| Beatrice | Niece of Leonato; hero’s cousin, quick witted, verbally adept, tells stories to amuse her friends, not afraid to make fun of herself, makes fun of Benedick, one of Shakespeare’s strongest female characters. |
| Benedick | Soldier under Don Pedro, close friend of Don Pedro and Claudio, witty, fond of mocking other people, swears he will never marry, critical of women and does not trust them because of treating |
| Claudio | Is a young soldier, won great acclaim fighting under Don Pedro, falls in love with Hero, he valiant, loving, gullible |
| Hero | Leonato’s daughter, Beatrice’s cousin, lovely, gentle, and innocent |
| Don Pedro | Noble man from Aragon, A.K.A “The Prince”, longtime friend of Leonato, close friend to Benedick and Claudio, generous, courteous, intelligent, and loving to his friends but quick to believe evil of others, hasty to take revenge, Most politicly and socially powerful character in the play |
| Leonato | Governor of Messina, father of Hero and uncle of Beatrice, elderly, wealthy, respected, second in status to Don Pedro, the action of this play takes place at his home |
| Don John | Don Pedro’s illegitimate, A.K.A “The Bastard”, he is melancholy and sullen by nature, creates a dark scheme to ruin the happiness of Hero and Claudio, Villain, envious of his brothers power and authority |
| Margaret | Hero’s serving women, who unwittingly that she helped Borachio and Don John deceive Claudio into thinking that Hero is unfaithful, lower class honest, sometimes deals with the villainous world of Don John, Borachio’s lover, loves to break decorum, especially with bawdy jokes and teasing |
| Borachio | Associate of Don John; Margaret’s lover, conspires with Don John to trick Claudio and Don Pedro into thinking that Hero is cheating; his name means drunkard in Italian |
| Conrad | One of Don John’s INTIMATE associates; entirely devoted to Don John and his schemes |
| Dogberry | Chief policeman, very sincere, takes his job seriously, bad with words, middle class, wants to speak properly but this creates parodies |
| Verges | Deputy to Dogberry |
| Antonio | Leonato’s elderly brother; uncle to Beatrice and Hero |
| Balthasar | Leonato’s servant; musician; plays the lyre; flirts with Margaret at the masquerade ball; helps Leonato, Claudio, and Don Pedro to trick Benedick into falling in love with Beatrice; sings the song “Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more.” which encourages women to accept men’s infidelity as natural |
| Ursula | waiting woman to Hero |
Much ado about nothing characters Act 1
July 19, 2019