characters Flashcards
1
Q
Hero
A
- Leonato’s daughter
- Beatrice’s cousin
- the beloved of Claudio.
On the night before her wedding, Hero is unknowingly impersonated by Margaret and framed for being unfaithful to the groom, Claudio. - She is publicly shamed at her wedding
- her father Leonato hides her away, pretending
she is dead until the slander has been discredited. - Hero is one of the characters who participates in the scheme to bring Benedick and Beatrice together.
2
Q
Claudio
A
- A young Florentine soldier who fights for Don Pedro
- A friend of Benedick
- Falls in love with Hero and plans to marry her
- Disgraces her publicly after he is tricked by Don John and Borachio into thinking she has been unfaithful.
- By the end of the play, after her faithfulness has been proven, he
marries her. - Claudio is one of the characters who participates in the scheme to bring Benedick and Beatrice together.
3
Q
Benedick
A
- A witty young Lord of Padua
- a soldier.
- He is extraordinarily successful with women
- Is fanatically committed to a bachelor’s life.
- He has a “merry war,” of wits and insults with Beatrice, whom he hates.
- By the end of the play, Claudio, Don Pedro and Leonato have tricked him into falling in love with Beatrice
- and he marries her.
4
Q
Beatrice
A
- Leonato’s niece
- An extremely witty and strongwilled young woman.
- Beatrice has a “merry war,” of wits and insults with Benedick, whom she hates.
- Never wants to marry.
- Tricked by Hero and
Ursula into falling in love with and marrying Benedick by the end of the play.
5
Q
Don Pedro
A
- The Prince of Aragon.
- He is always involved in the affairs of the other characters.
- Don Pedro woos Hero for Claudio.
- He comes up with the idea of setting up Beatrice and Benedick.
- He helps Claudio disgrace Hero at the wedding
- Then helps him make up for it.
- By the end of the play, he is the only one of the three soldier friends to stay single.
6
Q
Don John
A
- The bastard brother of Don Pedro
- The antagonist of the play
- When the play begins, Don John has just been defeated by his brother in battle while trying to usurp him.
- Out of desire for revenge and a general bad attitude, Don John schemes to destroy the marriage of Hero and Claudio.
- He almost succeeds, but his treachery is confessed by his minions Conrade and Borachio, who have been arrested and interrogated by Dogberry and the watch.
- By the end of the play, he has been captured while trying to escape from Messina.
7
Q
Leonato
A
- Governor of Messina
- father to Hero.
- When Hero is publicly disgraced at her wedding, Leonato is outraged,
and cannot decide whether or not to believe in his daughter’s faithfulness to Claudio. - Leonato participates in Don Pedro’s scheme to bring Benedick and Beatrice together.
8
Q
Antonio
A
- Leonato’s brother.
- At the wedding in the final act, he poses as father to Leonato’s niece: in reality, this is Hero in disguise.
9
Q
Balthazar
A
- A servant/musician of Leonato’s
- He flirts with Margaret at the masked dance, and plays music in the garden where Leonato, Don Pedro and Claudio have arranged for Benedick to overhear them.
- He is witty, and makes puns on the words nothing and noting.
10
Q
Borachio
A
- A minion of Don John’s.
- He is paid for coming up with and carrying out the scheme to ruin Hero and Claudio’s marriage.
- is the dude who flirts with margaret in the room of Hero
- Borachio is arrested by the watch after boasting to Conrade about his villainy.
11
Q
Dogberry
A
- A constable of Messina.
- Dogberry is not strict with criminals, and cautions the other members of the watch to also leave criminals alone.
- He misuses language terribly, and his inability to articulate himself is one of the reasons it takes so long for Don John’s treachery to be revealed.
12
Q
Verges
A
- A headborough of Messina.
- He works with Dogberry
- is insulted by Dogberry for being old.
13
Q
Friar Francis
A
- He conducts the two weddings.
- When Hero is disgraced, he is the first one to suspect that she might be innocent.
- It is his idea to pretend that Hero is dead while the matter is investigated.
14
Q
Margaret
A
- Hero’s witty and flirtatious waiting-gentlewoman.
- Margaret is seduced by Borachio on the night before the first wedding, as part of his scheme to ruin Hero.
- Don Pedro and Claudio are looking on from outside, and are lead to believe that Margaret is Hero.
15
Q
Ursula
A
- Another of Hero’s waiting gentle-women.
- Ursula helps Hero make Beatrice fall in love with Benedick
