Shakespearean Characters - K

K

• Kate:
  • Kate Keepdown is a whore in Measure for Measure.
  • See also Lady Percy.
  • See also Katherine.
• Katharine/Katherine:
  • Katharine (hist) is the French princess who marries Henry V.
  • Katharine is a lady attending on the Princess of France, in Love's Labour's Lost. She becomes emotionally attached to Dumaine.
  • Katherine (sometimes "Kate" or "Katerina Minola") is the "shrew" from the title of The Taming of the Shrew, who is "tamed" by Petruchio.
  • Queen Katherine of Aragon (hist) is the first wife of King Henry in Henry VIII. She falls from grace, is divorced and dies.
  • See also Kate.
• Kate Keepdown is a whore in Measure for Measure.
• Keeper:
  • A door keeper (fict) bars the entrance of Cranmer to the council chamber, in Henry VIII.
  • A keeper (fict) gives Piers of Exton access to the imprisoned Richard in Richard II.
  • Two keepers (fict) arrest the fugitive Henry in Henry VI, Part 3.
• The Earl of Kent is a follower of the King in King Lear who evades banishment by disguising himself as a servant, and calling himself Caius.
• King (title):
  • First Player or Player King leads the company which visits Elsinore in Hamlet. He reads an excerpt as Priam, and plays the king in The Mousetrap.
  • King Claudius is the uncle and stepfather of the prince in Hamlet. He has murdered his brother Old Hamlet, has taken over his crown, and has married his queen, Gertrude.
  • King of France:
    • The King of France (fict) is the husband of Cordelia in King Lear.
    • The King of France is cured by Helena, and in recompense he agrees to order Bertram to marry her, in All's Well That Ends Well.
    • The King of France (hist) is Henry's enemy in Henry V.
    • The Dauphin, later King Charles VII of France (hist) leads the French forces, with Joan, in Henry VI, Part 1.
    • King Lewis XI of France (hist), insulted by Edward IV's marriage to Lady Grey, allies himself with Warwick and Margaret in Henry VI, Part 3.
    • King Philip of France (hist) allies himself with Constance in support of Arthur's claim, but later makes peace with John in King John.
  • King Edward:
    • Edward later King Edward IV (hist) is the eldest son of Richard, Duke of York (1) in Henry VI, Part 2 and Henry VI, Part 3 - in which he becomes king. He dies in Richard III.
    • Prince Edward of York later King Edward V (hist) is the eldest son of Edward IV and Queen Elizabeth. He appears in Henry VI, Part 3, and is the elder of the two princes in the tower in Richard III.
  • For King Hamlet see Old Hamlet.
  • King Henry:
    • Bolingbroke, later King Henry IV (hist) leads a revolt against King Richard in Richard II. He is the title character of Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2 which chart the rebellions against him by the Percy faction, and his difficult relationship with his eldest son, Hal.
    • Hal, later King Henry V (sometimes called The Prince of Wales, Prince Henry or just Harry) (hist) is a central character in Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2 and is the title character of Henry V. He has a closer relationship with Falstaff than with his father (Henry IV), but he eventually ascends the throne, rejects Falstaff, and leads the English to victory at Agincourt.
    • King Henry VI (hist), the title character of Henry VI, Part 1, Henry VI, Part 2, and Henry VI, Part 3, is a weak and ineffectual king, and the plays chart the rebellions against him, leading to his overthrow and murder.
    • The Earl of Richmond, later King Henry VII (hist) leads the rebellion against the cruel rule of Richard III, and eventually succeeds him as king.
    • King Henry VIII (hist) is the central character of the play Henry VIII, portrayed as a wise and strong ruler.
  • King John (hist) is the title character of King John: a king whose throne is under threat from the claim of his young nephew, Arthur.
  • King Lear is the central character of King Lear. He divides his kingdom among his two elder daughters, is rejected by them, runs mad, and dies.
  • The King of Navarre and his three noble companions, Berowne, Dumaine, and Longaville, vow to study and fast for three years, at the outset of Love's Labour's Lost.
  • King Richard:
    • King Richard II (hist) is the title character of Richard II: a king who is deposed and eventually murdered.
    • Richard, Duke of Gloucester, later King 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 in Richard III.
  • For King of Sparta see Menelaus.
  • For King of Troy see Priam.
  • A number of characters are kings, including Alonso, Antiochus, Leontes, Oberon, Polixines and Simonides.
• Knight:
  • Five knights, plus Pericles himself, compete in a tournament for the love of Thaisa, in Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
  • Six knights, three of them attending Palamon, and three attending Arcite, appear in The Two Noble Kinsmen. Palamon's knights are speaking roles.
  • A hundred knights, three of whom are speaking parts, and most of whom will inevitably be spoken of but never seen in performance, are followers of Lear in King Lear.