Shakespearean Characters - G

G

  • Gadshill (fict) is the "setter" of the Gadshill robbery in Henry IV, Part 1.
  • For Gaius see Caius.
  • Gallus (hist) is a follower of Caesar in Antony and Cleopatra.
  • Gaoler:
    • A Gaoler has custody of Egeon in The Comedy of Errors.
    • Several Gaolers, one a speaking role, guard Mortimer in Henry VI, Part 1.
    • See also Jailer.
  • For Ganymede see Rosalind.
  • Gardener:
    • A gardener (with his men) encounters the Queen in Richard II.
    • Two gardener's men, with the gardener, encounter the Queen in Richard II.
  • Gardiner:
    • Gardiner (hist) is the King's secretary, later Bishop of Winchester, and Cranmer's chief enemy, in Henry VIII.
    • Gardiner's Page is a minor role in Henry VIII.
  • Gargrave (fict) fights for the English in France in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • The Host of the Garter is the practical-joking innkeeper in The Merry Wives of Windsor.
  • John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (hist), uncle to King Richard and father to Bolingbroke, dies in Richard II, having delivered his famous "This sceptred isle..." speech.
  • Gentleman:
    • A gentleman discusses the plight of mad Ophelia with Horatio in Hamlet.
    • A gentleman agrees to present Helena's petition to the King of France, in the last act of All's Well That Ends Well.
    • A gentleman reports the arrival of knights to battle for the love of Emilia, in The Two Noble Kinsmen.
    • Two gentlemen (fict) are ransomed for a thousand crowns each in Henry VI, Part 2.
    • Two gentlemen open the action of Cymbeline, explaining the backstory.
    • Two gentlemen of Ephesus witness Cerimon's discovery of Thaisa, in Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
    • Two gentlemen of Mytilene are converted from lives of debauchery by Marina's preaching, in Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
    • Two gentlemen (fict) are mid-sized roles in Henry VIII. Their conversations perform a choric function at the execution of Buckingham and (together with a third gentleman) at the coronation of Anne Bullen.
    • "Two or three" gentlemen of Tyre, one a speaking role, appear in the shipboard reconciliation scene between Pericles and Marina in Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
    • Four gentlemen, with Montano, witness the dispersal of the Turkish fleet and Othello's arrival at Cyprus in Othello.
    • A number of gentlemen (possibly three, although it impossible to know for certain how Shakespeare intended them to be doubled) are speaking roles in King Lear.
  • Gentlewoman:
    • A Gentlewoman attending on Lady Macbeth witnesses her sleepwalking, with the Scottish Doctor, in Macbeth.
    • A Gentlewoman attends on Virgilia, in Coriolanus
  • George:
    • George (fict) is a follower of Jack Cade in Henry VI, Part 2.
    • George, Duke of Clarence (hist) is the younger brother of Edward and the elder brother of Richard in Henry VI, Part 3 and Richard III. He is often known as "purjured Clarence", having broken his oath to Warwick and fighting instead for his brother's faction. He is eventually drowned in a butt of malmesy wine.
    • George Seacoal is a member of the Watch in Much Ado About Nothing.
    • See also Master Page, whose first name is George.
  • Gerald is a pedantic schoolmaster, who leads the Maying entertainments in The Two Noble Kinsmen.
  • Queen Gertrude is the protagonist's mother in Hamlet. She has married Claudius.
  • Ghost. The following characters appear as Ghosts. See the entries under their character name:
    • Banquo
    • Julius Caesar
    • Old Hamlet
    • in Cymbeline:
      • Sicilius Leonantus
      • The Mother of Posthumus
      • Two brothers of Posthumus
    • and in Richard III:
      • Dorset
      • The Duke of Buckingham (2)
      • Earl Rivers
      • George, Duke of Clarence
      • Grey
      • Henry VI
      • Lady Anne
      • Lord Hastings
      • Prince Edward
      • Prince Edward of York
      • Richard Duke of York (2)
    • Antigonus in The Winter's Tale reports seeing the ghost of Hermione in a dream.
    • For "Ghost characters" in the other sense - characters mentioned in stage directions but having no lines and playing no part in the action - see Ghost character. Ghost characters in that sense are not listed on this page.
  • Girl (hist) in Richard III is the young daughter of the murdered Clarence.
  • Glansdale (fict) fights for the English in France in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • Owen Glendower (hist), a warrior and magician who tries the patience of Hotspur, leads the Welsh forces in the rebellion in Henry IV, Part 1.
  • Gloucester:
    • The Duchess of Gloucester (hist) is the widow of Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester. His murder (before the play opens) drives much of the action of Richard II.
    • The Earl of Gloucester is the father of Edgar and Edmund, who has his eyes put out by the Duke of Cornwall, in King Lear.
    • Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester is the wife of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester in Henry VI, Part 2, in which she dabbles in witchcraft with disastrous results.
    • Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester (hist) appears as a brother of Hal in Henry IV, Part 2 and Henry V. He is a much more important character as the protector in Henry VI, Part 1 and Henry VI, Part 2, in which he is murdered by his rivals.
    • Richard, Duke of Gloucester, later Richard III (hist), brave but evil, is the third son of Richard, Duke of York (1). He is a fairly minor character in Henry VI, Part 2, is more prominent in Henry VI, Part 3, and is the title character - and murderer of many other characters - in Richard III.
  • Gobbo:
    • Launcelot Gobbo is a clown in The Merchant of Venice, a servant to Shylock, and later to Lorenzo.
    • Old Gobbo, the blind old father of Launcelot Gobbo, is a clown in The Merchant of Venice.
  • Goneril is the cruel eldest daughter in King Lear. She is married to the Duke of Albany.
  • Gonzalo is a courtier to Alonzo in The Tempest.
  • For Robin Goodfellow see Puck.
  • Matthew Gough (hist) is an enemy of Jack Cade's rebels in Henry VI, Part 2.
  • Governor:
    • The Governor of Harfleur (hist) surrenders to Henry V.
    • The Governor of Paris has an oath of allegiance administered to him by Gloucester (but has no lines of his own) in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • Gower:
    • Gower (fict) is a messenger to the Lord Chief Justice in Henry IV, Part 2.
    • Gower (fict) is an English captain in Henry V.
    • John Gower (hist) is the "Presenter", or narrator, of Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
  • The Earl of Grandpre (fict?), a French leader, makes an unduly optimistic speech on the morning of Agincourt, in Henry V.
  • Gratiano:
    • Gratiano is a hot-headed friend of Antonio and Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice. He marries Narissa.
    • Gratiano is Brabantio's brother in Othello.
  • Gravedigger. The First Gravedigger and the Second Gravedigger are clowns in Hamlet. Hamlet's conversation with the First Gravedigger over Yorick's skull is possibly the most famous scene in Shakespeare.
  • Green (hist) is a favourite of Richard in Richard II.
  • Gregory and Sampson, two men of the Capulet household, open the main action of Romeo and Juliet with their aggressive and lecherous banter.
  • Gremio is an elderly suitor to Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew.
  • Grey:
    • Grey (hist) and Dorset (hist) are the two sons of Queen Elizabeth from her first marriage, who are arrested and executed on the orders of Buckingham and Richard in Richard III.
    • Sir Thomas Grey (hist) is one of the three conspirators against the king's life (with Cambridge and Scroop) in Henry V.
    • For Lady Grey see Queen Elizabeth.
  • Griffith (hist) is a gentleman usher to Katherine, in Henry VIII.
  • A groom of the King's stable (fict) visits the imprisoned Richard at Pontefract in Richard II.
  • Grumio is a servant to Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew.
  • Guard/Guardsman:
    • Several Guards (two of them minor speaking roles), together with Dercetus, discover the mortally wounded Antony in Antony and Cleopatra.
    • Two Guards (or Guardsmen) keep an unsuccessful suicide watch over Cleopatra, in Antony and Cleopatra.
  • Guiderius (also known as Polydore) is the true heir of the kingdom in Cymbeline, stolen away in infancy by Morgan, and brought up as Morgan's child.
  • Guildenstern and Rozencrantz, in Hamlet, are two former friends of the prince, invited to the Danish court to spy on him. They eventually accompany Hamlet towards England, but he escapes while they continue with the journey, to their deaths.
  • Sir Henry Guildford (hist) welcomes guests to Cardinal Wolsey's party, in Henry VIII.
  • Gunner:
    • The Master Gunner of Orleans leaves his boy in charge of the artillery, in Henry VI, Part 1.
    • The Master Gunner's Boy kills Salisbury, in Henry VI, Part 1.
  • James Gurney (fict) is a servant of Lady Faulconbridge, in King John.

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