Eglamour assists Silvia's escape from her father's palace, in The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
• Elbow is a dim-witted constable in Measure for Measure.
• Eleanor:
  • Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester is the wife of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester in Henry VI, Part 2, in which she dabbles in witchcraft with disastrous results.
  • Queen Eleanor (hist) is the mother of King John. She takes a liking to Philip the Bastard, and recruits him to John's court.
• Queen Elizabeth (hist) is a suitor to, and then queen to, Edward IV in Henry VI, Part 3 and Richard III. She is a major character in the later play, and a foil to Richard.
• Ely:
  • The Bishop of Ely (1) (hist) conspires with the Archbishop of Canterbury in the opening scene of Henry V.
  • The Bishop of Ely (2) (hist) ultimately shows his opposition to Richard, in Richard III.
• Emmanuel the Clerk of Chatham (fict) is murdured by Jack Cade's rebels in Henry VI, Part 2.
• Emilia:
  • Emilia is the wife of Iago in Othello. She steals Desdemona's handkerchief for Iago. At the end of the play - too late to save Desdemona - she realises Iago's villainy, and exposes him, but is then murdered by him.
  • Emilia is Hippolyta's sister in The Two Noble Kinsmen. Both title characters fall in love with her, leading to mortal conflict.
  • Emilia is a lady attending on Hermione, both at court and in prison, in The Winter's Tale.
  • See also Aemilia.
• An English Doctor is a minor character in Macbeth.
• Enobarbus (hist & hist) is a major character in Antony and Cleopatra: a follower of Antony who later abandons him to join Caesar.
• Ephesus:
  • Antipholus of Ephesus, twin of Antipholus of Syracuse - with whom he is often confused, is a central character in The Comedy of Errors.
  • Dromio of Ephesus, servant to Antipholus of Ephesus and twin of Dromio of Syracuse - with whom he is often confused, is a central character in The Comedy of Errors.
  • See also Solinus, who is Duke of Ephesus.
• Epilogue:
  • An Epilogue and a Prologue (possibly the same player) appear in The Two Noble Kinsmen.
  • An Epilogue (possibly the character Rumour) appears in Henry IV, Part 2.
  • A number of characters speak epilogues, including Chorus (in Henry V), Gower, Prospero and Rosalind.
  • See also Prologue and Chorus.
• Eros is a follower of Antony in Antony and Cleopatra, who kills himself rather than obey Antony's order to kill him.
• Sir Thomas Erpingham (hist) is an officer in Henry V's army.
• Escalus:
  • Escalus, Prince of Verona tries to keep the peace between Montague and Capulet, in Romeo and Juliet.
  • Escalus is a lord involved in the government of Vienna, in Measure for Measure.
• Escanes is a minor character in Pericles, Prince of Tyre. He converses with Helicanus about the strange death of Antiochus and his daughter.
• The Earl of Essex (hist) is a minor character at the court of King John.
• Sir Hugh Evans is a Welsh priest in The Merry Wives of Windsor. He is challenged to a duel by Caius. He plays a fairy in the final act.
• Exeter:
  • The Duke of Exeter (1) (hist) is an uncle of Henry V. He acts as emissary to the French King in Henry V. He has a more choric role in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • The Duke of Exeter (2) (hist) is a Lancastrian leader in Henry VI, Part 3.
• Sir Piers of Exton (fict) murders the deposed King Richard in Richard II.

F

Falstaff by Eduard von Grützner

• Fabian is a servant to Olivia, and one of the conspirators against Malvolio, in Twelfth Night.
• A Fairy flirts with Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
• Sir John Falstaff (fict, but see Sir John Oldcastle and Sir John Fastolfe) is a central character of Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2 and The Merry Wives of Windsor. In the Henry plays, he is "bad angel" to prince Hal, and is eventually rejected by him. He is the lecherous gull of the title characters in Merry Wives. His death is reported in Henry V, although he is not a character in that play. He is (with Hamlet) one of the two most significant roles in Shakespeare.
• Fang is a constable in Henry IV, part 2.
• Sir John Fastolfe (hist) is a coward, stripped of his garter in Henry VI, Part 1.
• A Father who has killed his son at the Battle of Towton appears in Henry VI, Part 3. See also Son.
• Faulconbridge:
  • Lady Faulconbridge (fict) confesses to her son, the Bastard, that Richard the Lionheart, and not her husband, was his true father, in King John.
  • Philip (the Bastard) Faulconbridge (fict) is a central character in King John, the bravest and most articulate of John's supporters.
  • Robert Faulconbridge (fict) is the legitimate brother of the bastard in King John. He inherits his father's property.
• Feeble is pressed into military service by Falstaff in Henry IV, Part 2.
• Ferdinand:
  • Ferdinand is the only son of Alonzo (King of Naples) in The Tempest. Ferdinand falls in love with Miranda, and his love is tested by Prospero.
  • See also King of Navarre, whose first name is Ferdinand.
• Fenton is a suitor to Anne Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor.
• Feste is the clown and musician in Twelfth Night: a foil for Malvolio.
• For Fidele see Imogen, who calls herself Fidele when disguised as a boy.
• For "First...", see entries under the rest of the character's designation (e.g. Murderer for First Murderer, Player for First Player, etc.).
• Three Fishermen befriend the shipwrecked Pericles, at Pentapolis.
• Lord Fitzwalter (hist) is among those who challenges Aumerle in Richard II.
• Flaminius is a servant of Timon of Athens, sent - unsuccessfully - to seek money for his master from Lucullus.
• Flavius:
  • Flavius is the loyal steward to Timon of Athens, who tries - and fails - to prevent Timon's collapse into poverty.
  • Flavius and Marullus are tribunes of the people, dismayed by the enthusiasm of the commoners for the return of Caesar, in the opening scene of Julius Caesar.
• Fleance is the son of Banquo in Macbeth. He escapes when his father is murdered.
• The Duke of Florence discusses the progress of the war with the two French Lords, the brothers Dumaine, in All's Well That Ends Well.
• Florizel is the son of Polixines, and therefore prince of Bohemia, in The Winter's Tale. He elopes with Perdita when his father prevents their marriage.
• The Fool is a recurring (though not continuous) character throughout the canon:
  • The Fool serves as a foil for the King in King Lear.
  • A Fool appears briefly in Timon of Athens.
  • See also Feste, Touchstone.
  • See also Clown.
• Fluellen (fict) is a Welsh captain in Henry V.
• Francis Flute is a bellows-mender in A Midsummer Night's Dream. He plays Thisbe in Pyramus and Thisbe.
• Ford:
  • Master Ford is a central character in The Merry Wives of Windsor. He suspects his wife of infidelity with Sir John Falstaff. He tests Falstaff in disguise, calling himself Master Brook.
  • Mistress Ford, wife of Master Ford, is a title character of The Merry Wives of Windsor. She pretends to accept Falstaff's overtures of love to her.
• A Forester, a minor character, accompanies the Princess and her ladies in waiting on a shooting expedition in Love's Labour's Lost.
• Fortinbras is a prince of Norway in Hamlet. He is a peripheral figure throughout the play, but arrives to take over the throne of Denmark after the death of the Danish royal family in the final act.
• France:
  • The Constable of France (hist) leads the French forces in Henry V.
  • The Dauphin, later King Charles VII of France (hist) leads the French forces, with Joan, in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • King of France:
    • The King of France (fict) is the husband of Cordelia in King Lear.
    • The King of France is cured by Helena, and in recompense he agrees to order Bertram to marry her, in All's Well That Ends Well.
    • The King of France (hist) is Henry V's enemy.
    • King Lewis XI of France (hist), insulted by Edward IV's marriage to Lady Grey, allies himself with Warwick and Margaret in Henry VI, Part 3.
    • King Philip of France (hist) allies himself with Constance in support of Arthur's claim, but later makes peace with King John.
  • The Princess of France leads a diplomatic mission to Navarre and becomes romantically entangled with the King, in Love's Labour's Lost.
  • The Queen of France (hist) appears in the last act of Henry V.
• Francis:
  • Francis is a confused drawer in Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2.
  • Francis Flute is a bellows-mender in A Midsummer Night's Dream. He plays Thisbe in Pyramus and Thisbe.
  • Friar Francis presides at the aborted marriage ceremony for Hero and Claudio, in Much Ado About Nothing.
• Francisca is a nun, senior to Isabella, in Measure for Measure.
• Francisco:
  • Francisco is a soldier on watch at Elsinore, who appears briefly in the opening moments of Hamlet.
  • Francisco is a lord, a follower of Alonso, in The Tempest.
• For Frank see Master Ford, whose first name is Frank.
• Duke Frederick is the villain (the usurper of Duke Senior) in As You Like It.
• A Frenchman, a Dutchman and a Spaniard are guests of Philario, in Cymbeline.
• Friar (title):
  • Friar Francis presides at the aborted marriage ceremony for Hero and Claudio, in Much Ado About Nothing.
  • Friar John is a minor character, who is unable to deliver a crucial letter from Friar Laurence to Romeo, in Romeo and Juliet.
  • Friar Laurence is confessor and confidante to Romeo in Romeo and Juliet. He instigates the unsuccessful plot involving the potion drunk by Juliet.
  • Friar Peter assists Isabella and Mariana in the final act of Measure for Measure.
  • Friar Thomas leads an order of friars, and assists Vincentio to disguise himself as a friar, in Measure for Measure.
  • For The Friar or Friar Lodowick in Measure for Measure, see Vincentio.
• Two Friends of the Jailer bring him news of his pardon, in The Two Noble Kinsmen.
• For Friz, see Countrywomen.
• Froth is a foolish gentleman, among those arrested and brought before Angelo by Elbow, in Measure for Measure.

G

Goneril and Regan by Edwin Austin Abbey

• Gadshill (fict) is the "setter" of the Gadshill robbery in Henry IV, Part 1.
• For Gaius see Caius.
• Gallus (hist) is a follower of Caesar in Antony and Cleopatra.
• Gaoler:
  • A Gaoler has custody of Egeon in The Comedy of Errors.
  • Several Gaolers, one a speaking role, guard Mortimer in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • See also Jailer.
• For Ganymede see Rosalind.
• Gardener:
  • A gardener (with his men) encounters Queen Isabel in Richard II.
  • Two gardener's men, with the gardener, encounter Queen Isabel in Richard II.
• Gargrave (fict) fights for the English in France in Henry VI, Part 1.
• The Host of the Garter is the practical-joking innkeeper in The Merry Wives of Windsor.
• John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (hist), uncle to King Richard and father to Bolingbroke, dies in Richard II, having delivered his famous "This sceptred isle..." speech.
• Gentleman:
  • A gentleman discusses the plight of mad Ophelia with Horatio in Hamlet.
  • A gentleman agrees to present Helena's petition to the King of France, in the last act of All's Well That Ends Well.
  • A gentleman reports the arrival of knights to battle for the love of Emilia, in The Two Noble Kinsmen.
  • Two gentlemen (fict) are ransomed for a thousand crowns each in Henry VI, Part 2.
  • Two gentlemen open the action of Cymbeline, explaining the back story.
  • Two gentlemen of Ephesus witness Cerimon's discovery of Thaisa, in Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
  • Two gentlemen of Mytilene are converted from lives of debauchery by Marina's preaching, in Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
  • "Two or three" gentlemen of Tyre, one a speaking role, appear in the shipboard reconciliation scene between Pericles and Marina.
  • Four gentlemen, with Montano, witness the dispersal of the Turkish fleet and Othello's arrival at Cyprus.
  • A number of gentlemen (possibly three, although it impossible to know for certain how Shakespeare intended them to be doubled) are speaking roles in King Lear.
• Gentlewoman:
  • A Gentlewoman attending on Lady Macbeth witnesses her sleepwalking, with the Scottish Doctor, in Macbeth.
  • A Gentlewoman attends on Virgilia, in Coriolanus
• George:
  • George (fict) is a follower of Jack Cade in Henry VI, Part 2.
  • George, Duke of Clarence (hist) is the younger brother of Edward and the elder brother of Richard in Henry VI, part 3 and Richard III. He is often known as "purjured Clarence", having broken his oath to Warwick and fighting instead for his brother's faction. He is eventually drowned in a butt of malmesy wine.
  • George Seacoal is a member of the Watch in Much Ado About Nothing.
  • See also Master Page, whose first name is George.
• Gerald is a pedantic schoolmaster, who leads the Maying entertainments in The Two Noble Kinsmen.
• Queen Gertrude is Hamlet's mother. She has married Claudius.
• Ghost. The following characters appear as Ghosts. See the entries under their character name:
  • Banquo
  • Julius Caesar
  • Old Hamlet
  • in Cymbeline:
    • Sicilius Leonantus
    • The Mother of Posthumus
    • Two brothers of Posthumus
  • and in Richard III:
    • Dorset
    • The Duke of Buckingham (2)
    • Earl Rivers
    • George, Duke of Clarence
    • Grey
    • Henry VI
    • Lady Anne
    • Lord Hastings
    • Prince Edward
    • Prince Edward of York
    • Richard Duke of York (2)
  • Antigonus in The Winter's Tale reports seeing the ghost of Hermione in a dream.
  • For "Ghost characters" in the other sense - characters mentioned in stage directions but having no lines and playing no part in the action - see Ghost character. Ghost characters in that sense are generally not listed on this page.
• Girl (hist) in Richard III is the young daughter of the murdered Clarence.
• Glansdale (fict) fights for the English in France in Henry VI, Part 1.
• Owen Glendower (hist), a warrior and magician who tries the patience of Hotspur, leads the Welsh forces in the rebellion in Henry IV, Part 1.
• Gloucester:
  • The Duchess of Gloucester (hist) is the widow of Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester. His murder (before the play opens) drives much of the action of Richard II.
  • The Earl of Gloucester is the father of Edgar and Edmund, who has his eyes put out by the Duke of Cornwall, in King Lear.
  • Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester is the wife of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester in Henry VI, Part 2, in which she dabbles in witchcraft with disastrous results.
  • Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester (hist) appears as a brother of Hal in Henry IV, Part 2 and Henry V. He is a much more important character as the protector in Henry VI, Part 1 and Henry VI, Part 2, in which he is murdered by his rivals.
  • Richard, Duke of Gloucester, later Richard III (hist), brave but evil, is the third son of Richard, Duke of York (1). He is a fairly minor character in Henry VI, Part 2, is more prominent in Henry VI, Part 3, and is the title character - and murderer of many other characters - in Richard III.
• Gobbo:
  • Launcelot Gobbo is a clown in The Merchant of Venice, a servant to Shylock, and later to Lorenzo.
  • Old Gobbo, the blind old father of Launcelot Gobbo, is a clown in The Merchant of Venice.
• Gonerill is the cruel eldest daughter of King Lear. She is married to the Duke of Albany.
• Gonzalo is a courtier to Alonzo in The Tempest.
• For Robin Goodfellow see Puck.
• Matthew Gough (hist) is an enemy of Jack Cade's rebels in Henry VI, Part 2.
• Governor:
  • The Governor of Harfleur (hist) surrenders to Henry V.
  • The Governor of Paris has an oath of allegiance administered to him by Gloucester (but has no lines of his own) in Henry VI, Part 1.
• Gower:
  • Gower (fict) is a messenger to the Lord Chief Justice in Henry IV, Part 2.
  • Gower (fict) is an English captain in Henry V.
  • John Gower (hist) is the "Presenter", a narrator, of Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
• The Earl of Grandpre (fict?), a French leader, makes an unduly optimistic speech on the morning of Agincourt, in Henry V.
• Gratiano:
  • Gratiano is a hot-headed friend of Antonio and Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice. He marries Narissa.
  • Gratiano is Brabantio's brother, in Othello.
• Gravedigger. The First Gravedigger and the Second Gravedigger are clowns in Hamlet. Hamlet's conversation with the First Gravedigger over Yorick's skull is the most famous scene in Shakespeare.
• Green (hist) is a favourite of Richard in Richard II.
• Gregory and Sampson, two men of the Capulet household, open the main action of Romeo and Juliet with their aggressive and lecherous banter.
• Gremio is an elderly suitor to Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew.
• Grey:
  • Grey (hist) and Dorset (hist) are the two sons of Queen Elizabeth from her first marriage, who are arrested and executed on the orders of Buckingham and Richard in Richard III.
  • Sir Thomas Grey (hist) is one of the three conspirators against the king's life (with Cambridge and Scroop) in Henry V.
  • For Lady Grey see Queen Elizabeth.
• A groom of the King's stable (fict) visits the imprisoned Richard at Pontefract in Richard II.
• Grumio is a servant to Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew.
• Guard/Guardsman:
  • Several Guards (two of them minor speaking roles), together with Dercetus, discover the mortally wounded Antony in Antony and Cleopatra.
  • Two Guards (or Guardsmen) keep an unsuccessful suicide watch over Cleopatra, in Antony and Cleopatra.
• Guiderius (also known as Polydore) is the true heir of Cymbeline, stolen away in infancy by Morgan, and brought up as Morgan's child.
• Guildenstern and Rozencrantz are two former friends of Hamlet, invited to the Danish court to spy on him. They eventually accompany Hamlet towards England, but he escapes while they continue with the journey, to their deaths.
• Gunner:
  • The Master Gunner of Orleans leaves his boy in charge of the artillery, in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • The Master Gunner's Boy kills Salisbury, in Henry VI, Part 1.
• James Gurney (fict) is a servant of Lady Faulconbridge, in King John.

H

Innokenty Smoktunovsky as Hamlet in Grigori Kozintsev's film "Hamlet".

• A Haberdasher is verbally abused by Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew.
• Hal, later King Henry V (sometimes called The Prince of Wales, Prince Henry or just Harry) (hist) is a central character in Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2 and is the title character of Henry V. He has a closer relationship with Falstaff than with his father (Henry IV), but he eventually ascends the throne, rejects Falstaff, and leads the English to victory at Agincourt.
• Hamlet:
  • Prince Hamlet is the central character of Hamlet. He is a prince of Denmark, called on to avenge his father's (Old Hamlet's) murder by Claudius.
  • Old Hamlet is the father of Hamlet. His ghost appears to exhort Hamlet to revenge Old Hamlet's murder by Claudius.
• Harcourt is a messenger to the king in Henry IV, Part 2.
• The Governor of Harfleur (hist) surrenders to Henry V.
• Harry:
  • Hotspur or Harry Percy (hist), brave and chivalrous but hot-headed and sometimes comical, is an important foil to Hal, and leader of the rebel forces, in Henry IV, Part 1.
  • See also Hal, Bolingbroke.
  • See also "Henry".
• Hastings:
  • Hastings Pursuivant is a minor character who meets his namesake, Lord Hastings, in Richard III.
  • Lord Hastings (hist) is the prime minister, beheaded on Richard's orders in Richard III.
• For Hecat see Hecate.
• Hecate is a leader of the witches in Macbeth.
• Hector (myth), son of Priam, is the Trojans' champion in Troilus and Cressida.
• Helen:
  • Helen (myth), the mythological Helen of Troy, is the wife of Menelaus who has been stolen away by Paris, and is thefore the cause of the wars fought in Troilus and Cressida.
  • Helen is a lady attending on Imogen, in Cymbeline.
  • See also Nell.
  • See also Helena.
• Helena:
  • Helena, the ward of the Countess of Rousillon, is the central character of All's Well That Ends Well. She is married to Bertram against his will, but she eventually wins his love.
  • Helena, formerly loved by Demetrius, has been rejected by him at the start of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
• Helenus (myth) is a priest, and brother of Hector and Troilus. He is a minor character in Troilus and Cressida.
• Helicanus is a lord, trusted by Pericles with the government of Tyre during Pericles' absences.
• Henry:
  • Bolingbroke, later King Henry IV (hist) leads a revolt against King Richard in Richard II. He is the title character of Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2 which chart the rebellions against him by the Percy faction, and his difficult relationship with his eldest son, Hal.
  • Hal, later King Henry V (sometimes called The Prince of Wales, Prince Henry or just Harry) (hist) is a central character in Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2 and is the title character of Henry V. He has a closer relationship with Falstaff than with his father (Henry IV), but he eventually ascends the throne, rejects Falstaff, and leads the English to victory at Agincourt.
  • King Henry VI (hist), the title character of Henry VI, Part 1, Henry VI, Part 2 and Henry VI, Part 3, is a weak and ineffectual king, and the plays chart the rebellions against him, leading to his overthrow and murder.
  • The Earl of Richmond, later King Henry VII (hist) leads the rebellion against the cruel rule of Richard III, and eventually succeeds him as king.
  • The Earl of Northumberland, Henry Percy, (hist) is an important character in Richard II, where he is Bolingbroke's chief ally, and in Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2, in which he leads the rebellion against his former ally, who is now king.
  • Prince Henry (hist) appears towards the end of King John, as successor to the title character.
  • See also Hotspur (whose real name is Henry Percy).
  • See also "Harry"
• Herald:
  • A Herald calls for a champion to face Edmund in King Lear.
  • A Herald brings news to Theseus of noble prisoners taken in battle, including The Two Noble Kinsmen.
  • A Herald heralds victory celebrations, in Othello.
  • A Herald heralds Coriolanus' return to Rome.
  • Two Heralds one French, one English, claim victory before the walls of Angers in King John. Neither of them persuades Hubert.
• Sir Walter Herbert is a follower of Richmond in Richard III.
• Hermia loves Lysander, and is loved by Demetrius, at the start of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
• Hermione is the wife of Leontes in A Winter's Tale. She suffers as a result of his mistaken belief in her infidelity. At the end of the play she appears to return from the dead, having appeared as a statue.
• Hero falls in love with Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing. She is wronged by Don John and Borachio, and is abandoned at the altar, and left for dead, by Claudio.
• Hippolyta (myth) is a leader of the Amazons, who is the bride of Theseus in A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Two Noble Kinsmen.
• Holofernes is a pedantic schoolmaster in Love's Labour's Lost. He plays Judas Maccabeus in the Pageant of the Nine Worthies.
• Horatio is a student, and a friend and confidante of Hamlet.
• Thomas Horner (fict) fights a duel with his apprentice Peter Thump in Henry VI, Part 2.
• Hortensio is a friend to Petruchio and suitor to Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew. He disguises himself as a music teacher in order to pursue Bianca, but ultimately loses her and marries a rich widow.
• Hortensius is a servant, sent to extract payment of a debt from Timon of Athens.
• Host:
  • The Host of the Garter is the practical-joking innkeeper in The Merry Wives of Windsor.
  • The Host of Julia's lodgings brings the disguised Julia into Proteus' company, in The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
• Hostess:
  • The Hostess of an alehouse throws out the unruly Sly, amidst an argument about broken glasses in the induction to The Taming of the Shrew.
  • See also Mistress Quickly, who is often referred to as "hostess".
• For Hostilius in Timon of Athens, see Strangers.
• Hotspur or Harry Percy (hist), brave and chivalrous but hot-headed and sometimes comical, is an important foil to Hal, and leader of the rebel forces, in Henry IV, Part 1.
• Hubert (hist) is a henchman of King John. He resolves to put out Arthur's eyes, on John's orders, but eventually relents.
• Hugh:
  • Hugh Oatcake is a member of the Watch in Much Ado About Nothing.
  • Hugh Rebeck, Simon Catling and James Soundpost are minor characters, musicians, in Romeo and Juliet.
  • Sir Hugh Evans is a Welsh priest in The Merry Wives of Windsor. He is challenged to a duel by Caius. He plays a fairy in the final act.
  • Sir Hugh Mortimer (hist) is an uncle of Richard Duke of York (1) in Henry VI, Part 3.
• Hume, with Southwell, Jourdain and Bolingbroke, are the supernatural conspitators with Eleanor Duchess of Gloucester in Henry VI, Part 2.
• Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester (hist) appears as a brother of Hal in Henry IV, Part 2 and Henry V. He is a much more important character as the protector in Henry VI, Part 1 and Henry VI, Part 2, in which he is murdered by his rivals.
• The Earl of Huntingdon (hist) is a non-speaking follower of the king in Henry V.
• Several Huntsmen, two of whom are speaking roles, accompany the Lord in the induction to The Taming of the Shrew.
• Hymen (myth), the Greek god of marriage, is a character in As You Like It, and is a non-speaking role in the opening scene of The Two Noble Kinsmen.

I

Kenneth Branagh as Iago (right) taunts Laurence Fishburne as Othello.

• For Iachimo see Jachimo.
• Iago is the villain (and the main character, measured by the number of lines spoken) of Othello.
• Alexander Iden (hist) kills Jack Cade in Henry VI, Part 2.
• Imogen is the daughter of Cymbeline. Her husband, Posthumus, wrongly believes she has been unfaithful and orders her killed.
• Iras is an attendant on Cleopatra, in Antony and Cleopatra. She dies following a kiss from Cleopatra.
• Iris (myth) is depicted by a masquer in The Tempest.
• Isabel/Isabella:
  • Isabella (sometimes addressed as Isabel) is the virtuous central female character in Measure for Measure: a novice nun who pleads to Angelo for the life of her brother Claudio.
  • Queen Isabel (hist) is Richard II's queen, exiled upon his deposition.
• For Isidore's Servant, see servant.

J

Joan of Arc, slandered by Shakespeare, who presented her as a whore and a witch in Henry VI, Part 1.

• Jachimo is a villain in Cymbeline. He persuades Posthumus, wrongly, that he has slept with Posthumus' wife, Imogen.
• Jack:
  • Jack Cade (hist) leads a proletarian rebellion in Henry VI, Part 2.
  • See also John: especially Sir John Falstaff, who is often addressed as Jack.
• Jacquenetta is described as a light wench, and is the love interest of many comic characters in Love's Labour's Lost.
• Jailer:
  • Two Jailers guard the imprisoned Posthumus, in Cymbeline.
  • A Jailer keeps The Two Noble Kinsmen, Palamon and Arcite, in custody.
  • The Jailer's Brother accompanies his niece, in her madness, in The Two Noble Kinsmen.
  • The Jailer's Daughter develops an obsessive love for Palamon, and releases him from prison, in The Two Noble Kinsmen. She descends into madness.
  • See also Gaoler.
• Jaques (pronounced "jake-wheeze"):
  • Jaques is a melancholy lord in As You Like It.
  • Jaques DeBoys is a brother to Oliver and Orlando in As You Like It.
• James:
  • James Gurney (fict) is a servant of Lady Faulconbridge, in King John.
  • James Soundpost, Simon Catling and Hugh Rebeck are minor characters, musicians, in Romeo and Juliet.
  • Sir James Blunt is a supporter of Richmond in Richard III.
  • Sir James Tyrrell (hist) is employed by Richard III to murder the princes in the tower.
• Jamy (fict) is a Scottish captain in Henry V.
• Jessica is Shylock's daughter in The Merchant of Venice. She elopes with Lorenzo.
• A Jeweller sells a jewel to Timon of Athens.
• Joan la Pucelle (hist), better known to history as Joan of Arc, leads the Dauphin's forces against Talbot and the English in Henry VI, Part 1.
• John:
  • Don John is the bastard brother of Don Pedro, and is the chief villain in Much Ado About Nothing.
  • Friar John is a minor character, who is unable to deliver a crucial letter from Friar Laurence to Romeo, in Romeo and Juliet.
  • John is a servingman of Mistress Ford: he carries Falstaff to Datchet Mead in a buck-basket, in The Merry Wives of Windsor.
  • John Bates (fict) is a soldier in Henry V's army.
  • John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (hist), uncle to King Richard and father to Bolingbroke, dies in Richard II, having delivered his famous "This sceptred isle..." speech.
  • John Gower (hist) is the "Presenter", a narrator, of Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
  • John Rugby is a servant to Caius in The Merry Wives of Windsor.
  • John Talbot is the son of Sir John Talbot. They die together bravely in battle in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • King John (hist) is the title character of King John: a king whose throne is under threat from the claim of his young nephew, Arthur.
  • Prince John of Lancaster (hist), the younger brother of Hal, would be a fairly minor character in Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2 and Henry V, were it not for his central, unscrupulous, role in the Gaultree Forest episode of Henry IV, Part 2. He is also the Duke of Bedford who is Regent of France in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • Sir John Blunt is a supporter of the king in Henry IV, Part 2.
  • Sir John Coleville is a rebel captured by Falstaff in Henry IV, Part 2.
  • Sir John Falstaff (fict, but see Sir John Oldcastle and Sir John Fastolfe) is a central character of Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2 and The Merry Wives of Windsor. In the Henry plays, he is "bad angel" to prince Hal, and is eventually rejected by him. He is the lecherous gull of the title characters in Merry Wives. His death is reported in Henry V, although he is not a character in that play. He is (with Hamlet) one of the two most significant roles in Shakespeare.
  • Sir John Fastolfe (hist) is a coward, stripped of his garter in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • Sir John Montgomery (historically Thomas Montgomery) is a minor Yorkist character in Henry VI, Part 3.
  • Sir John Mortimer (hist) is an uncle of Richard Duke of York (1) in Henry VI, Part 3.
  • Sir John Stanley supervises Eleanor's penance in Henry VI, Part 2.
  • Sir John Talbot (hist) is the leader of the English forces in France, and therefore the chief enemy of Joan, in Henry VI, Part 1.
• Joseph is a servant of Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew.
• Jourdain, with Southwell, Hume and Bolingbroke, are the supernatural conspitators with Eleanor Duchess of Gloucester in Henry VI, Part 2.
• Julia is the faithful lover of Proteus, who follows him disguised as a young man and is dismayed to discover his infatuation with Silvia.
• Juliet:
  • Juliet is a title character in Romeo and Juliet. The daughter of Capulet, she falls in love with Romeo, the son of her father's enemy Montague, with tragic results.
  • Juliet, lover of Claudio, becomes pregnant by him, leading to his death sentence, which begins the action of Measure for Measure.
• Julius Caesar (hist) is the title character of Julius Caesar, an Emperor of Rome who is stabbed in the Capitol, on the Ides of March.
• Junius Brutus and Sicinius Velutus, two of the tribunes of the people, are Coriolanus' chief political enemies, and prove more effective than his military foes.
• Juno (myth) is presented by a masquer in The Tempest.
• Jupiter (myth) hears the pleas of the ghosts of Posthumus' family, in Cymbeline.
• Justice (title):
  • A Justice is a minor role in the trial of Froth and Pompey, in Measure for Measure.
  • The Lord Chief Justice (hist) is a dramatic foil to Falstaff in Henry IV, Part 2.
  • Justice Shallow (fict) is an elderly landowner in Henry IV, Part 2 and The Merry Wives of Windsor.
  • Justice Silence (fict) is an elderly friend of Justice Shallow in Henry IV, Part 2.

K

Detail from King Lear mourns Cordelia's death by James Barry.

• Kate:
  • Kate Keepdown is a whore in Measure for Measure.
  • See also Lady Percy.
  • See also Katherine.
• Katharine/Katherine:
  • Katharine (hist) is the French princess who marries Henry V.
  • Katharine is a lady attending on the Princess of France, in Love's Labour's Lost. She becomes emotionally attached to Dumaine.
  • Katherine (sometimes "Kate" or "Katerina Minola") is the "shrew" from the title of The Taming of the Shrew, who is "tamed" by Petruchio.
  • Queen Katherine of Aragon (hist) is the first wife of Henry VIII.
  • See also Kate.
• Kate Keepdown is a whore in Measure for Measure.
• Keeper:
  • A keeper (fict) gives Piers of Exton access to the imprisoned Richard in Richard II.
  • Two keepers (fict) arrest the fugitive Henry in Henry VI, Part 3.
• The Earl of Kent is a follower of King Lear who evades banishment by disguising himself as a servant, and calling himself Caius.
• King (title):
  • First Player or Player King leads the company which visits Elsinore in Hamlet. He reads an excerpt as Priam, and plays the king in The Mousetrap.
  • King Claudius is the uncle and stepfather of Hamlet. He has murdered his brother Old Hamlet, has taken over his crown, and has married his queen, Gertrude.
  • King of France:
    • The King of France (fict) is the husband of Cordelia in King Lear.
    • The King of France is cured by Helena, and in recompense he agrees to order Bertram to marry her, in All's Well That Ends Well.
    • The King of France (hist) is Henry V's enemy.
    • The Dauphin, later King Charles VII of France (hist) leads the French forces, with Joan, in Henry VI, Part 1.
    • King Lewis XI of France (hist), insulted by Edward IV's marriage to Lady Grey, allies himself with Warwick and Margaret in Henry VI, Part 3.
    • King Philip of France (hist) allies himself with Constance in support of Arthur's claim, but later makes peace with King John.
  • King Edward:
    • Edward later King Edward IV (hist) is the eldest son of Richard, Duke of York (1) in Henry VI, part 2 and Henry VI, part 3 - in which he becomes king. He dies in Richard III.
    • Prince Edward of York later King Edward V (hist) is the eldest son of Edward IV and Queen Elizabeth. He appears in Henry VI, Part 3, and is the elder of the two princes in the tower in Richard III.
  • For King Hamlet see Old Hamlet.
  • King Henry:
    • Bolingbroke, later King Henry IV (hist) leads a revolt against King Richard in Richard II. He is the title character of Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2 which chart the rebellions against him by the Percy faction, and his difficult relationship with his eldest son, Hal.
    • Hal, later King Henry V (sometimes called The Prince of Wales, Prince Henry or just Harry) (hist) is a central character in Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2 and is the title character of Henry V. He has a closer relationship with Falstaff than with his father (Henry IV), but he eventually ascends the throne, rejects Falstaff, and leads the English to victory at Agincourt.
    • King Henry VI (hist), the title character of Henry VI, Part 1, Henry VI, Part 2 and Henry VI, Part 3, is a weak and ineffectual king, and the plays chart the rebellions against him, leading to his overthrow and murder.
    • The Earl of Richmond, later King Henry VII (hist) leads the rebellion against the cruel rule of Richard III, and eventually succeeds him as king.
  • King John (hist) is the title character of King John: a king whose throne is under threat from the claim of his young nephew, Arthur.
  • King Lear is the central character of the play which bears his name. He divides his kingdom among his two elder daughters, is rejected by them, runs mad, and dies.
  • The King of Navarre and his three noble companions, Berowne, Dumaine, and Longaville, vow to study and fast for three years, at the outset of Love's Labour's Lost.
  • King Richard:
    • King Richard II (hist) is the title character of Richard II: a king who is deposed and eventually murdered.
    • Richard, Duke of Gloucester, later King Richard III (hist), brave but evil, is the third son of Richard, Duke of York (1). He is a fairly minor character in Henry VI, Part 2, is more prominent in Henry VI, Part 3, and is the title character - and murderer of many other characters - in Richard III.
  • For King of Sparta see Menelaus.
  • For King of Troy see Priam.
  • A number of characters are kings, including Alonso, Antiochus, Leontes, Oberon, Polixines and Simonides.
• Knight:
  • Five knights, plus Pericles himself, compete in a tournament for the love of Thaisa, in Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
  • Six knights, three of them attending Palamon, and three attending Arcite, support The Two Noble Kinsmen in their final conflict, before Theseus. Palamon's knights are speaking roles.
  • A hundred knights, three of whom are speaking parts, and most of whom will inevitably be spoken of but never seen in performance, are followers of Lear in King Lear.
  • Many characters are knights: see "Sir", below, which in England is the title of a knight.

L

Lady Macbeth by George Cattermole.

• Lady (title):
  • Lady Anne (hist) is the widow of Prince Edward, wooed by Richard over the corpse of her late father-in-law (Henry VI) in Richard III.
  • Lady Bona is King Lewis's sister-in-law, whose hopes to marry Edward are thwarted, in Henry VI, Part 3.
  • Lady Capulet is Juliet's mother in Romeo and Juliet.
  • Lady Faulconbridge (hist) confesses to her son, the Bastard, that Richard the Lionheart, and not her husband, was his true father, in King John.
  • For Lady Grey see Queen Elizabeth.
  • Lady Macbeth, wife to Macbeth, is a central character who conspires with her husband to murder Duncan. She later goes mad and dies, possibly through suicide.
  • Lady Macduff, wife to Macduff, is murdered, with her children, on the orders of Macbeth.
  • Lady Montague is Romeo's mother in Romeo and Juliet.
  • Lady Mortimer, daughter of Glendower and wife of Edmund Mortimer (1), sings in Welsh in Henry IV, Part 1.
  • Lady Northumberland (hist) is the Earl of Northumberland's wife, who dissuades him from joining the rebels at Gaultree Forest in Henry IV, Part 2.
  • Lady Percy (hist) (sometimes called Kate) is Hotspur's wife, later his widow, in Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2.
  • Two ladies attend on Queen Isabel, in Richard II.
  • Some ladies corroborate Cornelius' report of the Queen's dying words, in Cymbeline.
  • Several ladies dance in a masque, in Timon of Athens.
  • For "Lady" in Cymbeline, see Helen.
• Laertes is the son of Polonius and the brother of Ophelia in Hamlet. He fights with Hamlet in the famous fencing scene in the final act.
• Lafew is a French lord in All's Well That Ends Well.
• Lancaster:
  • John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (hist), uncle to King Richard and father to Bolingbroke, dies in Richard II, having delivered his famous "This sceptred isle..." speech.
  • Prince John of Lancaster (hist), the younger brother of Hal, would be a fairly minor character in Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2 and Henry V, were it not for his central, unscrupulous, role in the Gaultree Forest episode of Henry IV, Part 2. He is also the Duke of Bedford who is Regent of France in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • See also Bolingbroke (Henry IV), Henry V, Henry VI, Queen Margaret, Prince Edward and Lady Anne, all of whom are either "Duke of Lancaster" or "of the House of Lancaster".
• Titus Lartius and Cominius are leaders of the Roman forces against the Volscians, alongside Coriolanus.
• Launce is a clownish servant of Proteus, in The Two Gentlemen of Verona. He and his dog, Crab, have a tendency to steal the show.
• Launcelot Gobbo is a clown in The Merchant of Venice, a servant to Shylock, and later to Lorenzo.
• Friar Laurence is confessor and confidante to Romeo in Romeo and Juliet. He instigates the unsuccessful plot involving the potion drunk by Juliet.
• Lavatch is a clown in the service of the Countess of Rousillion, in All's Well That Ends Well.
• Lavinia is the daughter of Titus Andronicus. She is raped by Chiron and Demetrius, her tongue is cut out and her hands cut off.
• For Lawrence see Laurence.
• A Lawyer plucks a white rose, in the rose-plucking scene of Henry VI, Part 1.
• King Lear is the central character of the play which bears his name. He divides his kingdom among his two elder daughters, is rejected by them, runs mad, and dies.
• Monsieur LeBeau is a courtier in As You Like It.
• Monsieur LeFer is a Fench soldier. Pistol hopes to ransom him in Henry V.
• Legate:
  • A Legate confers Winchester's Cardinalship (apparently obtained through bribery) in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • See also Pandulph.
• Popilius Lena, a senator, briefly frightens the conspirators into a belief that their plot may have been discovered, with his line "I wish your enterprise today might thrive", in Julius Caesar.
• Lennox is a thane in Macbeth.
• Leonardo is Bassanio's servant in The Merchant of Venice.
• Leonato is the governor of Messina, and the father of Hero, in Much Ado About Nothing.
• Leonatus:
  • Posthumus Leonatus (usually just "Posthumus") is the exiled husband of Imogen, in Cymbeline. Persuaded she has been unfaithful, he orders Pisanio to kill her.
  • Sicilius Leonantus, father of Posthumus in Cymbeline, appears as a ghost, and pleads to Jupiter to resolve Posthumus' troubles.
  • The mother of Posthumus and two brothers of Posthumus appear as ghosts in Cymbeline, and plead to Jupiter to resolve Posthumus' troubles.
• Leonine is ordered to kill Marina, by Dionyza, in Pericles, Prince of Tyre. She is caputured by pirates before he can do so.
• Leontes is the king of Sicilia in The Winter's Tale. He wrongly suspects his wife, Hermione, of infidelity.
• Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (hist) is one of the Triumvers - the three rulers of Rome after Caesar's death, in Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra.
• Lewis:
  • King Lewis XI of France (hist), insulted by Edward IV's marriage to Lady Grey, allies himself with Warwick and Margaret in Henry VI, Part 3.
  • Lewis (hist) is the Dauphin in King John. He marries John's niece, Blanche, to cement an alliance with England. Later he leads forces against John.
  • Note that "Lewis" in Shakespeare is equivalent to an historical "Louis".
• Lieutenant:
  • A Lieutenant (fict) hands over the Duke of Suffolk to Walter Whitmore, and therefore to his death, in Henry VI, Part 2.
  • A Lieutenant of the Tower of London appears, as Henry's jailer in Henry VI, Part 3.
  • A Volscian Lieutenant to Aufidius questions Aufidius about his alliance with Coriolanus.
  • A Roman Lieutenant has one half-line, "Fear not our care, sir", in Coriolanus.
  • See also Brackenbury, who is Lieutenant of the Tower of London in Richard III.
  • Numerous characters hold (or purport to hold) the rank of Lieutenant, including Michael Cassio and Bardolph.
• Caius Ligarius (hist) is one of the conspirators against Caesar in Julius Caesar.
• Limoges (hist) is the Duke of Austria in King John. He is intimidated - and eventually beheaded in battle - by the Bastard.
• For Lion see Snug.
• For Litio see Hortensio, who calls himself Litio in his disguise as a music master.
• Lodovico is a kinsman of Brabantio in Othello.
• For Friar Lodowick in Measure for Measure see Vincentio.
• London:
  • The Lord Mayor of London (hist) is fooled by Richard and Buckingham, and supports Richard's succession, in Richard III.
  • The Mayor of London must make peace between the fighting servants of Gloucester and Winchester, in Henry VI, Part 1.
• Longaville, with Berowne and Dumaine, is one of the three companions of The King of Navarre in Love's Labour's Lost.
• Lord (title):
  • A Lord initiates the practical joke on Christopher Sly in the induction to The Taming of the Shrew.
  • A Lord, a minor role, helps with the preparations for the fencing in Hamlet.
  • A Lord, a minor role, attends on the Princess of France in Love's Labour's Lost.
  • A Lord conspires with Lennox in Macbeth.
  • A Lord of Tarsus reports the approach of Pericles' ships, in Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
  • A Lord of Mytilene appears in the shipboard reconciliation scene between Pericles and Marina.
  • A Lord speaks four words ("It is, my lord") in Much Ado About Nothing.
  • A Lord who fled from the battle between the Romans and the Britons meets Posthumus, in the battle's aftermath, in Cymbeline.
  • Two Lords, together with Amiens, report Jaques' encounter with the deer in As You Like It.
  • Two Lords are followers of Duke Frederick in As You Like It.
  • Two Lords attend on the bragging Cloten, in Cymbeline.
  • Two Lords, the brothers Dumaine, attend the King of France before departing to the wars in All's Well That Ends Well, and play an important part in the mock-interrogation of Parolles.
  • Three Lords of Tyre lead a revolt (of sorts) in Pericles, Prince of Tyre: insisting that they will make Helicanus their ruler if Pericles does not return to Tyre within one year.
  • Three Lords of Pentapolis comment on Pericles' unimpressive appearance prior to the tournament, in Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
  • Three Lords are among the flatterers, and false friends, of Timon of Athens.
  • Four Lords in All's Well That Ends Well (two of whom may be the brothers Dumaine described as "Two Lords", above) attend the King of France after he is cured, and are considered as potential husbands for Helena.
  • A number of Volscian Lords, three of them speaking roles, appear in the concluding scene of Coriolanus, and witness Coriolanus' death.
  • Lord Bardolph (hist) is a nobleman, one of the Percy faction, in Henry IV, Part 2.
  • Lord Berkeley (hist) acts as messenger from York to Bolingbroke, in Richard II.
  • For Lord Capulet, see Capulet.
  • The Lord Chief Justice (hist) is a dramatic foil to Falstaff in Henry IV, Part 2.
  • Lord Fitzwalter (hist) is among those who challenges Aumerle in Richard II.
  • Lord Hastings:
    • Lord Hastings (hist) is a rebel leader in Henry IV, Part 2.
    • Lord Hastings (hist) is the prime minister, beheaded on Richard's orders in Richard III.
  • Lord Lovell (hist) is a henchman of Richard in Richard III).
  • The Lord Mayor of London (hist) is fooled by Richard and Buckingham, and supports Richard's succession, in Richard III.
  • Lord Mowbray (hist) is a rebel leader in Henry IV, Part 2.
  • For Lord Rivers see Earl Rivers.
  • Lord Ross (hist) is a supporter of Bolingbroke in Richard II.
  • Lord Saye (hist) is an enemy of Jack Cade, killed by the rebels, in Henry VI, Part 2.
  • Lord Scales (hist) is an enemy of Jack Cade's rebels in Henry VI, Part 2.
  • Lord Scroop (hist) is one of the three conspirators against the king's life (with Cambridge and Grey) in Henry V.
  • Most titled characters can be described as Lords, or addressed as "my Lord".
  • "Lord" is a common designation for supernumiary characters at the royal and ducal courts.
• Lorenzo is a Christian in The Merchant of Venice who elopes with Shylock's daughter, Jessica.
• Lord Lovell (hist) is a henchman of Richard in Richard III.
• For Louis see Lewis.
• Luce:
  • Luce is a tarty servant to Adriana in The Comedy of Errors.
  • See also countrywomen.
• Lucentio falls in love with Bianca, and disguises himself as a Latin master in order to woo her. They marry at the end of the play.
• Lucetta is Julia's maid in The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
• Luciana in The Comedy of Errors is shocked to be importuned by her brother-in-law's twin, who she believes to be her sister's husband.
• For Lucianus, see Third Player.
• Lucilius:
  • Lucilius is a servant of Timon of Athens. He loves the daughter of the Old Athenian, and Titus provides him with a fortune, to make him her equal.
  • Lucilius is a soldier of Brutus' and Cassius' party in Julius Caesar. He pretends to be Brutus during the battle at Philippi.
• Lucio, a friend of Claudio, frequently slanders the duke in Measure for Measure, and is eventually forced to marry Kate Keepdown.
• Lucius:
  • Caius Lucius is the Roman ambassador to Cymbeline, and the leader of the Roman forces.
  • Lucius, a boy, is a servant attending on Brutus, in Julius Caesar.
  • Lucius is a lord in Timon of Athens, who flatters Titus but proves a false friend.
  • Lucius is the son of Titus Andronicus. He ends the play as Emperor of Rome, following the death of most major characters.
  • Young Lucius, son of Luicus in Titus Andronicus, and usually cast as a child, plays a part in exposing his aunt's rapists.
  • For Lucius' Servant (in Timon of Athens), see servant.
• Lucullus:
  • Lucullus is a lord in Timon of Athens, who flatters Titus but proves a false friend.
  • For Lucullus' Servant, see servant
• Sir William Lucy (fict) is a soldier and messenger for the English in France in Henry VI, Part 1.
• Lychorida is Thaisa's nurse, then (after Thaisa's supposed death in childbirth) Marina's nurse, in Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
• Lysander loves Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream. For a period in the middle of the play, under the influence of love in idleness, he rejects her and loves Helena.
• Lysimachus is the governor of Mytilene, in Pericles, Prince of Tyre. He is converted from debauchery by Marina, and eventually reunites her with her father, Pericles.

M

Miranda with Prospero by William Maw Egley

• Macbeth:
  • Macbeth (hist) is the central character of the play which bears his name. Influenced by the prophecies of three witches, he murders Duncan to take his place as king of Scotland.
  • Lady Macbeth (hist), wife to Macbeth, is a central character who conspires with her husband to murder Duncan. She later goes mad and dies, possibly through suicide.
• Macduff:
  • Macduff is the Thane of Fife in Macbeth. Not being "born of woman", he fights on Malcolm's side at the end of the play, and kills Macbeth.
  • Lady Macduff, wife to Macduff, is murdered, with her children, on the orders of Macbeth.
  • Macduff's Son is murdered on Macbeth's orders.
• Macmorris (fict) is an Irish captain in Henry V. He is said to be Shakespeare's only Irish character.
• Maecenas (hist) is a follower of Caesar in Antony and Cleopatra.
• Malcolm (hist) is the eldest son of Duncan in Macbeth.
• Malvolio is steward to, and secretly in love with, Olivia in Twelfth Night. He is gulled by Maria, Sir Toby Belch, Feste, Fabian and Sir Andrew Aguecheek, and is imprisoned as a madman.
• Mamillius is the young son of Leontes and Hermione whose death is reported in the trial scene of The Winter's Tale.
• Man:
  • A Man, Troilus' Servant, has one line: "No, sir, he stays for you to conduct him thither", in Troilus and Cressida.
  • An Old Man is Gloucester's tenant, who helps with his escape, in King Lear.
  • An Old Man reports the supernatural happenings on the night of Duncan's murder to Ross, in Macbeth.
  • Man is occasionally a designation for supernumiary characters.
• Marcade, a French messenger brings the Princess of France the news that her father, the king, has died, in Love's Labour's Lost.
• Marcellus and Barnardo are soldiers who invite Horatio to see the ghost of Old Hamlet, in Hamlet.
• Marcus:
  • Marcus Andronicus is the brother of Titus Andronicus.
  • Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (hist) is one of the Triumvers - the three rulers of Rome after Caesar's death, in Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra.
  • Marcus Brutus (hist) (usually just Brutus) is a central character of Julius Caesar, who conspires against Caesar's life and stabs him.
  • See also Mark, especially in the context of the Roman plays, where the two are often interchangeable. Mark Antony, for example, was historically "Marcus Antonius".
• Mardian is a eunuch attending on Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra.
• Margarelon is a bastard son of Priam who spares the life of Thersites in Troilus and Cressida.
• Margaret:
  • Margaret is a maid, and an unknowing accomplice in the plot against Hero, in Much Ado About Nothing.
  • Queen Margaret (hist) is the only truly epic character in Shakespeare. She appears as a naive girl in Henry VI, Part 1 and as an embittered old woman in Richard III. She is a central character of the two intervening plays, Henry VI, Part 2 and Henry VI, Part 3, in which she is the wife of Henry VI, and a leader of his armies. In her most notable scene she supervises the murder/execution of Richard Duke of York.
• Maria:
  • Maria is a maid to Olivia, and the instigator of the plot against Malvolio, in Twelfth Night.
  • Maria is a lady attending on the Princess of France in Love's Labour's Lost. She becomes romantically entangled with Longaville.
• Mariana:
  • Mariana is the jilted fiancee of Angelo, who sleeps with him in the "bed trick" in Measure for Measure.
  • Mariana is a friend of the Widow in All's Well That Ends Well.
• Marina is the virtuous daughter of Pericles. Sold into a brothel, she converts her customers from their lives of debauchery.
• Mariners:
  • A number of mariners are supernumiary characters in The Tempest.
  • See also Sailors.
• Mark:
  • Mark Antony (hist) (Often just Antony, and sometimes Marcus Antonius) turns the mob against Caesar's killers and becomes a Triumver in Julius Caesar. His romance with Cleopatra drives the action of Antony and Cleopatra.
  • See also Marcus
• Marquess:
  • The Marquess of Montague (hist) is a follower of Warwick (his brother) in Henry VI, Part 3.
  • For Marquess of Suffolk see Duke of Suffolk. William De La Pole held both titles during the period dramatised by Shakespeare.
• The Marshal of the tournament at Pentapolis is a minor character in Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
• Sir Oliver Martext is a foolish priest in As You Like It.
• Martius:
  • Caius Martius Coriolanus (hist) is the central character of Coriolanus, who earns the tile "Coriolanus" in recognition of his skill at smiting Volscians in Coriolai.
  • For Young Martius in Coriolanus, see Boy.
  • Martius and Quintus, two sons of Titus Andronicus, have the same story: returning from the wars they sacrifice one of Tamora's sons. They defy their father over Saturninus' claim to the hand of Lavinia. They are framed and executed for Bassianus' murder.
• Marullus and Flavius are tribunes of the people, dismayed by the enthusiasm of the commoners for the return of Caesar, in the opening scene of Julius Caesar.
• Master:
  • A Master captains Alonso's ship, in The Tempest.
  • A Master (fict) ransomes a gentleman in Henry VI, Part 2.
  • For Master Brook see Master Ford.
  • Master Ford is a central character in The Merry Wives of Windsor. He suspects his wife of infidelity with Sir John Falstaff. He tests Falstaff in disguise, calling himself Master Brook.
  • The Master Gunner of Orleans leaves his boy in charge of the artillery, in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • The Master Gunner's Boy kills Salisbury, in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • Master Page is the husband of Mistress Page and the father of Anne and William in The Merry Wives of Windsor. He plans to have Anne married to Slender.
  • See also Captain.
• A Mate (fict) ransomes a gentleman in Henry VI, Part 2.
• Matthew Gough (hist) is an enemy of Jack Cade's rebels in Henry VI, Part 2.
• For Maudlin, see Countrywomen.
• Mayor:
  • The Lord Mayor of London (hist) is fooled by Richard and Buckingham, and supports Richard's succession, in Richard III).
  • The Mayor of London must make peace between the fighting servants of Gloucester and Winchester, in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • The Mayor of St. Albans appears briefly in the "Simpcox" episode in Henry VI, Part 2.
  • The Mayor of York (hist) reluctantly supports the Yorkists in Henry VI, Part 3.
• Meg:
  • See Mistress Page, who is sometimes addressed as "Meg".
  • See also Margaret.
• Melun (fict) is a French lord who fights for the Dauphin's party, in King John.
• Menas (hist) a follower of Pompey, suggests cutting loose the boat where the triumvers are feasting, in Antony and Cleopatra.
• Menecrates (hist) is a follower of Pompey in Antony and Cleopatra.
• Menelaus (myth), king of Sparta and husband of the captured Helen, is one of the Greek leaders in Troilus and Cressida.
• Menenius Agrippa is a friend and supporter of Coriolanus in his political struggles.
• Menteth is a thane in Macbeth.
• Merchant:
  • A merchant speaks well of Timon, in the opening scene of Timon of Athens.
  • Three merchants, one of whom is named Balthasar, add to the confusion in The Comedy of Errors.
  • Many characters are merchants, most notably Antonio, the title character of The Merchant of Venice.
• Mercutio is the witty friend of Romeo, and kinsman to the Prince, in Romeo and Juliet. He is killed by Tybalt.
• Messala is one of the senior soldiers of Brutus' and Cassius' party, in Julius Caesar.
• Messenger:
  • A messenger reports the escape of Antipholus of Ephesus and Dromio of Ephesus to Adriana, in The Comedy of Errors.
  • A messenger brings a letter from Angelo to the Provost, ordering Claudio's death that night, in Measure for Measure.
  • A messenger reports Pericles flight from Antioch to Antiochus, in Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
  • A messenger brings news of a Turkish fleet to the Venetian Senate, in Othello.
  • A messenger delivers the heads of Quintus and Martius, and Titus' own severed hand, to Titus Andronicus.
  • A messenger from Bertram briefly visits the brothers Dumaine in All's Well That Ends Well.
  • A messenger to the Roman leaders brings news of the preparations for battle against the Volsces, in Coriolanus.
  • Two messengers to Claudius in Hamlet (or possibly one messenger appearing twice) bring news of Laertes' rebellious approach, and Hamlet's letter delivered by the sailors.
  • Two messengers appear in The Two Noble Kinsmen. One has a lengthy speech describing Arcite's first knight.
  • Two messengers to Cymbeline (or possibly one messenger appearing twice) bring news of the Roman Ambassador's approach, and the diappearance of Imogen.
  • Three messengers bring bad news to the English lords at Henry V's funeral, in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • Three messengers, two to Albany and the other to Cordelia, appear in King Lear.
  • Three messengers are minor characters in Timon of Athens: one negotiates Ventidius' bail, another announces Alcibiades arrival at Timon's first feast with companions, the third announces Alcibiades approach towards Athens with soldiers.
  • Three messengers, two English bringing messages to Tablot and York, and one French bringing a message to Talbot, appear in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • Four messengers bring (mostly) bad news to Richard, in Richard III.
  • Several messengers appear in Much Ado About Nothing: one of them is an important figure in the opening scene.
  • Numerous messengers appear in Antony and Cleopatra:
    • A messenger brings "News, my good lord, from Rome" in the opening scene. Antony refuses to hear him.
    • Three messengers bring news to Antony of various military defeats, and of Fulvia's death.
    • Two messengers bring news to Caesar of Pompey's (and his allies') naval preparations.
    • One messenger is a mid-sized role: the unfortunate carrier of the message to Cleopatra that Antony has married Octavia, and who later reports (unflatteringly) on Octavia's looks and bearing.
    • A messenger brings Antony news that Caesar has taken Toryne.
    • A messenger summons Canidius to Antony.
    • A messenger informs Caesar that Antony is come into the field.
• Metellus Cimber (hist) is one of the conspirators in Julius Caesar.
• Michael:
  • Michael (fict) is a follower of Jack Cade in Henry VI, Part 2.
  • Michael Cassio is a lieutenant in Othello. Iago persuades Othello that Cassio is having an affair with Othello's wife, Desdemona.
  • Michael Williams (fict) (notably played by Michael Williams in Kenneth Branagh's film version) is a soldier who challenges the disguised Henry V to a duel.
  • Sir Michael is a minor character, a follower of the Archbishop of York, in Henry IV, Part 1.
• The Duke of Milan is patron to both Valentine and Proteus, and is the father of Silvia, in The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
• Baptista Minola is the father of Katherine and Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew.
• Miranda is the 15 year old daughter of Prospero in The Tempest. She falls in love with Ferdinand.
• Mistress (title):
  • Mistress Ford, wife of Master Ford, is a title character of The Merry Wives of Windsor. She pretends to accept Falstaff's overtures of love to her.
  • Mistress Overdone is a brothel keeper in Measure for Measure.
  • Mistress Page, wife of Master Page, is a title character in The Merry Wives of Windsor. She conspires with Mistress Ford to punish Falstaff's lechery. She plans to have Anne married to Doctor Caius.
  • Mistress Quickly (fict) is an important character in Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2, Henry V and The Merry Wives of Windsor. She is noted for her lewd malapropisms. She is an innkeeper's wife (later his widow) in the Henry plays. She has a different personality, and a different relationship to other characters, in Merry Wives, where she is a servant to Doctor Caius.
• For Monmouth see Hal, who is sometimes called Monmouth or Harry Monmouth, after his place of birth.
• Monsieur:
  • Monsieur LeBeau is a courtier in As You Like It.
  • Monsieur LeFer is a Fench soldier. Pistol hopes to ransom him in Henry V.
• Montague:
  • The Marquess of Montague (hist) is a follower of Warwick (his brother) in Henry VI, Part 3.
  • Montague is Romeo's father, an enemy of Capulet, in Romeo and Juliet.
  • Lady Montague is Romeo's mother in Romeo and Juliet.
  • See also Romeo and Benvolio.
• Montano is the Governor of Cyprus in Othello.
• Sir John Montgomery (historically Thomas Montgomery) is a minor Yorkist character in Henry VI, Part 3.
• Montjoy (fict) is the French herald in Henry V.
• For Moonshine see Robin Starveling.
• Mopsa and Dorcas are shepherdesses, usually portrayed as rather tarty, in The Winter's Tale.
• Morgan (real name Belarius) steals the two infant sons of Cymbeline, and raises them as his own.
• The Prince of Morocco is an unsuccessful suitor to Portia in The Merchant of Venice.
• Mortimer:
  • Edmund Mortimer (1) (hist) is a claimant to the English throne, and a leader of the rebel forces, in Henry IV, Part 1.
  • Edmund Mortimer (2) (hist) explains the Yorkist claim to the crown to Richard Duke of York (1), in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • Lady Mortimer, daughter of Glendower and wife of Edmund Mortimer (1), sings in Welsh in Henry IV, Part 1.
  • Sir Hugh Mortimer (hist) is an uncle of Richard Duke of York (1) in Henry VI, Part 3.
  • Sir John Mortimer (hist) is an uncle of Richard Duke of York (1) in Henry VI, Part 3.
  • See also Jack Cade, who falsely claims to be one John Mortimer, a claimant to the throne.
• Morton (fict) is a messenger to the Earl of Northumberland in Henry IV, Part 2.
• Mote is page to Don Armado in Love's Labour's Lost.
• Moth is a fairy in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
• For Mother of Posthumus see Leonatus.
• Mouldy is nearly pressed into military service by Falstaff in Henry IV, Part 2.
• Mowbray:
  • Lord Mowbray is a rebel leader in Henry IV, Part 2.
  • Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk (hist) is Bolingbroke's enemy, exiled by Richard, in Richard II.
• Murderer:
  • Three murderers kill Banquo, although his son Fleance escapes them, in Macbeth.
  • Two murderers report having killed Duke Humphrey in Henry VI, Part 2.
  • Two murderers kill Clarence on Richard's orders in Richard III.
• Musician:
  • Several musicians, one of whom is a speaking role, are made fun of by the clown in Othello.
  • Several musicians attend on Cloten in Cymbeline. One of them sings "Hark, hark the lark."
  • See also Simon Catling, Hugh Rebeck and James Soundpost.
  • Musicians often appear as supernumiary characters.
• Mustardseed is a fairy in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
• Mutius, son of Titus Andronicus, tries to prevent his father from pursing Lavinia and Bassianus, but is killed by Titus.
• Several Myrmidons (myth) kill Hector on Achilles' orders, in Troilus and Cressida.

N

"Juliet confides her passion to her nurse" by Gertrude Demain Hammond, an illustration from Charles and Mary Lamb's Tales From Shakespeare, 1878.

• For Nan see Anne Page, who is sometimes addressed as Nan.
• Narissa is Portia's maid in The Merchant of Venice. She marries Gratiano. She diguises herself as a page when Portia disguises herself as a lawyer.
• Nathaniel:
  • Nathaniel is a servant of Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew.
  • Nathaniel is a parson in Love's Labour's Lost. He is a comic character, and a friend of Holefernes. He appears as Alexander the Conqueror in the pageant of the Nine Worthies.
• The King of Navarre and his three noble companions, Berowne, Dumaine, and Longaville, vow to study and fast for three years, at the outset of Love's Labour's Lost.
• Ned:
  • Ned Poins (fict) is a highwayman, and a close companion of Hal, in Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2.
  • See also Edward.
  • See also Boy.
• Nell:
  • See Mistress Quickly, whose first name is Nell.
  • A "Nell" is unflatteringly described by Doromio of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors: she may be one and the same person as the character Luce, mis-named.
  • See also Countrywomen.
  • See also Helen.
• Nestor (myth) is an elderly Greek leader in Troilus and Cressida.
• Nicholas/Nick:
  • Nicholas is a servant of Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew.
  • Nick (fict) is a follower of Jack Cade in Henry VI, Part 2.
  • Nick Bottom is a weaver, one of the mechanicals, in A Midsummer Night's Dream. While rehearsing a play, Puck changes Bottom's head for an ass's head. Titania falls in love with him. He plays Pyramus in Pyramus and Thisbe.
• For Nim see Nym.
• For Ninacor in Coriolanus, see Roman.
• A Nobleman (fict) brings news of Henry's arrest to the Yorkist leaders in Henry VI, Part 3.
• Norfolk:
  • The Duke of Norfolk (hist) is a supporter of the Yorkists in Henry VI, Part 3 and Richard III.
  • Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk (hist) is Bolingbroke's enemy, exiled by Richard, in Richard II.
• Northumberland:
  • The Earl of Northumberland, Henry Percy, (hist) is an important character in Richard II, where he is Bolingbroke's chief ally, and in Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2, in which he leads the rebellion against his former ally, who is now king.
  • The Earl of Northumberland (hist) fights for the Lancastrians in Henry VI, Part 3.
  • Lady Northumberland (hist) is the Earl of Northumberland's wife, who dissuades him from joining the rebels at Gaultree Forest in Henry IV, Part 2.
  • See also Seyward in Macbeth.
• Nurse:
  • The Nurse is a bawdy comic character, and a confidante of Juliet, in Romeo and Juliet.
  • The Nurse helps to deliver Aaron's son to Tamora, in Titus Andronicus. Aaron murders her.
• Nym (fict) is a follower of Sir John Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor, and a companion of Pistol and Bardolph in Henry V.
• Several nymphs (myth) dance in the masque in The Tempest, and are part of the wedding procession which opens The Two Noble Kinsmen.

O

Millais' famous portrait of Ophelia

• Hugh Oatcake is a member of the Watch in Much Ado About Nothing.
• Oberon (myth) is king of the fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
• Octavia, sister of Octavius, marries Mark Antony when he is widowed in Antony and Cleopatra. Their marriage causes great distress to Antony's lover, Cleopatra.
• Octavius Caesar (hist) is one of the Triumvers - the three rulers of Rome after Caesar's death, in Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra.
• Officer:
  • First Officer attends the Venetian Senate in Othello.
  • An officer arrests Antipholus of Ephesus for debt in The Comedy of Errors.
  • Two officers in Orsino's service arrest Antonio in Twelfth Night.
  • Two officers discuss Coriolanus' prospects of becoming consul.
  • Two officers, of whom only Second Officer is a speaking role, appear in the last act of King Lear.
  • Several officers support the Mayor of London in Henry VI, Part 1. One of them reads a proclamation.
• Old:
  • An Old Athenian objects to his daughter's involvement with Lucilius, until Timon of Athens offers to endow Lucilius with money to make him her equal.
  • Old Capulet is a minor character - a kinsman of Capulet - in the party scene of Romeo and Juliet.
  • Old Clifford (hist), father of Clifford, is a Lancastrian leader in Henry VI, Part 2.
  • Old Gobbo, the blind old father of Launcelot Gobbo, is a clown in The Merchant of Venice.
  • Old Hamlet is the father of Hamlet. His ghost appears to exhort Hamlet to revenge Old Hamlet's murder by Claudius.
  • An Old Man is Gloucester's tenant, who helps with his escape, in King Lear.
  • An Old Man reports the supernatural happenings on the night of Duncan's murder to Ross, in Macbeth.
  • Old Shepherd is the kindly father of the Clown in The Winter's Tale, who adopts the abandoned Perdita as his daughter.
• Oliver:
  • Oliver begins As You Like It as a villain: the cruel older brother to Orlando. He later repents, and marries Celia.
  • Sir Oliver Martext is a foolish priest in As You Like It.
• Olivia is a countess, loved by Orsino but in love with Cesario (the male persona of Viola) in Twelfth Night.
• Ophelia is a former lover of Hamlet, who is rejected by him, and who goes mad following her father's death at Hamlet's hands. She eventually drowns herself.
• Orlando is the male romantic lead in As You Like It.
• Orleans:
  • The Duke of Orleans (hist) fights on the French side in Henry V.
  • The Master Gunner of Orleans leaves his boy in charge of the artillery, in Henry VI, Part 1.
• Orsino is the Duke of Illyria, loved by Viola but in love with Olivia, in Twelfth Night.
• Osrick is a courtier, treated with contempt by Hamlet.
• Oswald is a servant of Gonerill, most noted for getting into fights and losing them, in King Lear.
• Othello is the title character of Othello. A moorish general in the Venitian army, he is persuaded by Iago that his wife Desdemona is having an affair with Michael Cassio.
• Some Outlaws, three of which are speaking roles, initially try to rob Valentine, but decide to invite him to be their leader, in The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
• Mistress Overdone is a brothel keeper in Measure for Measure.
• Owen Glendower (hist), a warrior and magician who tries the patience of Hotspur, leads the Welsh forces in the rebellion in Henry IV, Part 1.
• The Earl of Oxford (hist) is a staunch Lancastrian, supporting Henry in Henry VI, Part 3, and Richmond in Richard III.

P

Perdita by Anthony Frederick Augustus Sandys

• Page:
  • A page (fict) procures the services of Tyrrell for King Richard in Richard III.
  • A page pretends to be Christopher Sly's lady, in the induction to The Taming of the Shrew.
  • A page to Paris witnesses the start of the conflict between Romeo and Paris, and summons watchmen to the scene, in Romeo and Juliet.
  • A page to the Countess of Rousillion is a very minor role in All's Well That Ends Well.
  • A page appears briefly in Timon of Athens.
  • Two pages encounter Touchstone, and sing It Was A Lover And His Lass, in As You Like It.
  • Anne Page is the daughter of Master and Mistress Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor. She loves Fenton, but her father wishes her to marry Slender and her mother wishes her to marry Caius.
  • Master Page is the husband of Mistress Page and the father of Anne and William in The Merry Wives of Windsor. He plans to have Anne married to Slender.
  • Mistress Page, wife of Master Page, is a title character in The Merry Wives of Windsor. She conspires with Mistress Ford to punish Falstaff's lechery. She plans to have Anne married to Doctor Caius.
  • William Page is a minor youthful comic character, the son of Master and Mistress Page, and the younger brother of Anne Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor.
  • See also The Boy, who is sometimes "the page" or "Falstaff's page".
• A Painter and a Poet obtain the patronage of Timon of Athens. They return to him, in the woods, having heard rumours that he has found gold.
• Palamon and Arcite are the title characters of The Two Noble Kinsmen. Their friendship endures even though they engage in a mortal quarrel for the love of Emilia.
• Pandarus (myth) procures an assignation between his niece Cressida and the prince Troilus, in Troilus and Cressida.
• A Pander and a Bawd run the brothel into which Marina is sold, in Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
• Cardinal Pandulph is the Papal legate in King John. He incites the Dauphin against John, but later tries to placate him.
• Panthino is a servant of Antonio in The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
• Paris:
  • The Governor of Paris has an oath of allegiance administered to him by Gloucester (but has no lines of his own) in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • Paris (myth) has captured Helen - Menelaus' wife - and they live together as lovers in Troy. This is the cause of the lengthy wars fought in Troilus and Cressida.
  • Paris is a suitor to Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. He is killed by Romeo.
  • Paris' Servant has a clownish exchange with Pandarus in Troilus and Cressida.
  • For Paris' Page (in Romeo and Juliet), see Page.
• Parolles is a cowardly braggart soldier, a companion of Bertram, in All's Well That Ends Well.
• For Parson Hugh see Sir Hugh Evans.
• The Roman Patricians, of whom only one has individual lines, appear in Coriolanus.
• Patroclus (myth) is the friend, or "masculine whore", of Achilles in Troilus and Cressida.
• Paulina, strong-willed and good-hearted, is an important foil to Leontes in The Winter's Tale. In the last act, she reveals the statue of Hermione.
• Peaseblossom is a fairy in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
• The Pedant disguises himself as Vincentio (Lucentio's father) in The Taming of the Shrew, to act as father to Tranio, who has disguised himself as Lucentio.
• Don Pedro is the prince of Arragon in Much Ado About Nothing.
• Pembroke:
  • The Earl of Pembroke (hist), together with Salisbury and Bigot, fear for the life of young Arthur, and later discover his body, in King John.
  • The Earl of Pembroke (hist) is a non-speaking Yorkist in Henry VI, Part 3.
• Percy:
  • The Earl of Northumberland, Henry Percy, (hist) is an important character in Richard II, where he is Bolingbroke's chief ally, and in Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2, in which he leads the rebellion against his former ally, who is now king.
  • Hotspur or Harry Percy (hist), brave and chivalrous but hot-headed and sometimes comical, is an important foil to Hal, and leader of the rebel forces, in Henry IV, Part 1.
  • Lady Percy (hist) (sometimes called Kate) is Hotspur's wife, later his widow, in Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2.
  • For Thomas Percy, see Earl of Worcester.
  • See also Lady Northumberland.
• Perdita is the infant daughter of Leontes, abandoned in Bohemia, in The Winter's Tale. She grows up to marry Florizel and is reconciled to her father.
• Pericles is the central character of Pericles, Prince of Tyre. In an unfortunate series of adventures, he loses his wife and his daughter, but is eventually reunited with them.
• Peter:
  • Friar Peter assists Isabella and Mariana in the final act of Measure for Measure.
  • Peter is a servant of Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew.
  • Peter is a clownish servant of Capulet who attends on the nurse in Romeo and Juliet.
  • Peter of Pomfret is a prophet in King John. John orders his hanging upon hearing he has predicted that John will yield up his crown.
  • Peter Quince is a carpenter in A Midsummer Night's Dream. He plays the prologue to Pyramus and Thisbe.
  • Peter Thump (fict) fights a duel with his master Thomas Horner in Henry VI, Part 2.
  • See also Simple, whose first name is Peter.
• Peto (fict) is a follower of Sir John Falstaff in Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2.
• Petruchio is the central male character in The Taming of the Shrew, who "tames" the title character, Katherine.
• Philostrate is master of the revels to Theseus in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
• Phebe is a sheperdess, loved by Silvius but who falls in love with the disguised Rosalind, in As You Like It.
• Philario is an Italian friend of Posthumus, who introduces him to Jachimo, in Cymbeline.
• Philemon is a servant of Cerimon, in Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
• Philip:
  • King Philip of France (hist) allies himself with Constance in support of Arthur's claim, but later makes peace with King John.
  • Philip (the Bastard) Faulconbridge (fict) is a central character in King John, the bravest and most articulate of John's supporters.
  • Philip is a servant of Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew.
• Philo and Demetrius, Romans following Antony, regret his infatuation with Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra.
• Philotus is a servant, sent to extract payment of a debt from Timon of Athens.
• Phrynia and Timandra are whores, or mistresses of Alcibiades, in Timon of Athens.
• Sir Piers of Exton (fict) murders the deposed King Richard in Richard II.
• Pinch is a conjuror in The Comedy of Errors.
• Pindarus is a servant of Cassius, in Julius Caesar. He aids Cassius' suicide, at Philippi.
• Three Pirates rescue Marina from Leonine, then sell her to a brothel at Mytilene, in Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
• Pirithous (myth) is a friend of Theseus, in The Two Noble Kinsmen.
• Pisanio, the servant of Posthumus, is ordered to murder Imogen, but instead spares her and disguises her as Fidele, in Cymbeline.
• Pistol (fict) is a follower of Sir John Falstaff in Henry IV, Part 2 and The Merry Wives of Windsor. He is married to Mistress Quickly, and is a soldier in conflict with Fluellen, in Henry V.
• Player:
  • First Player or Player King leads the company which visits Elsinore in Hamlet. He reads an excerpt as Priam, and plays the king in The Mousetrap.
  • Second Player or Player Queen, in Hamlet, plays the queen in The Mousetrap.
  • Third Player, in Hamlet, plays Lucianus in The Mousetrap.
  • Fourth Player, in Hamlet, reads the prologue to The Mousetrap.
  • A Player appears in the induction to The Taming of the Shrew.
  • A number of characters are players, including, in a sense, the whole cast (except for those in the induction) of The Taming of the Shrew.
• Plebeians:
  • A mob of Plebeians, four of them individual speaking roles, hear the funeral orations of Brutus and Antony, in Julius Caesar.
  • For Plebeians in Coriolanus, see Citizens.
• Poet:
  • A Poet and a Painter obtain the patronage of Timon of Athens. They return to him, in the woods, having heard rumours that he has found gold.
  • A Poet appears briefly in Julius Caesar, begging Brutus and Cassius to be friends.
  • See also Cinna the Poet.
• Ned Poins (fict) is a highwayman, and a close companion of Hal, in Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2.
• The Duke of Suffolk (William de la Pole) (hist) is a manipulative character, loved by Queen Margaret, in Henry VI, Part 1 and Henry VI, Part 2.
• Polixines is the King of Bohemia in The Winter's Tale. Leontes wrongly believes that Polixines and Hermione are having an affair.
• Polonius is a chief adviser in the court of King Claudius in Hamlet, and is the father of Ophelia and Laertes. He is killed by Hamlet, who stabs him through an arras while he is eavesdropping on a conversation between Hamlet and Gertrude.
• Polydore (real name Guiderius) is the true heir of Cymbeline, stolen away in infancy by Morgan, and brought up as Morgan's child.
• Peter of Pomfret is a prophet in King John. John orders his hanging upon hearing he has predicted that John will yield up his crown.
• Pompey:
  • Pompey is a bawdy servant to Mistress Overdone in Measure for Measure.
  • Pompey or Sextus Pompeius (hist) is the enemy of the Triumverate in Antony and Cleopatra.
  • See also Costard, who plays Pompey in the masque of the Nine Worthies.
• For Poor Tom see Edgar.
• Popilius Lena, a senator, briefly frightens the conspirators into a belief that their plot may have been discovered, with his line "I wish your enterprise today might thrive", in Julius Caesar.
• Porter:
  • A Porter to the Countess of Auvergne locks the doors, believing that he has thereby made Talbot prisoner, in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • The Porter is a clown in Macbeth.
• Portia:
  • Portia is the central female character in The Merchant of Venice. She disguises herself as a lawyer in an attempt to thwart Shylock's attempt on Antonio's life.
  • Portia (hist) is the wife of Brutus in Julius Caesar.
• Posthumus Leonatus (usually just "Posthumus") is the exiled husband of Imogen, in Cymbeline. Persuaded she has been unfaithful, he orders Pisanio to kill her.
• For Potpan, see Servingmen.
• For Presenter see John Gower.
• Priam:
  • Priam (myth) is the king of Troy in Troilus and Cressida.
  • See also Player King.
• Priest:
  • A Priest converses briefly with Lord Hastings in Richard III.
  • A Priest presides over Ophelia's burial in Hamlet.
  • A Priest solemnises the marriage of Olivia and Sebastian in Twelfth Night.
• Prince (title):
  • Escalus, Prince of Verona tries to keep the peace between Montague and Capulet, in Romeo and Juliet.
  • Prince Edward:
    • Prince Edward (hist) is the son of Henry VI, who joins his mother Queen Margaret as a leader of the Lancastrian forces in Henry VI, Part 3. He is killed by the three Yorks (Edward, George and Richard).
    • Prince Edward of York later King Edward V (hist) is the eldest son of Edward IV and Queen Elizabeth. He appears in Henry VI, Part 3, and is the elder of the two princes in the tower in Richard III.
  • Prince Hamlet is the central character of Hamlet. He is a prince of Denmark, called on to avenge his father's (Old Hamlet's) murder by Claudius.
  • Prince Henry (hist) appears towards the end of King John, as successor to the title character.
  • Prince John of Lancaster (hist), the younger brother of Hal, would be a fairly minor character in Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2 and Henry V, were it not for his central, unscrupulous, role in the Gaultree Forest episode of Henry IV, Part 2. He is also the Duke of Bedford who is Regent of France in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • The Prince of Arragon is an unsuccessful suitor to Portia in The Merchant of Venice.
  • The Prince of Morocco is an unsuccessful suitor to Portia in The Merchant of Venice.
  • For Prince of Tyre see Pericles.
  • For Prince of Wales see Hal, Prince Edward, Prince Edward of York.
  • Numerous characters are princes, either because they are rulers of principalities (for example Don Pedro and Pericles), or by descent from a king.
• Princess:
  • The Princess of France leads a diplomatic mission to Navarre and becomes romantically entangled with the King, in Love's Labour's Lost.
  • Several characters are princesses in the sense of being descendants of kings, including Katherine in Henry V, Queen Margaret (until she becomes queen), Imogen, Perdita, Gonerill, Regan and Cordelia. Others are described as princesses by virtue of being descendants of ruling dukes, including Rosalind, Celia, Silvia and Miranda. Others are princesses by descent from a ruling prince, for example Marina.
• Proculeius (hist) is a follower of Caesar in Antony and Cleopatra. It appears Antony has told Cleopatra to "trust him".
• Prologue:
  • A Prologue and an Epilogue (possibly the same player) appear in The Two Noble Kinsmen.
  • A Prologue appears in Troilus and Cressida.
  • see Peter Quince.
  • see Fourth Player.
  • see also Chorus.
• Prospero is the central character of The Tempest, the wronged Duke of Milan, set adrift with his daughter Miranda, twelve years before the play begins. He has become a sorcerer and is lord of the enchanted island.
• Proteus is one of The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Originally in love with Julia, he proves unfaithful: coveting Silvia and eventually attempting to rape her.
• A Provost appears in Measure for Measure.
• Publius is a minor character: a senator accompanying Caesar to the Capitol, in Julius Caesar.
• Joan la Pucelle (hist), better known to history as Joan of Arc, leads the Dauphin's forces against Talbot and the English in Henry VI, Part 1.
• Puck (myth) is a mischievous (male) fairy, a servant of Oberon, in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
• Hastings Pursuivant is a minor character who meets his namesake, Lord Hastings, in Richard III.
• For Puzel see Joan la Pucelle.
• For Pyramus, see Nick Bottom.

Q

The Queen in "Hamlet" by Edwin Austin Abbey

• Queen (title):
  • Player Queen or Second Player, in Hamlet, plays the queen in The Mousetrap.
  • Queen, in Cymbeline, is the scheming wife of the title character, who attempts to manipulate events so that her son, Cloten, inherits the throne.
  • Three Queens, plead to Theseus to intercede with the tyrant Creon, who has killed their husbands in battle, in The Two Noble Kinsmen.
  • Queen Eleanor (hist) is the mother of King John. She takes a liking to Philip the Bastard, and recruits him to John's court.
  • Queen Elizabeth (hist) is a suitor to, and then queen to, Edward IV in Henry VI, Part 3 and Richard III. She is a major character in the later play, and a foil to Richard.
  • The Queen of France (hist) appears in the last act of Henry V.
  • Queen Gertrude is Hamlet's mother. She has married Claudius.
  • Queen Isabel (hist) is Richard II's queen, exiled upon his deposition.
  • Queen Katherine of Aragon (hist) is the first wife of Henry VIII.
  • Queen Margaret (hist) is the only truly epic character in Shakespeare. She appears as a naive girl in Henry VI, Part 1 and as an embittered old woman in Richard III. She is a central character of the two intervening plays, Henry VI, Part 2 and Henry VI, Part 3, in which she is the wife of Henry VI, and a leader of his armies. In her most notable scene she supervises the murder/execution of Richard Duke of York.
  • Numerous characters are, or become, queens including Cordelia, Hermione, Lady Anne, Lady Macbeth and Titania
• Mistress Quickly (fict) is an important character in Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2, Henry V and The Merry Wives of Windsor. She is noted for her lewd malapropisms and double entendres. She is an innkeeper's wife (later his widow) in the Henry plays. She has a different personality, and a different relationship to other characters, in Merry Wives, where she is a servant to Doctor Caius.
• Peter Quince is a carpenter in A Midsummer Night's Dream. He plays the prologue to Pyramus and Thisbe.
• Quintus and Martius, two sons of Titus Andronicus, have the same story: returning from the wars they sacrifice one of Tamora's sons. They defy their father over Saturninus' claim to the hand of Lavinia. They are framed and executed for Bassianus' murder.

R

File:AsYouLikeIt.jpg

Elisabeth Bergner as Rosalind with Laurence Olivier as Orlando in the 1936 film version of As You Like It.

• Ragozine is a prisoner of the state of Vienna in Measure for Measure. He is executed, and his head is sent to Angelo in place of Claudio's.
• Rambures (fict?) is a French lord in Henry V.
• Sir Richard Ratcliffe (hist) is a confidante of Richard in Richard III.
• Several reapers dance in the masque in The Tempest.
• Hugh Rebeck, Simon Catling and James Soundpost are minor characters, musicians, in Romeo and Juliet.
• Regan is the cruel second daughter of King Lear. She is married to the Duke of Cornwall.
• Reignier (hist) is the impoverished king of Naples and Jerusalem, and father to Queen Margaret, in Henry VI, Part 1.
• Reynaldo is a minor character, an agent of Polonius, in Hamlet.
• Richard:
  • King Richard II (hist) is the title character of Richard II: a king who is deposed and eventually murdered.
  • Richard, Duke of Gloucester, later King Richard III (hist), brave but evil, is the third son of Richard, Duke of York (1). He is a fairly minor character in Henry VI, Part 2, is more prominent in Henry VI, Part 3, and is the title character - and murderer of many other characters - in Richard III.
  • Richard, Duke of York (1) (hist) is a central character in Henry VI, Part 1, Henry VI, Part 2 and Henry VI, Part 3. He is the Yorkist claimant to the throne of England, in opposition to Henry VI, and he is eventually killed on the orders of Queen Margaret.
  • Richard, Duke of York (2) (hist) is the younger of the two princes in the tower, murdered on the orders of Richard in Richard III.
  • Sir Richard Ratcliffe (hist) is a confidante of Richard in Richard III.
  • Sir Richard Vernon is a follower of the rebel forces in Henry IV, Part 1.
  • See also Philip (the Bastard) Faulconbridge, who is renamed "Sir Richard" by King John, and is often addressed as such.
• The Earl of Richmond, later King Henry VII (hist) leads the rebellion against the cruel rule of Richard III, and eventually succeeds him as king.
• Earl Rivers (hist), is the brother to Queen Elizabeth in Richard III. He is arrested and executed on the orders of Richard and Buckingham.
• Robert:
  • Robert is a servingman of Mistress Ford: he carries Falstaff to Datchet Mead in a buck-basket, in The Merry Wives of Windsor.
  • Robert Faulconbridge (fict) is the legitimate brother of the bastard in King John. He inherits his father's property.
  • See also Justice Shallow, whose first name is Robert.
• Robin:
  • Robin Starveling is a tailor in A Midsummer Night's Dream. He plays "Moonshine" in Pyramus and Thisbe.
  • See The Boy (who is called Robin in The Merry Wives of Windsor).
  • See Puck (who is also called Robin Goodfellow).
• Roderigo is a gentleman suitor to Desdemona in Othello. He is gulled by Iago throughout the play, and eventually Iago murders him.
• Roman:
  • A Roman (named Ninacor) encounters the Volsce, Adrian, with news that Coriolanus is banished from Rome.
  • Three Romans, with pillage, appear briefly in Coriolanus.
  • See the other part of a character's title where "Roman" is used as an adjective (e.g. see "Captain" for "Roman Captain").
  • See also Citizen, which is Shakespeare's more usual description for unnamed Romans. Similarly, see Plebeians, Senators, Tribunes
• Romeo is a title character in Romeo and Juliet. The son of Montague, he falls in love with Juliet, the daughter of his father's enemy Capulet, with tragic results.
• Rosalind is the central character of As You Like It. She spends the bulk of the play in exile in the Forest of Arden disguised as a boy called Ganymede.
• Rosaline
  • Rosaline is lady attending on the Princess of France in Love's Labour's Lost. She becomes romantically entangled with Berowne.
  • See also Rosalind, who is sometimes addressed as Rosaline.
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are two former friends of Hamlet, invited to the Danish court to spy on him. They eventually accompany Hamlet towards England, but he escapes while they continue with the journey, to their deaths.
• Ross
  • Lord Ross (hist) is a supporter of Bolingbroke in Richard II.
  • Ross is a thane in Macbeth.
• Rousillon:
  • The Countess of Rousillon is Bertram's mother, and Helena's protector, in All's Well That Ends Well.
  • See also Bertram, who is Count of Rousillon.
• John Rugby is a servant to Caius in The Merry Wives of Windsor.
• Rumour is the prologue to Henry IV, Part 2.
• Rutland (hist) is the youngest son of Richard Duke of York (1), killed in battle while still a boy, by Clifford, in Henry VI, part 3. (TRIVIA: historically Rutland was not the youngest of the four York brothers depicted in the plays. Shakespeare made him so using dramatic licence.)
  • For Rycas, see Countryman.
• Rynaldo is a steward to the Countess of Rousillion, in All's Well That Ends Well. He reveals to the countess that Helena loves Bertram.

S

"Shylock and Jessica" by Maurycy Gottlieb (1856-1879)

• Sailors:
  • Several sailors, one of whom is a speaking role, deliver letters from Hamlet to Horatio.
  • A sailor brings news of a Turkish fleet to the Venetian Senate, in Othello.
  • Two sailors appear in the storm scene of Pericles, Prince of Tyre, insisting that Thaisa's body be buried at sea, immediately.
  • A sailor of Tyre and a sailor of Mytilene, appear briefly in the shipboard reconciliation scene between Pericles and Marina.
  • Numerous characters are sailors (and see also Master, Boatswain, Captain). Also "sailors" is a common designation for supernumiary characters.
• Salerio is a friend of Solanio, Antonio, Bassanio, and Lorenzo in The Merchant of Venice.
• Salisbury:
  • The Earl of Salisbury (hist) delivers bad news to Constance, in King John.
  • The Earl of Salisbury (hist) remains loyal to King Richard in Richard II.
  • The Earl of Salisbury (hist) fights for the king in Henry V. He is killed by the Master Gunner's Boy in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • The Earl of Salisbury (hist) supports the Yorkists in Henry VI, Part 2.
• Sampson and Gregory, two men of the Capulet household, open the main action of Romeo and Juliet with their aggressive and lecherous banter.
• Saturninus becomes emperor of Rome, and marries Tamora, in Titus Andronicus.
• Lord Saye (hist) is an enemy of Jack Cade, killed by the rebels, in Henry VI, Part 2.
• Lord Scales (hist) is an enemy of Jack Cade's rebels in Henry VI, Part 2.
• Scarus (hist?) is a follower of Antony in Antony and Cleopatra. He reports Antony's retreat to Enobarbus.
• Schoolmaster:
  • A Schoolmaster acts as ambassador from Antony to Caesar, in Antony and Cleopatra.
  • See also Gerald.
  • A number of characters are schoolmasters, including Holofernes and Sir Hugh Evans.
• A Scottish Doctor witnesses Lady Macbeth sleepwalking in Macbeth.
• A scout of the French army reports that the English army has regrouped and is ready to attack, in Henry VI, Part 1.
• A scrivener (fict) explains the hypocrisy of Lord Hastings' indictment, in Richard III.
• Scroop:
  • Lord Scroop (hist) is one of the three conspirators against the king's life (with Cambridge and Grey) in Henry V.
  • Scroop (hist) supports Richard in Richard II.
  • See also Archbishop of York.
• George Seacoal is a member of the Watch in Much Ado About Nothing.
• Sebastian:
  • Sebastian is the twin brother of Viola in Twelfth Night. He is often mistaken for her male persona, Cesario, and Olivia marries him under that misaprehension.
  • Sebastian is the brother of Alonso in The Tempest. He conspires with Antonio to murder Alonzo and Gonzalo.
  • See also Julia in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, who calls herself Sebastian in her male disguise.
• For "Second...", see entries under the rest of the character's designation (e.g. Murderer for Second Murderer, Player for Second Player, etc.).
• Seleucus is Cleopatra's treasurer, in Antony and Cleopatra.
• Sempronius:
  • Sempronius is a lord in Timon of Athens, who flatters Titus but proves a false friend.
  • Sempronius, Caius and Valentine are minor characters, kinsmen and supporters of Titus, in Titus Andronicus.
• Senator:
  • Several Senators, two of which are speaking roles, hear Brabantio's complaint against Othello, in Othello.
  • At least four Senators, or more (depending upon if and how they are doubled) appear in Timon of Athens:
    • A Senator is a creditor of Timon, and sends Caphis to collect the debt.
    • Three Senators anger Alcibiades by insisting upon a death sentence for his friend.
    • Two Senators visit Timon in the woods, begging his assistance for Athens.
    • Two further Senators hear of the failure of the previous two Senators' approach to Timon.
    • Two Senators negotiate Athens' surrender to Alcibiades.
    • Senators are also supernumiary characters at Timon's second feast.
  • The Roman Senators, two of them speaking roles, appear in Coriolanus, both as friends and enemies to the title character.
  • Two Senators and a Tribune discuss the prospects of their impending war with the Britons, in Cymbeline.
  • Many major characters in the Roman plays are Senators.
  • Senators are often supernumiary characters in the Roman and Venetian plays.
• Duke Senior is the father of Rosalind. He is the true duke, and has been usurped by his brother, Duke Frederick at the start of As You Like It.
• For Sennois, see Countryman.
• Two Sentinels, one a speaking role, appear with a Sergeant on the walls of Orleans, in Henry VI, Part 1.
• A Sentry and the Watch (two of whom are minor speaking roles) witness the death of Enobarbus, in Antony and Cleopatra.
• A French Sergeant appears with two Sentinels on the walls of Orleans, in Henry VI, Part 1.
• Servant:
  • Diomedes' Servant is sent with a message to Cressida, in Troilus and Cressida.
  • Paris' Servant has a clownish exchange with Pandarus in Troilus and Cressida.
  • A servant (who Shakespeare may have intended to be one and the same character as "Peter") needs the help of Romeo and Benvolio to read the guest list for Capulet's party, in Romeo and Juliet.
  • A servant to the Lord Chief Justice is abused by Falstaff in Henry IV, Part 2.
  • A servant to Olivia is a minor character in Twelfth Night.
  • Two servants (fict) of Piers of Exton are sounding-boards for his plan to murder Richard, in Richard II.
  • Two servants (plus a third named Philemon) follow Lord Cerimon, in Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
  • Three unnamed servants appear in King Lear, including one who dies killing the cruel Duke of Cornwall.
  • Three unnamed servants appear in Julius Caesar:
    • A servant of Caesar is sent to bid the priests do present sacrifice, on the morning of the ides of March, and reports the ill-omen that the sacrificed beast had no heart.
    • A servant of Antony comes to the conspirators after the murder of Caesar, to discover whether it is safe for his master to meet them.
    • A servant of Octavius carries messages between Octavius and Antony.
  • In Antony and Cleopatra:
    • A servant of Antony reports that Thidias has been soudly whipped.
    • A servant informs Cleopatra of the approach of a messenger from Caesar.
    • "Two or three" servants, two of them speaking roles, lay out a banquet for Pompey and the Triumvers.
    • "Three or four" servants speak the unison line "The gods forbid!".
  • Numerous servants appear in Timon of Athens:
    • Isidore's Servant pursues his master's claim for money due from Timon. (Isidore is not a character.)
    • Lucius' Servant (at one point addressed as Lucius) is among the servants clamouring for payment of their master's debts in the second such scene, prompting Timon to announce his second feast.
    • Lucullus' Servant announces Flaminius' arrival at Lucullus' home, and provides wine.
    • Two of Varro's servants pursue their master's claim for money due from Timon. (Varro is not a character, although his first servant is at one point addressed as Varro.)
    • A servant to the First Lord reports that horses are ready, for Lords to leave Timon's first feast.
    • Three servants of Timon make announcements at Timon's first feast, and later - with Flavius - mourn for Timon's poverty, and the loss of their jobs.
    • A servant of Timon approaches Sempronius - unsuccessfully - with a request for funds for Timon.
    • Three of Timon's servants are named characters: Flaminius, Lucilius and Servilius. (See their separate entries.) They may, or may not, have been intended to be doubled with the un-named servants mentioned in the play.
    • The play may contain other supernumiary servants, depending upon how parts are doubled in performance.
    • See also Caphis, Hortensius, Philotus and Titus.
  • Talbot's Servant accompanies the dying Talbot, in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • For Troilus' Servants, see Boy and Man.
  • Numerous characters in the plays are servants. Also, "servant" is a common designation for supernumiary characters.
  • See also Servingman.
• Servilius is a servant of Timon of Athens, sent - unsuccessfully - to seek money for his master from Lucius.
• Servingman:
  • A servingman (fict) to the Duke of York brings news of the Duchess of Gloucester's death in Richard II.
  • Three servingmen to Aufidius discuss the arrival of their master's former arch-enemy Coriolanus, as a guest.
  • Four servingmen (two of them called "Anthony" and "Potpan") are minor speaking roles in the build-up to Capulet's party in Romeo and Juliet.
  • Numerous servingmen of Winchester and Gloucester (one of Gloucester's being a minor speaking role) brawl in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • Several servingmen of the Lord, three of whom are speaking roles, attend the hung-over Christopher Sly, trying to fool him into believing he is a lord, in the induction to The Taming of the Shrew.
  • Numerous characters in the plays are servingmen. Also, "servingman" is a common designation for supernumiary characters.
  • See also Servant.
• For Servitor, see Servant.
• A Sexton supervises Dogberry's inept examination of Conrade and Borachio, in Much Ado About Nothing.
• Pompey or Sextus Pompeius (hist) is the enemy of the Triumverate in Antony and Cleopatra.
• Seyton is a servant to Macbeth.
• Seyward:
  • Seyward is the Earl of Northumberland in Macbeth.
  • Young Seyward is the son of the Earl of Northumberland in Macbeth.
• Shadow is pressed into military service by Falstaff in Henry IV, Part 2.
• Justice Shallow (fict) is an elderly landowner in Henry IV, Part 2 and The Merry Wives of Windsor.
• Shepherd:
  • Old Shepherd is the kindly father of the Clown in The Winter's Tale, who adopts the abandoned Perdita as his daughter.
  • A Shepherd says that he is Joan's father, but she disowns him, in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • A number of characters are shepherds or shepherdesses, including Corin, Dorcas, Mopsa and Silvius.
• Sherriff:
  • A Sheriff holds Eleanor in custody in Henry VI, Part 2.
  • A Sherriff of Wiltshire (fict) denies the condemned Buckingham access to King Richard, in Richard III.
• Shylock is a central character in The Merchant of Venice - a Jewish money-lender who claims a pound of Antonio's flesh.
• Sicinius Velutus and Junius Brutus, two of the tribunes of the people, are Coriolanus' chief political enemies, and prove more effective than his military foes.
• Justice Silence (fict) is an elderly friend of Justice Shallow in Henry IV, Part 2.
• Silius is a follower of Antony, in Antony and Cleopatra.
• Silvia is the faithful lover of Valentine, and the victim of an attempted rape by Proteus, in The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
• Silvius is a shepherd, in love with Phebe, in As You Like It.
• Simon Catling, Hugh Rebeck and James Soundpost are minor characters, musicians, in Romeo and Juliet.
• Simonides, king of Pentapolis, pretends to oppose the romance between his daughter Thaisa and Pericles, Prince of Tyre: but in fact is delighted by it.
• Simpcox (fict) claims to have been cured of blindness in Henry VI, Part 2.
• Simpcox's Wife is the wife of Simpcox in Henry VI, Part 2.
• Simple is a servant to Slender in The Merry Wives of Windsor.
• Sir (title):
  • Sir Andrew Aguecheek is a foolish knight, and suitor to Olivia, in Twelfth Night.
  • Sir Eglamour assists Silvia's escape from her father's palace, in The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
  • Sir Hugh Evans is a Welsh priest in The Merry Wives of Windsor. He is challenged to a duel by Caius. He plays a fairy in the final act.
  • Sir Hugh Mortimer (hist) is an uncle of Richard Duke of York (1) in Henry VI, Part 3.
  • Sir Humphrey Stafford (hist) is an enemy of Jack Cade in Henry VI, Part 2.
  • Sir James Blunt is a supporter of Richmond in Richard III.
  • Sir James Tyrrell (hist) is employed by Richard III to murder the princes in the tower.
  • Sir John Blunt is a supporter of the king in Henry IV, Part 2.
  • Sir John Coleville is a rebel captured by Falstaff in Henry IV, Part 2.
  • Sir John Falstaff (fict, but see Sir John Oldcastle and Sir John Fastolfe) is a central character of Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2 and The Merry Wives of Windsor. In the Henry plays, he is "bad angel" to prince Hal, and is eventually rejected by him. He is the lecherous gull of the title characters in Merry Wives. His death is reported in Henry V, although he is not a character in that play. He is (with Hamlet) one of the two most significant roles in Shakespeare.
  • Sir John Fastolfe (hist) is a coward, stripped of his garter in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • Sir John Montgomery (historically Thomas Montgomery) is a minor Yorkist character in Henry VI, Part 3.
  • Sir John Mortimer (hist) is an uncle of Richard Duke of York (1) in Henry VI, Part 3.
  • Sir John Stanley supervises Eleanor's penance in Henry VI, Part 2.
  • Sir John Talbot (hist) is the leader of the English forces in France, and therefore the chief enemy of Joan, in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • Sir Michael is a minor character, a follower of the Archbishop of York, in Henry IV, Part 1.
  • Sir Oliver Martext is a foolish priest in As You Like It.
  • For Sir Pandarus of Troy, see Pandarus.
  • Sir Piers of Exton (fict) murders the deposed King Richard in Richard II.
  • Sir Richard Ratcliffe (hist) is a confidante of Richard in Richard III.
  • Sir Richard Vernon is a follower of the rebel forces in Henry IV, Part 1.
  • Sir Thomas Erpingham (hist) is an officer in Henry V's army.
  • Sir Thomas Grey (hist) is one of the three conspirators against the king's life (with Cambridge and Scroop) in Henry V.
  • Sir Thomas Vaughan (hist) is executed, alongside Rivers and Grey, in Richard III.
  • Sir Toby Belch is a drunken knight, and kinsman to Olivia, in Twelfth Night.
  • For Sir Topas see Feste.
  • Sir Walter Blunt is a soldier and messenger to the king in Henry IV, Part 1. He is killed by Douglas while wearing the king's armour.
  • Sir Walter Herbert is a follower of Richmond in Richard III.
  • Sir William Lucy (fict) is a soldier and messenger for the English in France in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • Sir William Stanley (hist), the historical brother of Lord Stanley from Richard III, is a minor character of the Yorkist faction in Henry VI, Part 3.
  • See also Philip (the Bastard) Faulconbridge, who is renamed "Sir Richard" by King John, and is often addressed as such.
  • See also Knight.
• For Weird Sisters, see Witches.
• For Siward see Seyward.
• Abraham Slender is a foolish suitor to Anne, and a kinsman of Shallow, in The Merry Wives of Windsor.
• Christopher Sly is a drunken tinker in the induction to The Taming of the Shrew. He is gulled into believing he is a lord.
• Smith the Weaver (fict) is a follower of Jack Cade in Henry VI, Part 2.
• Snare is a constable in Henry IV, part 2.
• Tom Snout is a tinker in A Midsummer Night's Dream. He plays "Wall" in Pyramus and Thisbe.
• Snug is a joiner in A Midsummer Night's Dream. He plays the lion in Pyramus and Thisbe.
• Solanio is a friend and counterpart of Salerio in The Merchant of Venice.
• Soldier:
  • A soldier discovers that Timon of Athens has died, and reports this to the senators.
  • An English soldier (fict) achieves some plunder at the siege of Orleans "using no other weapon but [Talbot's] name", in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • Several soldiers, of whom "first soldier" is an important speaking role and "second soldier" a minor speaking role, take part in the capture and mock-interrogation of Parolles, in All's Well That Ends Well.
  • Two of Coriolanus' soldiers, and one of Aufidius' soldiers, are minor speaking roles.
  • Two soldiers of Antony's party capture Lucilius, believing him to be Brutus, in Julius Caesar.
  • Three soldiers of Brutus' and Cassius' party each speak the one word "stand!" in Julius Caesar.
  • Four French soldiers (fict), one of them a speaking role, accompany Joan into Rouen disguised as peasants, in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • Several Soldiers have minor speaking roles in Antony and Cleopatra, including:
    • a soldier who discusses the progress of the war with Canidius;
    • four soldiers who hear the strange sound of hautboys beneath the stage;
    • a soldier who acts as a messenger to Antony;
    • a group of Antony's soldiers who share the unison line "Good morrow, General!";
    • one of Antony's soldiers who informs his leader that Enobarbus has deserted to follow Caesar; and
    • one of Ceasar's soldiers who informs Enobarbus that Antony has sent Enobarbus his treasure.
  • Soldiers give the shout that Hector is slain by Achilles, in Troilus and Cressida.
  • Many, arguably most, male characters in Shakespeare's plays are soldiers.
  • "Soldiers" is a common designation for supernumiary characters.
• Solinus is the Duke of Ephesus in The Comedy of Errors.
• Somerset:
  • The Duke of Somerset (1) (hist) is a follower of King Henry in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • The Duke of Somerset (2) (hist) appears among the Lancastrian faction in Henry VI, Part 2. His head is carried onstage by Richard (later Richard III) in the opening scene of Henry VI, Part 3.
  • The Duke of Somerset (3) (hist and hist) is a conflation by Shakespeare of two historical Dukes of Somerset. He supports both factions at different stages of Henry VI, Part 3.
• Somerville (fict) is a follower of Warwick in Henry VI, Part 3.
• Son:
  • Macduff's Son is murdered on Macbeth's orders.
  • A Son who has killed his father at the Battle of Towton appears in Henry VI, Part 3. See also Father.
• Soothsayer:
  • A Soothsayer wisely warns Caesar to beware the Ides of March, in Julius Caesar.
  • A Soothsayer attends on Lucius, and eventually interprets the book given to Posthumus by Jupiter, in Cymbeline.
  • A Soothsayer makes a number of predictions, all of which come true in their own way, in Antony and Cleopatra.
• James Soundpost, Simon Catling and Hugh Rebeck are minor characters, musicians, in Romeo and Juliet.
• Southwell, with Hume, Jourdain and Bolingbroke, are the supernatural conspitators with Eleanor Duchess of Gloucester in Henry VI, Part 2.
• A Spaniard, a Frenchman and a Dutchman are guests of Philario, in Cymbeline.
• Speed is the slow-witted servant of Valentine, in The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
• A spirit is conjured by Jourdain, Southwell, Hume and Bolingbroke to answer Eleanor's questions, in Henry VI, Part 2.
• A number of sprites serve Prospero in The Tempest.
• The Mayor of St. Albans appears briefly in the "Simpcox" episode in Henry VI, Part 2.
• Robin Starveling is a tailor in A Midsummer Night's Dream. He plays "Moonshine" in Pyramus and Thisbe.
• Stafford:
  • Lord Stafford (hist) is a non-speaking Yorkist in Henry VI, Part 3.
  • Sir Humphrey Stafford (hist) is an enemy of Jack Cade in Henry VI, Part 2.
  • Stafford's Brother (hist) is an enemy of Jack Cade in Henry VI, Part 2.
• Stanley:
  • Lord Stanley, Earl of Derby (hist) is a military leader who ultimately reveals his loyalty to the Richmond faction, in spite of his son being a hostage to Richard, in Richard III.
  • Sir John Stanley supervises Eleanor's penance in Henry VI, Part 2.
  • Sir William Stanley (hist), the historical brother of Lord Stanley from Richard III, is a minor character of the Yorkist faction in Henry VI, Part 3.
• Stephano:
  • Stephano is a drunken butler in The Tempest. He conspires with Caliban and Trinculo to kill Prospero and become king of the island.
  • Stephano is a servant of Portia, in The Merchant of Venice.
• Steward:
  • For "Steward" in All's Well That Ends Well, see Rynaldo.
  • A number of characters are stewards, most notably Flavius, Malvolio and Philostrate.
• Three Strangers (one of them named Hostilius) witness Lucius' hypocrisy in claiming he would help Timon of Athens, but then failing to do so.
• Strato is a servant of Brutus in Julius Caesar. He holds Brutus' sword, so that Brutus may kill himself by running onto it.
• The Duke of Suffolk (William de la Pole) (hist) is a manipulative character, loved by Queen Margaret, in Henry VI, Part 1 and Henry VI, Part 2.
• Surrey:
  • The Duke of Surrey (hist) accuses Aumerle of plotting Woodstock's death in Richard II.
  • The Earl of Surrey is a supporter of the king in Henry IV, Part 2.
• Syracuse:
  • Antipholus of Syracuse, twin of Antipholus of Ephesus - with whom he is often confused, is a central character in The Comedy of Errors.
  • Dromio of Syracuse, servant to Antipholus of Syracuse and twin of Dromio of Ephesus - with whom he is often confused, is a central character in The Comedy of Errors.

T

File:Titus1w.jpg

Julie Taymor's film Titus, starring Anthony Hopkins as Titus Andronicus and Jessica Lange as Tamora.

• For Taborer, see Timothy.
• A Tailor is verbally abused by Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew.
• Talbot:
  • John Talbot is the son of Sir John Talbot. They die together bravely in battle in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • Sir John Talbot (hist) is the leader of the English forces in France, and therefore the chief enemy of Joan, in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • Talbot's Servant accompanies the dying Talbot, in Henry VI, Part 1.
• Tamora is the evil queen of the Goths who marries Saturninus in Titus Andronicus.
• Taurus (hist) is a follower of Caesar in Antony and Cleopatra.
• Doll Tearsheet (fict) is a whore, who is emotionally involved with Falstaff, and is later arrested for murder in Henry IV, Part 2.
• Thaisa, the wife of Pericles, Prince of Tyre, is buried at sea, believed dead. However her coffin washes up on shore, she is revived by Cerimon, and she becomes a priestess at the temple of Diana.
• Thaliard is a lord of Antioch, ordered to kill Pericles, in Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
• For Thane see Macbeth, Banquo, Macduff, Lennox, Ross, Menteth, Angus and Cathness, all from Macbeth.
• Thersites is a clown, who serves firstly Ajax and later Achilles, in Troilus and Cressida.
• Theseus (myth) is the Duke of Athens in A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Two Noble Kinsmen.
• Thidias (hist) is a follower of Caesar in Antony and Cleopatra, sent with messages to Cleopatra and to Antony. Antony has him whipped before sending him back to his master.
• For "Third...", see entries under the rest of the character's designation (e.g. Murderer for Third Murderer, Player for Third Player, etc.).
• Thomas:
  • Friar Thomas leads an order of friars, and assists Vincentio to disguise himself as a friar, in Measure for Measure.
  • Sir Thomas Erpingham (hist) is an officer in Henry V's army.
  • Sir Thomas Grey (hist) is one of the three conspirators against the king's life (with Cambridge and Scroop) in Henry V.
  • Sir Thomas Vaughan (hist) is executed, alongside Rivers and Grey, in Richard III.
  • Thomas, Duke of Clarence (hist) is Hal's younger brother, who appears in Henry IV, Part 2 and Henry V.
  • Thomas Horner (fict) fights a duel with his apprentice Peter Thump in Henry VI, Part 2.
  • Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk (hist) is Bolingbroke's enemy, exiled by Richard, in Richard II.
  • For Thomas Percy, see Earl of Worcester.
  • See also Tom.
• For Sir Topas see Feste.
• For Thisbe see Francis Flute.
• Peter Thump (fict) fights a duel with his master Thomas Horner in Henry VI, Part 2.
• Thurio is a cowardly suitor to Silvia (and therefore a rival of Valentine) in The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
• Timandra and Phrynia are whores, or mistresses of Alcibiades, in Timon of Athens.
• Time, personified, acts as a chorus in The Winter's Tale, bridging the sixteen year gap between the third and fourth acts.
• Timon (hist) is the central character of Timon of Athens. His over-generosity leads him into poverty, and his friends abandon him.
• Timothy plays a tabor in the Maying ceremony in The Two Noble Kinsmen.
• Titania is Queen of the Fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Under the influence of love in idleness, she falls in love with Bottom (with his ass's head).
• Titinius is a loyal follower of Cassius, in Julius Caesar. He kills himself with Cassius' sword, at Philippi.
• Titus:
  • Titus is a servant, sent to extract payment of a debt from Timon of Athens.
  • Titus Andronicus is the central character of Titus Andronicus. Broken and sent mad by Tamora and her followers, he eventually exacts his revenge by killing her sons, and cooking them for her to eat.
  • Titus Lartius and Cominius are leaders of the Roman forces against the Volscians, alongside Coriolanus.
• Sir Toby Belch is a drunken knight, and kinsman to Olivia, in Twelfth Night.
• Tom:
  • Tom Snout is a tinker in A Midsummer Night's Dream. He plays "Wall" in Pyramus and Thisbe.
  • For Poor Tom see Edgar.
  • See also Thomas.
• Touchstone is a clown in As You Like It.
• Tranio is a servant to Lucentio in The Taming of the Shrew. He disguises himself as Lucentio, to enable Lucentio carry through his disguise.
• Travers (fict) is a messenger to the Earl of Northumberland in Henry IV, Part 2.
• Trebonius (hist) is one of the conspirators against Julius Caesar.
• Tressell and Berkeley (fict) are the two gentlemen accompanying Lady Anne, and Henry VI's coffin, in Richard III.
• Tribune:
  • A Tribune and two Senators discuss the prospects of their impending war with the Britons, in Cymbeline.
  • Several characters are Tribunes, including Flavius and Marullus in Julius Caesar, and Sicinius and Brutus in Coriolanus.
• Trinculo is a clown, a friend to Stephano, in The Tempest.
• Troilus (myth) is a young Trojan prince who falls in love with Cressida during the Trojan War in Troilus and Cressida.
• Troy/Trojan:
  • For Sir Pandarus of Troy, see Pandarus.
  • For King of Troy see Priam.
  • Numerous characters in Troilus and Cressida are Trojans.
• Tubal is a wealthy Jew, a friend to Shylock, in The Merchant of Venice.
• Tullus Aufidius, leader of the Volscians, is the arch-enemy, and briefly the ally, of Coriolanus.
• A Tutor (fict) fails to save the life of his pupil, Rutland, in Henry VI, Part 3.
• Tybalt, cousin to Juliet, is a fiery-tempered character, nicknamed "prince of cats" in Romeo and Juliet. He kills Mercutio, and is killed by Romeo.
• Sir James Tyrrell (hist) is employed by Richard III to murder the princes in the tower.

U

A painting by John William Waterhouse depicting Odysseus's encounter with the sirens. Odysseus, or Ulysses, appears as a character in Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida.

• Ulysses (myth) is one of the Greek leaders in Troilus and Cressida.
• Ursula is a maid in Much Ado About Nothing.

V

• Valentine:
  • Valentine is one of The Two Gentlemen of Verona. He falls in love with Silvia, becomes exiled, and leads a band of robbers.
  • Valentine is an attendant on Orsino in Twelfth Night.
  • Valentine, Caius and Sempronius are minor characters, kinsmen and supporters of Titus, in Titus Andronicus.
• Valeria is a friend of Volumnia or Virgilia in Coriolanus. She brings news of Coriolanus' exploits.

  

  "Venturia [Shakespeare's Volumnia] at the Feet of Coriolanus" by Gaspare Landi.

• Valerius is a Thebean, a follower of Creon, who brings news of a forthcoming battle to The Two Noble Kinsmen.
• Varrius:
  • Varrius, a friend of the Duke, is a non-speaking role (although he is addressed by name, and therefore falls just short of being a ghost character) in Measure for Measure.
  • Varrius is a follower of Pompey in Antony and Cleopatra.
• Varro:
  • Varro and Claudius are guards in Brutus' tent, in Julius Caesar. They do not see Caesar's ghost.
  • For Varro's Servants, in Timon of Athens, see servant.
• Sir Thomas Vaughan (hist) is executed, alongside Rivers and Grey, in Richard III.
• Vaux is a minor character of the Lancastrian party in Henry VI, Part 2.
• Sicinius Velutus and Junius Brutus, two of the tribunes of the people, are Coriolanus' chief political enemies, and prove more effective than his military foes.
• Duke of Venice:
  • The Duke of Venice tries the case between Shylock and Antonio in The Merchant of Venice.
  • The Duke of Venice hears Brabantio's complaint against Othello.
• Ventidius:
  • Ventidius (hist) is a follower of Antony in Antony and Cleopatra.
  • Ventidius is bailed by Timon of Athens, then attends Timon's first feast offering to repay the debt, which Timon refuses. Later, however, he refuses Timon's request for funds.
• Verges, accompanied by Dogberry, is a clownish officer of the watch in Much Ado About Nothing.
• Vernon:
  • Sir Richard Vernon is a follower of the rebel forces in Henry IV, Part 1.
  • Vernon (fict) is a supporter of Richard, Duke of York (1) in Henry VI, Part 1.
• Escalus, Prince of Verona tries to keep the peace between Montague and Capulet, in Romeo and Juliet.
• For Duke of Vienna see Vincentio in Measure for Measure.
• Vincentio:
  • Vincentio, the Duke of Vienna, is a central character in Measure for Measure. Disguised as Friar Lodowick, he intrigues to achieve justice for Isabella and other virtuous characters.
  • Vincentio is the father of Lucentio in The Taming of the Shrew.
  • See also The Pedant, who falsely claims to be Vincentio in The Taming of the Shrew.
• A vintner (who may be the husband of Mistress Quickly) appears briefly in Henry IV, Part 1.
• Viola is the central character of Twelfth Night. She disguises herself as a boy and calls herself Cesario. She loves Orsino. Olivia falls in love with Cesario.
• Virgilia is Coriolanus' wife.
• Volsce/Volscian:
  • A Volsce (named Adrian) encounters the Roman, Ninacor, and hears the news that Coriolanus is banished from Rome.
  • See the other part of a character's title where "Volsce" is used as an adjective (e.g. see "Lords" for "Volscian Lords").
• Voltemand and Cornelius are two ambassadors from Claudius to the Norwegian court, in Hamlet.
• Volumnia is Coriolanus' mother. She persuades him not to attack Rome, leading to his destruction.
• Volumnius is a friend and follower of Brutus in Julius Caesar. He refuses to assist Brutus' suicide.

W

The Three Witches by Johann Heinrich Füssli.

• A Waiting Woman exchanges bawdy banter with Emilia, in The Two Noble Kinsmen.
• For Wall see Tom Snout.
• Walter:
  • Sir Walter Blunt is a soldier and messenger to the king in Henry IV, Part 1. He is killed by Douglas while wearing the king's armour.
  • Sir Walter Herbert is a follower of Richmond in Richard III.
  • Walter Whitmore (fict) kills Suffolk in Henry VI, Part 2.
• Two Warders of the Tower of London bar Gloucester's entrance: leading to a fight between Gloucester's men and Winchester's men, in Henry VI, Part 1.
• Wart is pressed into military service by Falstaff in Henry IV, Part 2.
• Earl of Warwick:
  • The Earl of Warwick (1) (hist) is a supporter of King Henry in Henry IV, Part 2.
  • The Earl of Warwick (2) (hist) is an important player in the Wars of the Roses, firstly for the Yorkist party, and then for the Lancastrians. He appears in Henry VI, Part 1, Henry VI, Part 2 and Henry VI, Part 3.
• Watch/Watchmen:
  • The Watch of the city of Rouen allows Joan and her soldiers, disguised, to enter the gates, in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • The Watch (two of whom are minor speaking roles), and a Sentry, witness the death of Enobarbus, in Antony and Cleopatra.
  • Three Watchmen guard King Edward IV's tent, in Henry VI, Part 3.
  • Several Watchmen, two of them speaking roles, serve under Dogberry and Verges, and apprehend Conrade and Borachio, in Much Ado About Nothing. Two of them are called Hugh Oatcake and George Seacoal.
  • Several Watchmen, three of them speaking roles, discover the carnage at Capulet's tomb, at the end of Romeo and Juliet.
  • Several Volscian Watchmen, two of them speaking roles, try to prevent Menenius meeting Coriolanus.
• Smith the Weaver (fict) is a follower of Jack Cade in Henry VI, Part 2.
• For Weird Sisters, see Witches.
• The Abbott of Westminster (fict) supports Richard and the Bishop of Carlisle in Richard II.
• Earl of Westmoreland:
  • The Earl of Westmoreland (1) (hist) is one of the leaders of the royal forces in Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2 and Henry V.
  • The Earl of Westmoreland (2) (hist) fights for King Henry in Henry VI, Part 3.
• Walter Whitmore (fict) kills Suffolk in Henry VI, Part 2.
• Widow:
  • A Widow, mother to Diana, provides lodings to Helena in All's Well That Ends Well.
  • A Widow marries Hortensio, and behaves shrewishly in the final act of The Taming of the Shrew.
• Wife:
  • For Wife of Macduff, see Lady Macduff.
  • For the merry wives of Windsor, see Mistress Ford and Mistress Page.
• Will is a drawer in Henry IV, Part 2.
• William:
  • The Duke of Suffolk (William de la Pole) (hist) is a manipulative character, loved by Queen Margaret, in Henry VI, Part 1 and Henry VI, Part 2.
  • Sir William Lucy (fict) is a soldier and messenger for the English in France in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • Sir William Stanley (hist), the historical brother of Lord Stanley from Richard III, is a minor character of the Yorkist faction in Henry VI, Part 3.
  • William is a foolish youth, a suitor to Audrey, in As You Like It.
  • William Page is a minor youthful comic character, the son of Master and Mistress Page, and the younger brother of Anne Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor.
• Michael Williams (fict) (notably played by Michael Williams in Kenneth Branagh's film version) is a soldier who challenges the disguised Henry V to a duel.
• Willoughby (hist) is a supporter of Bolingbroke in Richard II.
• A Sherriff of Wiltshire (fict) denies the condemned Buckingham access to King Richard, in Richard III.
• The Bishop of Winchester (hist) (later "the Cardinal") is the chief enemy of Humphrey Duke of Gloucester in Henry VI, Part 1 and Henry VI, Part 2.
• Three Witches initiate Macbeth's lust for the crown of Scotland.
• For Woman (in The Two Noble Kinsmen) see Waiting Woman.
• Woodville:
  • Woodville (hist) is Lieutenant of the Tower of London in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • See also Queen Elizabeth, Rivers, Dorset and Grey, all of whom are of the Woodville clan.
• A Wooer of the Jailer's Daughter stays loyal to her throughout her madness, pretends to be Palamon in her presence, and after her cure, marries her, in The Two Noble Kinsmen.
• The Earl of Worcester (hist) is the brother of the Earl of Northumberland, and a leader of the rebel forces, in Henry IV, Part 1.

Y

The Two Princes Edward and Richard in the Tower, 1483 by Sir John Everett Millais, 1878.

• York:
  • Archbishop of York:
    • The Archbishop of York (1) (hist) is one of the rebel leaders in Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2.
    • The Archbishop of York (2) (hist) assists Queen Elizabeth and the little Duke of York to obtain sanctuary in Richard III.
  • Duchess of York:
    • The Duchess of York (1) (hist) is a (partly comic) character in Richard II, who must plead for the life of her son, Aumerle.
    • The Duchess of York (2) (hist) is the wife of Richard, Duke of York (1) in Henry VI, Part 3. She outlives him to mourn the death of two of their sons in Richard III.
  • Duke of York:
    • The Duke of York (1) (hist) is the uncle of both Richard and Bolingbroke, and the father of Aumerle, in Richard II.
    • The Duke of York (2) (hist) is a minor character, the leader of the "vaward" in Henry V. (TRIVIA: Historically this character is one and the same person as Aumerle.)
    • Richard, Duke of York (1) (hist) is a central character in Henry VI, Part 1, Henry VI, Part 2 and Henry VI, Part 3. He is the Yorkist claimant to the throne of England, in opposition to Henry VI, and he is eventually killed on the orders of Queen Margaret.
    • Richard, Duke of York (2) (hist) is the younger of the two princes in the tower, murdered on the orders of Richard in Richard III.
  • The Mayor of York (hist) reluctantly supports the Yorkists in Henry VI, Part 3.
  • Prince Edward of York later King Edward V (hist) is the eldest son of Edward IV and Queen Elizabeth. He appears in Henry VI, Part 3, and is the elder of the two princes in the tower in Richard III.
  • See also Edmund Mortimer, Aumerle, Queen Elizabeth and Lady Anne, all of whom are "of the House of York" directly or through marriage.
• Young:
  • Young Cato is a soldier of Brutus' and Cassius' party, in Julius Caesar.
  • Young Lucius, son of Luicus in Titus Andronicus, and usually cast as a child, plays a part in exposing his aunt's rapists.
  • Young Seyward is the son of the Earl of Northumberland in Macbeth.
  • For Young Martius in Coriolanus, see Boy.
  • See also Clifford.

Sources

• Anne Barton (ed.) New Penguin Shakespeare "The Tempest"
• Edward Burns (ed.) The Arden Shakespeare (3rd series) "King Henry VI Part 1"
• Andrew S. Cairncross (ed.) The Arden Shakespeare (2nd series) "King Henry VI Part 3"
• John D. Cox and Eric Rasmussen (eds.) The Arden Shakespeare (3rd series) "King Henry VI Part 3"
• T. W. Craik (ed.) The Arden Shakespeare (3rd series) "King Henry V"
• P. H. Davison (ed.) New Penguin Shakespeare "Henry IV Part One"
• P. H. Davison (ed.) New Penguin Shakespeare "Henry IV Part Two"
• Philip Edwards (ed.) New Penguin Shakespeare "Pericles"
• Bertrand Evans (ed.) The Signet Classic "The Two Gentlemen of Verona"
• Barbara Everett (ed.) Penguin Shakespeare "All's Well That Ends Well"
• R. A. Foakes (ed.) Penguin Shakespeare "Much Ado About Nothing"
• R. A. Foakes (ed.) Penguin Shakespeare "Troilus and Cressida"
• Charles R. Forker (ed.) The Adren Shakespeare (3rd series) "King Richard II"
• Antony Hammond (ed.) The Arden Shakespeare (2nd series) "King Richard III"
• Robert B. Heilman (ed.) The Signet Classic "The Taming of the Shrew"
• G. R. Hibbard (ed.) Penguin Shakespeare "Coriolanus"
• G. R. Hibbard (ed.) Penguin Shakespeare "Timon of Athens"
• E. A. J. Honigman (ed.) New Penguin Shakespeare "Richard III"
• E. A. J. Honigman (ed.) The Arden Shakespeare (2nd series) "King John"
• A. R. Humphreys (ed.) The Arden Shakespeare (2nd series) "King Henry IV Part 1"
• A. R. Humphreys (ed.) The Arden Shakespeare (2nd series) "King Henry IV Part 2"
• G. K. Hunter (ed.) New Penguin Shakespeare "Macbeth"
• G. K. Hunter (ed.) New Penguin Shakespeare "King Lear"

• David Scott Kastan (ed.) The Arden Shakespeare (3rd series) "King Henry IV Part 1"
• John Kerrigan (ed.) Penguin Shakespeare "Love's Labour's Lost"
• Ronald Knowles (ed.) The Arden Shakespeare (3rd series) "King Henry VI Part II"
• M. M. Mahood (ed.) New Penguin Shakespeare "Twelfth Night"
• Sonia Massai (ed.) Penguin Shakespeare "Titus Andronicus"
• Giorgio Melchiori (ed.) The Arden Shakespeare (3rd series) "The Merry Wives of Windsor"
• E. Moelwyn Merchant (ed.) New Penguin Shakespeare "The Merchant of Venice"
• Kenneth Muir (ed.) New Penguin Shakespeare "Othello"
• Kenneth Muir (ed.) The Arden Shakespeare (2nd series) "Macbeth"
• J. M. Nosworthy (ed.) New Penguin Shakespeare "Measure for Measure"
• H. J. Oliver (ed.) New Penguin Shakespeare "As You Like It"
• John Pitcher (ed.) Penguin Shakespeare "Cymbeline"
• Lois Potter (ed.) The Arden Shakespeare (3rd series) "The Two Noble Kinsmen"
• Norman Sanders (ed.) New Penguin Shakespeare "Julius Caesar"
• Ernest Schanzer (ed.) New Penguin Shakespeare "The Winter's Tale"
• T. J. B. Spencer (ed.) New Penguin Shakespeare "Romeo and Juliet"
• T. J. B. Spencer (ed.) New Penguin Shakespeare "Hamlet"
• Peter Ure (ed.) The Arden Shakespeare (2nd series) "King Richard II"
• Virginia Mason Vaughan and Alden T. Vaughan (eds.) The Arden Shakespeare (3rd series) "The Tempest"
• Stanley Wells (ed.) Penguin Shakespeare "The Comedy of Errors"
• Stanley Wells (ed.) New Penguin Shakespeare "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
• John Wilders (ed.) The Arden Shakespeare (3rd Series) "Antony and Cleopatra"

External links

• Open Source Shakespeare character list: counting the number of lines for each character.