Ferdinand
Ferdinand is the King of Navarre. The plot of the play revolves around his decision – made in conjunction with Biron, Longaville, and Dumain - to recreate the King’s court in the image of an academic utopia which will be "contemplative in living art" (1.1). This vision requires an oath made by all to spend three years studying, fasting, and avoiding the company of women.
Biron
Of the three friends of the King who joins him in his determination to create an academic utopia, Biron is quite clearly the most quick-witted and entertaining character. Many critics have pointed to Biron's character as evidence that Shakespeare was already working his way toward Biron’s more popular successors, like Benedick from Much Ado about Nothing.
Longaville
The second of the courtiers who briefly maintains the oaths foresworn alongside the King. In fact, he signs up for the three-year fast from food, sleep, and women before Biron does. Quite possibly because he lacks Biron’s natural charm and wit, Longaville tends to reveal that he wishes he were more like him.
Dumain
Dumain is the third lord to take up the oaths alongside the King, Biron, and Longaville.
Princess of France
The Princess of France arrives at the beginning of the play, along with her three ladies-in-waiting, disrupting the oaths sworn by the King and his lords. Destined to become the French Queen after some waiting of her own, the Princess arrives in Navarre with plans to take home rights to the province of Aquitaine in the name of her father.
Rosaline
Rosaline is one of the ladies-in-waiting for the Princess of France. She becomes the object of Biron's affection after he swears his oath to avoid women. Just as Biron is considered an early incarnation of Benedick from Much Ado About Nothing, so is Rosaline a precursor to Beatrice from the same play.
Maria
Maria is another lady-in-waiting for the Princess who becomes the object of Longaville's affection.
Katherine
Katherine is the third lady-in-waiting who eventually garners the attention of Dumain. The audience learns from Rosaline that Katherine's face is marked with pocks.
Boyet
Boyet is one of the lords who arrives with the Princess of France. Boyet is a messenger who manages the communications between the Princess and the King.
Marcade
Marcade is another lord of the French court who makes announcements. He only appears once in the play, when he announce that the King of France has died.
Don Armado
Don Armado is often the butt of the jokes made by the King and his lords. He falls in love with Jaquenetta and is often read as a mocking representation of the failures of the Spanish Armada.
Mote
Mote is Don Armado's page.
Costard
Costard is Shakespeare’s early attempt at creating one of his beloved clowns that populate his canon. Costard is another tool of amusement for the King and his crew, and he mistakenly delivers the wrong letters to the ladies whom the lords are trying to woo.
Holofernes and Sir Nathanial
They are a schoolmaster and a curate who provide commentary on the other characters. At the end of the play, Holofernes and Sir Nathanial put together the masque of the Nine Worthies.
Dull
Dull is a constable who is presented as boring in comparison to the scholarship of Holofernes and Sir Nathanial.
Jaquenetta
Jaquenetta is a local wench who stands in direct parallel to the somewhat sexually standoffish Princess of France. She is caught with Costard by Don Armado, who falls in love with her.
