Who is who in Shakespeare

Hamlet

the prince of Denmark. He does not move for a long time while looking for a way to check what he was told on the walls, and other things happen in that time

Relations son of Old Hamlet · son of Gertrude · killed Polonius · killed by Laertes · killed Claudius

Claudius

the man who killed his brother and took both the crown and his brother's wife. On his knees, still holding what he took, he says himself that his prayer does not go up

Relations husband of Gertrude · sibling of Old Hamlet · killed Old Hamlet · master of Laertes · killed by Hamlet

Henry Bolingbroke

Richard's cousin and Gaunt's son. He was banished as Hereford, he says, and he comes back as Lancaster

Relations son of John of Gaunt · father of Prince Hal · descendant of Edward the Third

Prince Hal

Henry the Fourth's eldest son. He knew he would leave before he ever sat down in the tavern, and he tells the plan to the audience alone

Relations son of Henry Bolingbroke · killed Hotspur · husband of Katherine · father of Henry the Sixth · sibling of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester

Mark Antony

the man who holds the crown out to Caesar at the festival. He walks into the room where Caesar died, takes each bloodied hand in turn, and gets himself a place to speak at the funeral

Relations husband of Octavia · husband of Cleopatra

Macbeth

the commander who meets three figures on a heath while riding home from a rebellion. From the moment he hears them he starts fitting the world to their words

Relations husband of Lady Macbeth · killed Duncan · killed Banquo · killed by Macduff

Lady Macbeth

the woman who reads her husband's letter and makes up her mind before he does. What worries her is not that the prophecy might fail but that he is too soft to act

Relations wife of Macbeth

Gertrude

the queen of Denmark. She marries her husband's brother two months after his death, and the ghost leaves her to heaven and to her own mind

Relations mother of Hamlet · wife of Old Hamlet · wife of Claudius

Lear

the old king who asks his daughters to speak their love before he divides his kingdom. He gives away all the power and keeps a name and a hundred knights, and then watches that number cut down

Relations father of Cordelia · father of Goneril · father of Regan · master of Kent · master of The Fool

Goneril

Lear's eldest daughter. She takes her share with a prepared speech, and is the first to say her father's knights must be halved

Relations daughter of Lear · sibling of Regan

Regan

Lear's second daughter. In the bidding down of the knights she asks what need one, and she is there when Gloucester's eyes are taken

Relations daughter of Lear · sibling of Goneril

Leontes

king of Sicilia. With nobody prompting him and no evidence at all he suspects his wife, and denies even the oracle he sent for himself

Relations husband of Hermione · father of Mamillius · master of Polixenes · master of Camillo · father of Perdita · master of Antigonus

Prospero

Duke of Milan until his brother took the place, driven to an island. He prepares twelve years, raises a storm, and arranges everything inside one day

Relations father of Miranda · master of Ariel · sibling of Antonio · master of Caliban

Henry the Sixth

Henry the Fifth's son, made king as an infant. He grows up while grown men divide the country between them, and the French lands shrink through his reign

Relations son of Prince Hal · son of Katherine · husband of Margaret · father of Prince Edward

Octavius

Caesar's nephew, named as his heir. He comes into Rome after the funeral and divides the country with Antony

Relations sibling of Octavia

Cordelia

Lear's youngest daughter. She answers only that she loves him according to her bond, loses her share, and becomes Queen of France with no dowry

Relations daughter of Lear

Hermione

Leontes' queen. At her trial she says her name matters more than her life, and waits for her husband to recognise her

Relations wife of Leontes · mother of Mamillius · mother of Perdita · master of Paulina

Polixenes

king of Bohemia and Leontes' friend from boyhood. Nine months a guest, he becomes the reason for a suspicion as he tries to leave

Relations disciple of Leontes · father of Florizel

Miranda

Prospero's daughter. She came to the island at three and remembers seeing no one but her father, and for twelve years she never asked for his story

Relations daughter of Prospero · disciple of Caliban

Antonio

Prospero's brother. He did the work his brother left him for a long time, and then took the place itself

Relations sibling of Prospero

Prince Escalus

the ruler of Verona. He has warned that the next man to disturb the streets will pay with his life, and Mercutio is his kinsman

Richard II

king at ten and twenty-two years in the place. He steps between a son and his inheritance, and in the end takes the crown off with his own hands

Relations descendant of Edward the Third · husband of Queen Isabel · killed by Exton

Margaret

Henry the Sixth's queen, brought over from France by Suffolk. When the king signs away their son's place she parts from her husband and leads an army herself

Relations wife of Henry the Sixth · mother of Prince Edward · killed Richard Plantagenet

Edward the Fourth

York's eldest son. He takes up his father's place, wins at Towton and is made king, and on his deathbed tries to reconcile the whole court

Relations son of Richard Plantagenet · sibling of Richard the Third

Richard the Third

York's youngest surviving son and Edward the Fourth's brother. He comes out alone to tell the audience his plan first, and receives the crown wearing the face of a man refusing it

Relations son of Richard Plantagenet · husband of Lady Anne · killed Clarence · killed by Richmond · sibling of Edward the Fourth

Julius Caesar

the one man holding power in a Rome with no king. He puts a crown back three times at the festival, and on the morning of the fifteenth of March he leaves the house after hearing his wife's dream read back the other way

Relations husband of Calpurnia · killed by Casca · killed by Cassius · killed by Brutus

Cleopatra

the queen of Egypt. Her ships turn away at Actium, and the play never writes down why

Relations wife of Mark Antony

Duncan

the king of Scotland. He praises the two men who put down the rebellion, names his own son to follow him, and does not last the night in the castle whose air he calls sweet

Relations father of Malcolm · killed by Macbeth

Malcolm

Duncan's son. He fled to England the night his father died, tests Macduff deliberately, and comes back at the head of an army to be made king

Relations son of Duncan

Perdita

the daughter of Leontes and Hermione. Named the lost one and abandoned, she grows up a shepherd's daughter and stands before her father sixteen years later

Relations daughter of Leontes · daughter of Hermione · wife of Florizel

Ferdinand

the son of the king of Naples. Believing his father drowned, he wanders the island, meets Miranda, and carries logs as a king's son

Relations son of Alonso

Alonso

king of Naples. Twelve years ago he lent his hand to pushing Prospero out, and on this island he believes his son is lost

Relations father of Ferdinand

Theseus

the Athenian prince who beat the Minotaur in the labyrinth. He forgot to change the sail

Relations killed the Minotaur

Don Pedro

prince of Aragon. To bring two people together he stages words for them to overhear

Duke Frederick

he drove out his brother and took the seat. Banishing his niece, he says being her father's daughter is reason enough

Relations father of Celia

Orsino

duke of Illyria. He loves a woman who will not see him, and never goes to her himself

Edward the Third

grandfather to both Richard and Bolingbroke. He had many sons, and the houses descended from those sons will spend a hundred years killing one another

Relations father of John of Gaunt · father of The Duke of York · ancestor of Richard II · ancestor of Richard Plantagenet · ancestor of Henry Bolingbroke

Queen Isabel

Richard's queen. She asks how the lion he had been grew so tame, and she is sent back to France

Relations wife of Richard II

Katherine

daughter of Charles the Sixth of France. She is courted after the marriage is already written into the treaty, and answers that it pleases her if it pleases her father

Relations wife of Prince Hal · daughter of Charles the Sixth · mother of Henry the Sixth

Charles the Sixth

the king of France. After Agincourt he sets his hand to a treaty passing his crown to the English king instead of to his own son

Relations father of Katherine

Prince Edward

the son of Henry the Sixth and Margaret. His father signs his place over to the house of York in a room he is not in

Relations son of Henry the Sixth · son of Margaret · husband of Lady Anne

Richmond

the man of the Lancaster side who crosses the sea with an army. He wins at Bosworth and marries a daughter of the house of York, joining the two roses into one

Relations killed Richard the Third

Florizel

the son of Polixenes. In disguise in a shepherd village he falls in love with Perdita, and takes ship when his father moves to part them

Relations son of Polixenes · husband of Perdita

Romeo

Montague's son. Hours before the feast he is aching over someone else, and cancels that feeling himself in front of a face he has just seen

Relations son of Montague

Juliet

Capulet's daughter, thirteen and already being matched. She sees a face first and learns the name after

Relations daughter of Capulet · daughter of Lady Capulet

Othello

the general Venice calls on for its wars. He holds the highest place in the city and is not of the city, and he believes the man at his side is honest

Relations husband of Desdemona · master of Iago · master of Cassio · killed Desdemona

Desdemona

Brabantio's daughter and Othello's wife. In the senate she speaks her own mind and settles her own place

Relations daughter of Brabantio · wife of Othello · master of Emilia · killed by Othello

Cassio

the man Othello made his lieutenant. He was chosen for being good with figures, and loses the place over a cup of wine on the first night in Cyprus

Relations disciple of Othello

Edgar

Gloucester's elder son. Hunted, he takes the shape of a mad beggar, and becomes the guide of his blinded father without ever giving his name

Relations son of Gloucester · sibling of Edmund

Benvolio

Romeo's cousin. Prescribing other faces as the cure, he walks him into the enemy's feast

Mercutio

Romeo's friend. If love weighs you down, he says, jump on it and rise, and he mocks the gloom to his face

Northumberland

the first noble to come over when Bolingbroke lands. He carries the terms under the wall, and it is he who carries the order that sends Richard to Pomfret

Relations father of Hotspur

Falstaff

an old, fat knight deep in debt. He builds a story up knowing he will be caught, and makes a better line out of being caught

Richard Plantagenet

a young man left without a title because his father died a traitor. He plucks the white rose in the garden, and later gets back the name Duke of York

Relations descendant of Edward the Third · father of Edward the Fourth · father of Clarence · father of Richard the Third · father of Rutland · killed by Margaret

Brutus

Caesar's friend and one of the men who kill him. He says himself that Caesar has done no wrong yet, and decides on the thought that a crown would change him

Relations killed Julius Caesar

Cassius

the man who brings Brutus in. He throws letters forged as the work of citizens over Brutus's garden wall and leaves him believing he decided for himself

Relations killed Julius Caesar

Banquo

the man who hears the same words in the same place as Macbeth and does nothing. He says the instruments of darkness win us with small truths

Relations father of Fleance · killed by Macbeth

Macduff

the man who first finds the king's body. He rides home instead of attending the crowning, leaves for England, and loses his family while he is gone

Relations husband of Lady Macduff · killed Macbeth

Polonius

the king's councillor and Ophelia's father. Twice he places his daughter and hides behind an arras, and the second time he dies behind it

Relations father of Ophelia · killed by Hamlet · father of Laertes

Kent

the lord who served Lear long. Banished for telling him to see clearly, he comes back at his side as a servant in a changed face

Relations disciple of Lear

Edmund

Gloucester's illegitimate son. He takes his brother's place with a forged letter and informs on his father, and unlike Iago he says his reasons out loud

Relations son of Gloucester · sibling of Edgar

Olivia

she vowed to see nobody, mourning her brother, and drops the vow in a day for the messenger who came with a letter

Tybalt

Juliet's cousin. He knows the enemy by his voice alone at the feast, and does not let what he swallowed that night rest

Capulet

Juliet's father. Around the feast he means to let his daughter's heart decide, and after Tybalt's death he fixes the wedding day without asking her

Relations father of Juliet · husband of Lady Capulet

Paris

the count matched with Juliet. A kinsman of the prince, he counts as a match too good to lose, and he has barely spoken with her about the marriage itself

The Duke of York

the king's other uncle. He warns that cutting off succession cuts away the ground the throne stands on, and when his nephew comes home on that very ground he can neither stop him nor join him

Relations son of Edward the Third

Lady Anne

Henry the Sixth's daughter-in-law. She accepts a proposal at the coffin from the man who killed her husband and her father-in-law, and the play never writes down why

Relations wife of Prince Edward · wife of Richard the Third

Buckingham

the man who stages the scene in which Richard becomes king. He brings the mayor and the citizens to ask, and Richard takes the crown after refusing twice

Coriolanus

the man who goes alone inside the gate of Corioli, takes it, and receives the city's name. He refuses to the end to show his wounds in the forum and is driven out of Rome

Relations son of Volumnia · husband of Virgilia · killed by Aufidius

Volumnia

Coriolanus's mother. She raised her son never to bend, and before the gates of Rome she kneels to him

Relations mother of Coriolanus

Menenius

the senator who comes out to the hungry crowd with the story of the belly and the limbs. He treated Coriolanus like a son, and at the camp gate not even his name gets him through

Enobarbus

the officer who stays longest at Antony's side. He is the man who tells of the barge on the river, and after he deserts and his baggage follows him, he does not last the night

Ophelia

Polonius's daughter. She stands in the gallery as her father tells her to, and is left there never learning why he behaved as he did

Relations daughter of Polonius · sibling of Laertes

Laertes

Polonius's son and Ophelia's brother. He hears only that his father is dead, breaks into the palace without checking, and takes up his sword in the direction the king points

Relations son of Polonius · sibling of Ophelia · disciple of Claudius · killed Hamlet

Roderigo

a Venetian who loved Desdemona. He leaves his money with Iago and shouts in the dark the words Iago gives him

Relations disciple of Iago · killed by Iago

Gloucester

the earl with two sons. He believes a forged letter and drives out his elder son, loses both eyes, and only then learns who deceived him

Relations father of Edgar · father of Edmund

Beatrice

Leonato's niece. She opens her heart to a lie she was meant to overhear, then asks for Claudio's death

Benedick

a soldier who laughed at marriage. What he overhears turns him, and he ends by challenging his own comrade

Hero

Leonato's daughter. She is shamed at her own wedding without a single question asked, and never says she forgives

Claudio

the young soldier who would marry Hero. He never checks what he saw by night, and breaks her before the largest crowd he can find

Don John

Don Pedro's bastard brother. He deceives Claudio by the very method his brother used

Rosalind

daughter of the banished duke. In man's clothes as Ganymede she says everything she could not say as herself

Orlando

a young man driven to the forest of Arden by his brother. He hangs poems for Rosalind on every tree

Celia

Duke Frederick's daughter. She refuses to let her cousin go alone, and reads the words at their pretend wedding

Relations daughter of Duke Frederick

Jaques

a melancholy lord in the forest. He says the world is a stage and every person an actor with a part

Viola

the sole survivor of a wreck, living under the name Cesario. She carries the love-suit of the man she loves to another woman

Relations sibling of Sebastian

Sebastian

Viola's twin brother. In a strange city a stranger takes his hand, and he marries her without knowing why

Relations sibling of Viola

Sir Toby Belch

Olivia's uncle, living off her house and drinking through the night. He is the one who locks Malvolio in a room without windows

Sir Andrew Aguecheek

Sir Toby's drinking companion. He stays in the house meaning to court Olivia, and does nothing but laugh along

Rosaline

the woman Romeo aches for until the feast. She never once appears on stage

Lady Capulet

Juliet's mother. In the square she demands Romeo's death, and when her daughter refuses the match she leaves the room saying she has nothing to say

Relations mother of Juliet · wife of Capulet

Montague

Romeo's father. At the end he reports that his wife did not survive their son's banishment, and he takes Capulet's hand

Relations father of Romeo

John of Gaunt

the king's uncle and the most powerful noble of that hour. Before he dies he tells the king he is no longer a king but a landlord who has let the land out

Relations son of Edward the Third · father of Henry Bolingbroke

Thomas Mowbray

the noble Bolingbroke accuses of the Duke of Gloucester's murder. When the combat is halted he is sent away for the rest of his life

Exton

the man who took words the new king said in front of others, and a look, for an order. He carries in Richard's coffin and is driven from the court

Relations killed Richard II

Hotspur

Harry Percy, Northumberland's son. He would pull honour down out of the moon, and he does not step back even knowing the promised force has not come

Relations son of Northumberland · husband of Lady Percy · killed by Prince Hal

Lady Percy

Hotspur's wife. She worries that her husband talks of nothing but war in his sleep, and she never gets an answer to what he is planning

Relations wife of Hotspur

The Lord Chief Justice

the man who sent Hal to prison as the law required. Before the new king he does not give ground, and says he carried out the king's own law in the king's place

Somerset

the man who plucks the red rose in the garden. The play never writes down what he and Richard were quarrelling about, and the quarrel alone follows them to the fields of France

Talbot

the old commander of the English in France. While two men each leave the relief to the other, he dies in the field alongside his son

Joan la Pucelle

the country girl who leads the French army and lifts the siege of Orleans. An English play does not draw her kindly, and yet the turn of the land is written down all the same

Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester

Henry the Sixth's uncle, who ran the country for years. People called him the good duke, and after his wife is caught on a charge of witchcraft he loses his standing and is found dead in his bed

Relations sibling of Prince Hal

Suffolk

the man who brings Margaret over from France and makes her queen. He attached to that marriage the clause handing French land back, and after Humphrey dies he is banished and killed at sea

Clifford

the man who loses his father at St Albans and swears to pay back the whole house of York. Keeping that oath, he kills the child Rutland at Wakefield

Relations killed Rutland

Rutland

York's youngest son. He is caught running at Wakefield and killed, and the handkerchief stained with his blood is held out to his father

Relations son of Richard Plantagenet · killed by Clifford

Clarence

the brother between Edward the Fourth and Richard. One line of prophecy about a letter of the alphabet shuts him in the Tower, and the king's countermand arrives too late

Relations son of Richard Plantagenet · killed by Richard the Third

Stanley

Richmond's stepfather and Richard's subject at the same time. With his son held hostage he keeps his army standing at the edge of the field at Bosworth until the last moment

Calpurnia

Caesar's wife. She dreams of blood running from a statue and Romans coming to wash their hands, and holds her husband back, until another mouth turns the dream into a good sign

Relations wife of Julius Caesar

Casca

the man who reports what happened with the crown at the games. In the Senate he is the first to strike, from behind

Relations killed Julius Caesar

Sicinius

one of the tribunes the citizens chose. He points out to the people who gave their votes what they had let pass, and never stands at the front himself

Aufidius

the Volscian commander. He never once beat Coriolanus, embraces the banished man and hands him half an army, and then calls him a traitor

Relations killed Coriolanus

Virgilia

Coriolanus's wife. She keeps quiet while her mother-in-law is proud of the wounds, and at the end she stands before the gate with the mother and the child

Relations wife of Coriolanus

Octavia

Octavius's sister. She is married as the visible sign of a peace between two men, and never gets a place of her own before the sign is discarded

Relations sibling of Octavius · wife of Mark Antony

Fleance

Banquo's son. He escapes into the dark where his father dies, and keeps half the prophecy alive

Relations son of Banquo

Lady Macduff

the woman who resents her husband for leaving them behind. After a short conversation with her small son, she is killed in the castle at Fife

Relations wife of Macduff

Brabantio

Desdemona's father and a senator. He gives his daughter up with a parting line, that a child who deceived her father may deceive her husband

Relations father of Desdemona

Camillo

long a servant of Leontes. He disobeys the order to poison and gets the man away, and that flight becomes the king's proof

Relations disciple of Leontes

Mamillius

the young son of Leontes and Hermione. He cannot bear the trial his father holds for his mother, falls sick and dies

Relations son of Leontes · son of Hermione

Antigonus

the lord given the order to abandon the child. He had said the order was wrong and does it anyway, and goes off the stage pursued by a bear

Relations disciple of Leontes

Paulina

the woman at Hermione's side. She does not give ground before the king, and sixteen years later shows a statue and tells them to awake their faith

Relations disciple of Hermione

Iago

the ensign at Othello's side. He hardly ever lies and works by selecting true things and setting them down, and he gives several reasons without ever settling on one

Relations disciple of Othello · master of Roderigo · husband of Emilia · killed Roderigo · killed Emilia

Horatio

Hamlet's friend from the same school. He sees the ghost with him and watches the king's face with him. He is the one person Hamlet never deceives

Antonio

the merchant of Venice. He seals a bond that puts up his own flesh, and calls it kindness

Shylock

a moneylender of Venice. He has not forgotten being called a dog and spat upon, and writes a pound of flesh into the bond in place of interest

Relations father of Jessica

The Nurse

the woman who raised Juliet from infancy. At the feast she parts the two of them, and tells each of them the other's name

Friar Laurence

a priest who works with herbs. He knows the same flower yields both a cure and a poison, and takes on the secret marriage hoping the two houses will be reconciled

Emilia

Iago's wife and Desdemona's attendant. She is the one who picked up the handkerchief and gave it to her husband, and after everything is over she tells the room where it came from

Relations wife of Iago · disciple of Desdemona · killed by Iago

Hermia

a daughter who left the city rather than marry the man her father chose

Relations daughter of Egeus

Lysander

the young man Hermia loves. In the wood a juice is put on his eyes and his heart moves for a night

Demetrius

the young man Hermia's father chose. The juice on his eyes is never lifted

Helena

she loves Demetrius and gets nothing back. She trades a friend's secret for the hope of one thank-you

Bassanio

Antonio's friend. He borrows for a courtship voyage, and is the only one who tells Antonio not to seal that bond

Portia

the heiress of Belmont. Her husband can only be chosen by the casket test her dead father laid down

Michael Williams

the soldier who tells a cloaked stranger on the eve of Agincourt that if the cause is not good the guilt is the king's. Face to face with the king afterwards, he does not take it back

The Fool

the man who told Lear the truth in jokes. He follows the king into the storm, and his is the one place in this play from which the truth can be said to a king

Relations disciple of Lear

Egeus

Hermia's father. Instead of persuading his daughter he reached for the law at once

Relations father of Hermia

Bottom

a weaver of Athens. Rehearsing a play he is given a donkey's head, and sings on without noticing

Antipholus of Syracuse

the twin who wanders in search of his lost brother, and spends a day in a strange city where everyone claims to know him

Antipholus of Ephesus

the twin raised in Ephesus. At his own door he is told the master is already inside

Dromio of Syracuse

servant to the Syracusan Antipholus. He asks whether he is himself, which is the most honest question in the play

Dromio of Ephesus

servant to the Ephesian Antipholus. Every errand of his reaches the wrong master

Egeon

father of the twins. He is sentenced to death having done nothing but look for his sons

Adriana

wife of the Ephesian Antipholus. She takes the wrong man home as her husband

Katharina

Baptista's elder daughter. People call her wild, and no one asks how she got that way

Relations daughter of Baptista

Petruchio

he marries Katharina for the dowry, then starves her of food and sleep and calls it love

Bianca

Baptista's younger daughter. Suitors queue for her, but she cannot marry before her sister does

Relations daughter of Baptista

Baptista

a rich man of Padua, father of two daughters. He sets his terms out loud, with both of them standing there

Relations father of Katharina · father of Bianca

Christopher Sly

a drunken tinker. Tricked into believing he is a lord, he sits and watches Katharina's story as a play

Touchstone

the court fool. He follows the two exiles into the forest of Arden

Malvolio

Olivia's steward. One forged letter makes him a laughing stock, and at the end he leaves promising revenge instead of waiting for an apology

Maria

Olivia's waiting-woman. She forges her mistress's hand, planting nothing new and writing down only what the man already believed

Feste

the fool of Olivia's house. Playing a priest at the dark room, he leaves the prisoner no way to say he is sane

Jessica

Shylock's daughter. She calls her father's house a hell, and leaves it at night in a boy's clothes with his gold and jewels

Relations daughter of Shylock

Lorenzo

a friend of Bassanio's. He exchanges letters with Jessica and fixes the night they will run

Balthasar

Romeo's servant. He brings a man who was waiting for a letter the news that Juliet is dead

Friar John

the friar entrusted with Friar Laurence's letter. The house he calls at for a companion is sealed, and he never reaches Mantua

The Apothecary

a poor man who sells medicines in Mantua. It is his poverty that consents and not his will, he says, and he hands the poison over

The Bishop of Carlisle

the churchman who stands up alone in the chamber where a king is to be put down. He says no subject can pass sentence on a king, and is arrested where he stands

Poins

one of Hal's companions. He invents the Gad's Hill joke, and he is the pair to whatever Hal does in the tavern

Shallow

an old country justice. He lends Falstaff a thousand pounds, taking himself to have the new king's friend at his side

Montjoy

the French herald. Before the battle he comes to have the king name his ransom, and after it he comes to ask leave to count and bury the dead

Jack Cade

the man York plants in Kent. He leads a crowd as far as London saying he is of royal blood, and when a pardon is promised the crowd scatters and he is left to die alone

Cinna the Poet

the poet the crowd catches in the street after the speech. He says he is not that man, and is killed for having the same name

Charmian

Cleopatra's attendant. In the last room she straightens the queen's crown and follows after her

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

two men who were at school with Hamlet. They come at the king's summons to sound out an old friend, and Hamlet asks them outright who sent them

The Gravedigger

the man who digs Ophelia's grave and jokes while he does it. He holds the lowest place in the castle and says the one thing about death that nobody there can answer

Bianca

a woman of Cyprus close to Cassio. She is the one he laughs about, and she walks in holding the handkerchief and sets the watching man's mistake hard

Caliban

the man who lived on the island before Prospero came. He says the island was his, and that his profit on being taught language is knowing how to curse

Relations disciple of Prospero · master of Miranda

The Three Witches

the three who tell what is coming on the heath and vanish. They say first that fair is foul, and are gone before Macbeth can question them

Ariel

a spirit of the island. Prospero released him from a tree, and in payment he works and waits for the freedom he was promised

Relations disciple of Prospero

Oberon

king of the fairies. He lifts the spell only after he has the child, and never apologises

Titania

queen of the fairies. The juice makes her love a man with a donkey's head, and waking she is ashamed of that night

Puck

Oberon's servant, also called Robin Goodfellow. He does the errand to the wrong person and enjoys the mess

Old Hamlet

the dead king who appears on the walls. He says poison was poured into his ear while he slept in an orchard, asks to be avenged, and says his wife is not to be touched

Relations father of Hamlet · husband of Gertrude · sibling of Claudius · killed by Claudius