Philaster

Philaster (fi-LAS-tur), the rightful heir to the Sicilian kingdom. Although he is popular with the people who should be his subjects and with several of his noblemen, he lacks the strength of character to attempt to regain his throne. His melancholy, poetic personality is that of a weaker Hamlet; he calls himself “a thing born without passion, a faint shadow that every drunken cloud sails over and makes nothing.” He is a typical romantic hero in his longing for refuge in a pastoral world and in his distraught reaction to Arethusa when he thinks she has been unfaithful to him. He shows, in his defiance of the king and Pharamond, occasional flashes of courage that foreshadow the resoluteness with which he finally takes over his kingdom.

The king of Calabria

The king of Calabria, usurper of the throne of Sicily. He is an autocratic ruler, one quickly angered when his wishes are opposed, but he fears Philaster’s popularity too much to give complete vent to his rage against the young prince. He is, like several of the fathers in the Shakespearean romances, redeemed by his recognition of his own wrongdoing and by the virtue and the love of Philaster and his daughter.

Arethusa

Arethusa (AR-eh-thew-zuh), the daughter of the king, betrothed by her father to Pharamond. She possesses the courage and resourcefulness of a Viola and a Rosalind, forthrightly telling Philaster of her love for him and plotting with her ladies to expose Pharamond’s wickedness. She is puzzled, but not overcome, by the accusations made against her and her page, Bellario, by the king and his court, and she remains true to Philaster in spite of his cruelty to her. It is she who arranges their marriage and saves him from death at the hand of her father.

Pharamond

Pharamond (FAR-uh-mond), the prince of Spain, Arethusa’s suitor. He is an arrogant braggart who well deserves the title, “prince of popinjays,” that Philaster bestows upon him. He loses the king’s favor by his seduction of Megra, Arethusa’s willing lady in waiting, but almost regains it through Philaster’s mistreatment of the princess. He receives well-merited calumny from the townspeople into whose hands he falls during the rebellion, and he is saved only by the intervention of Philaster, who sends him back to Spain.

Euphrasia

Euphrasia (ew-FRAY-see-uh), the daughter of one of Philaster’s loyal lords. She disguises herself as a page, Bellario, to be near the prince, whom she secretly loves. She serves both Philaster and Arethusa loyally, and she resolves to remain with them, unmarried, after he has won his throne and his bride.

Dion

Dion (DI-on), Euphrasia’s father, a Sicilian lord. He pays necessary homage to the king, but he remains a firm supporter of Philaster’s claims. It is partly his loyalty to the prince that makes him too ready to believe the slanderous reports about Arethusa’s love for Bellario, a misconception for which he berates himself and asks forgiveness.

Cleremont

Cleremont (KLEHR-eh-mont) and

Thrasilene

Thrasilene (thra-sih-LEE-nuh), two noblemen loyal to Philaster.

Megra

Megra (MEHG-ruh), a lady in waiting to Arethusa, attracted to every handsome man she meets. She welcomes Pharamond’s advances. She attempts to avenge the court’s discovery of her relations with the Spanish prince by malicious slandering of Arethusa and Bellario.

Galathea

Galathea (gal-uh-THEE-uh), another of Arethusa’s ladies. Witty and sharp-tongued in her refusal of Pharamond’s offers and in her condemnation of Megra, she helps her mistress to unveil the prince’s infidelity.

Country Fellow

Country Fellow, an honest rustic. On...