Shakespeare Final

Othello

Moorish general in Venetian army. Manipulated by Iago into believing his wife is unfaithful. Manipulation leads to jealous rage and murdering Desdemona, only to find out she was innocent. Othello takes his life.

Iago

Othello's ensign and the main antagonist of the play, Iago orchestrates a plot of deception and betrayal, exploiting Othello's insecurities and ultimately causing tragedy.

Desdemona

Othello's wife and the victim of Iago's manipulation. She is portrayed as innocent and virtuous, ultimately leading to tragedy within the play.

Emilia

Iago's wife and Desdemona's maid, Emilia plays a crucial role in revealing the truth about Iago's schemes. Her loyalty to Desdemona contrasts with her husband's treachery.

Cassio

Othello's loyal lieutenant, whose promotion incites jealousy in Iago and leads to a series of manipulative schemes that affect all characters involved.

Roderigo

A wealthy suitor of Desdemona who is manipulated by Iago, Roderigo's obsession with Desdemona drives much of the plot's conflict.

Lear

Aging King of Britain who divides his kingdom among his three daughters based on how they express their love for him. He is flattered by the false declarations of Goneril and Regan, his two eldest daughters, and disinherits his youngest and most beloved, Cordelia, for her sincere but unadorned declaration of love. Lear then quickly regrets his decision as Goneril and Regan betray and cast him out, leading to his descent into madness on the heath. He ultimately realizes his mistakes and the true value of Cordelia's love, but suffers immense tragedy and sorrow before his death.

Regan

King Lear’s second eldest daughter. Characterized by cruel and treacherous nature. She is also involved in a ruthless power struggle with Goneril and engages in a cruel affair with Edmund, ultimately dying by Goneril's hand, who poisons her out of jealousy.

Goneril

Eldest daughter. She engages in an adulterous affair with Edmund and becomes locked in a power struggle with her sister, Regan, over Edmund. Out of jealousy, Goneril poisons Regan and eventually takes her own life.

Cordelia

Youngest and favorite daughter of King Lear. Honest, refuses flattery, banished, later returns with army, dies tragically.

Edmund

Illegitimate son of Gloucester who schemes against his family, manipulates others for power, betrays both his father and brother, and ultimately becomes one of the play’s central villains before dying in battle to Edgar.

Edgar

Gloucester’s legitimate son who is falsely accused by his half-brother Edmund, forced into disguise as “Poor Tom,” aids both Lear and Gloucester in their suffering, and ultimately defeats Edmund in single combat.

Gloucester

A father deceived by a scheming child, who suffers betrayal, physical mutilation, despair, and eventual reconciliation with his loyal son.

Kent

Lear’s most loyal servant and advisor, who risks everything to remain faithful to the king, even after being banished.

The Fool

Serves as Lear’s truth-teller and loyal companion, using wit, riddles, and humor to expose Lear’s mistakes, comfort him in despair, and highlight the play’s themes of loyalty, madness, and wisdom.

Albany, Cornwall, France

Albany: Goneril’s husband, condemns Goneril and Regan’s treatment of King Lear

Cornwall: Regan’s husband, part of the alliance against Lear

France: suitor and husband of Cordelia, supports Cordelia’s return to Britain with an army to rescue Lear.

Duncan

The benevolent and trusting ruler of Scotland whose murder sets the entire tragedy in motion. Killed by Lady Macbeth and Macbeth in his sleep.

Macbeth

Tragic hero who transforms from a celebrated warrior into a tyrant consumed by ambition, guilt, and paranoia. Starts as the brave soldier and Thane of Glamis. Encounters the witches, murders Duncan, arranges Banquo’s murder, orders further killings, including Macduff’s wife and children, slain by Macduff in battle.

Lady Macbeth

Drives her husband to murder King Duncan, embodies ruthless ambition, and ultimately collapses under the weight of guilt and madness. She dies offstage, suggested suicide.

The Witches

Mysterious supernatural figures who set the play’s tragic events in motion by planting the seeds of ambition in Macbeth. They do so through riddles and apparitions.

Banquo

Macbeth’s friend and fellow general, whose integrity contrasts with Macbeth’s ambition. He receives a prophecy from the witches, is murdered on Macbeth’s orders, and his ghost haunts Macbeth, symbolizing guilt and the persistence of fate.

Macduff

The nobleman who ultimately brings down Macbeth. After Duncan’s murder, Macduff is one of the first to suspect foul play. He refuses to attend Macbeth’s coronation, signaling his distrust. Being born from a C-section, Macduff was not a man “of woman born,” meaning he was prophesized to kill Macbeth.

Malcolm

King Duncan’s eldest son and rightful heir, who survives his father’s murder, flees Scotland, and ultimately returns to lead the resistance against Macbeth, restoring order at the play’s end. After Macbeth is slain, Malcolm is hailed as king. He promises to reward his supporters and restore peace in Scotland.

Ross

A Scottish nobleman who acts as a messenger and observer, moving between factions and delivering crucial news. He survives and supports Malcolm as king.

Leontes

King of Sicilia. His sudden irrational jealousy leads him to destroy his family, reject divine truth, and suffer decades of remorse before eventual reconciliation. Orders Polixenes poisoned, imprisons Hermione, abandons Perdita.

Hermione

Queen of Sicilia, endures false accusations, defends her honor with dignity, suffers apparent death, and ultimately becomes the symbol of forgiveness and renewal when she is miraculously restored.

Polixenes

King of Bohemia, innocent target of Leontes’s jealousy and later a stern father whose own suspicions threaten young love. His actions help drive both the tragic and romantic halves of the play.

Mamillius

The young prince of Sicilia, a precious child whose wit, storytelling, and tragic death shape the emotional core of the play.

Paulina

Serves as Hermione’s defender, Leontes’s conscience, and the agent of reconciliation guiding the play from tragedy to redemption. Confronts Leontes for imprisoning Hermione, brings Perdita to Leontes, reveals Hermione.

Antigonus

A Sicilian lord who abandons the infant Perdita after being mauled by a bear.

Camillo

A Sicilian courtier, ordered by Leontes to poison Polixenes, warns and helps Polixenes escape to Bohemia, stays in Bohemia with Polixenes until the end.

Florizel

Prince of Bohemia, meets Perdita and falls in love, flees to Sicilia with Perdita due to Camillo’s guidance.

Perdita

The lost princess of Sicilia, raised as a shepherd’s daughter, her eventual return to Sicilia unites both kingdoms, and Leontes is restored to family and joy.

Clown

A rustic shepherd’s son, reports seeing Antigonus killed by a bear, describes how the ship Antigonus arrived on was destroyed, discovers Perdita with his father, duped by Autolycus.

Shepherd

A humble Bohemian farmer who raises Perdita after finding her with his son, discovers tokens of Perdita’s royal birth, hosts the sheep-shearing feast.

The Bear

“Exit, pursued by a bear”, kills Antigonus

Autolycus

A roguish peddler, thief, and comic trickster. Sings bawdy songs and delights in mischief, manipulates the Clown and Shepherd into believing he can help, guides the Shepherd and Clown to the Sicilian court

“Othello”

Themes: Jealousy and revenge; race and “others”; Certainty and trust; identity: the self, selves, or illusion.

“King Lear”

Themes: Lear’s division of the kingdom; words and actions; authority and power; Lear’s madness; nature and bastardy; blindness and vision; “a bare, forked animal”

“Macbeth”

Themes: Gender expectations; order and chaos; nature and super-nature; blood: guilt, family, and violence; fate and free will; the senses; darkness and sleep

“A Winter’s Tale”

Themes: Jealousy and trust; perdition, penitence, and forgiveness; season and cyclical time; genre and structure; green worlds and oracles