List of characters in plays by Shakespeare

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This is an alphabetically ordered list of characters in plays by William Shakespeare. (See also list of plays by Shakespeare.)

Antonio (The Merchant of Venice)
Ariel (The Tempest)
Beatrice (Much Ado About Nothing)
Benedick (Much Ado About Nothing)
Caliban (The Tempest)
Claudius (Hamlet)
Cleopatra (Antony and Cleopatra)
Cordelia (King Lear)
Desdemona (Othello)
Duncan (Macbeth)
Sir John Falstaff (Henry IV, Part 1; Henry IV, Part 2; Henry V; The Merry Wives of Windsor)
Friar Laurence (Romeo and Juliet)
Gertrude (Hamlet)
Goneril (King Lear)
Prince Hal (Henry IV, Part 1; Henry V)
Hamlet (Hamlet)
Herne the Hunter (The Merry Wives of Windsor)
Iago (Othello)
Juliet (Romeo and Juliet)
Julius Caesar (Julius Caesar)
Katharina (The Taming of the Shrew)
Lady Macbeth (Macbeth)
Macbeth (Macbeth)
Malcolm (Macbeth)
Marcus Brutus (Julius Caesar)
Miranda (The Tempest)
Nick Bottom (A Midsummer Night’s Dream)
Oberon (A Midsummer Night’s Dream)
Ophelia (Hamlet)
Orlando (As You Like It)
Othello (Othello)
Petruchio (The Taming of the Shrew)
Pistol (Henry IV, Part 1; Henry IV, Part 2; Henry V; The Merry Wives of Windsor)
Polonius (Hamlet)
Portia (The Merchant of Venice)
Prospero (The Tempest)
Puck (A Midsummer Night’s Dream)
Regan (King Lear)
Richard III (Henry VI, Part 2; Henry VI, Part 3; Richard III)
Romeo (Romeo and Juliet)
Rosalind (As You Like It)
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (Hamlet)
Shylock (The Merchant of Venice)
Titania (A Midsummer Night’s Dream)
Touchstone (As You Like It)
Viola (Twelfth Night)
Weird Sisters (Macbeth)

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by J.E. Luebering, Executive Editorial Director.

Learn More in these related Britannica articles:

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare, English poet, dramatist, and actor often called the English national poet and considered by many to be the greatest dramatist of all time.…
list of plays by Shakespeare

This is an alphabetically ordered list of plays by William Shakespeare. Dates following titles indicate the dates the plays were written unless otherwise noted. Asterisks indicate plays likely written by Shakespeare and other playwrights, though evidence has been disputed. Edward III and Cardenio (Double Falsehood) have also been attributed…
Antonio

Antonio, a Venetian merchant, the title character of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Ostensibly the subject of the play, Antonio serves rather as a foil to Shylock, who is one of Shakespeare’s best-known and most discussed characters.…

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