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Curated category

Male Shakespearean characters

  • Prince HamletHamlet stands in the Elsinore churchyard holding the skull of Yorick, a jester he once knew. The dead man has been buried for twenty-three years, yet Hamlet…
  • Touchstone (As You Like It)Touchstone stands in the court of Duke Frederick, a usurper who seized power from his brother. He wears the motley cap and bells that mark him as a licensed…
  • Henry VIIIHenry VIII was born on the 28th of June 1491 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, Kent. He entered the world as the third child and second son of King…
  • IagoIago stands in the shadows of a Venetian camp, his face hidden behind a mask of absolute honesty. He has served Othello for years as standard-bearer, yet he…
  • Othello (character)The character of Othello first emerged in a tale titled Un Capitano Moro within Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio's Gli Hecatommithi.
  • Philip II of FrancePhilip was born in Gonesse on the 21st of August 1165, the son of Louis VII and Adela of Champagne. He received the nickname Dieudonné because he arrived…
  • TheseusA young man named Theseus stood before a massive stone on the road from Troezen to Athens. It was a rock with a hollow just large enough to receive objects…
  • John FalstaffIn 1417, a historical knight named John Oldcastle died as a martyr for his religious beliefs. Shakespeare originally intended to name his comic character…
  • ShylockIn the opening lines of The Merchant of Venice, a Venetian Jewish moneylender named Shylock stands alone on stage. His name does not sound like a traditional…
  • Thomas WolseyThomas Wolsey was born in about 1473, the son of Robert Wolsey of Ipswich and his wife, Joan Daundy. Widespread traditions identify his father as a butcher…
  • John Howard, 1st Duke of NorfolkJohn Howard entered the world around 1425 as the son of Sir Robert Howard and Margaret de Mowbray. His father held Tendring Hall in Stoke-by-Nayland…
  • DogberryWilliam Shakespeare wrote the role of Dogberry specifically for actor William Kempe. Kempe was a comic performer in the Lord Chamberlain's Men theatre…