Content Category
Literary Criticism
Abstract/Description
Shakespeare’s nameless characters are often seen as unimportant and, therefore, go unnoticed. While some critics have recognized this, few have tried to find out why Shakespeare left some characters unnamed. As shown from the boy in Henry V, the servant in King Lear, and the shepherd in The Winter’s Tale, it is important to note their namelessness because Shakespeare uses them as a reflection of the main character allowing the reader to empathize with the main characters’ mistakes. In Henry V, both the boy and King Henry try to convince the audience that they are men and do what is best for themselves and for the people around them. Because the audience already sympathizes with the boy, the parallels between the two allow the audience to forget Henry’s mistakes and see him as a good king. In King Lear, the parallels between King Lear and Cornwall’s first servant help the audience understand why Lear would have banished his daughter. By looking at these parallels, the reader gains more empathy for Lear by realizing that Lear thought he was acting virtuously. Leontes, in The Winter’s Tale, is cruel at the beginning of the play but has a change of heart by the end. A drastic change takes place in Leontes’s character from the beginning to the end of the play. The shepherd mirrors Leontes and helps the audience deal with the sixteen-year gap and transition from an unforgiving king to a penitent one. The namelessness of these three characters lets the audience first sympathize, then empathize with the main character. When looked at through the lens of their nameless characters all three kings can be seen as people full of love for their country and their family. Unfortunately, all three kings are usually recognized only by their human faults.
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Origin of Submission
as part of a class
Faculty Involvement
Bruce Young
Shakespeare's Nameless Characters
Shakespeare’s nameless characters are often seen as unimportant and, therefore, go unnoticed. While some critics have recognized this, few have tried to find out why Shakespeare left some characters unnamed. As shown from the boy in Henry V, the servant in King Lear, and the shepherd in The Winter’s Tale, it is important to note their namelessness because Shakespeare uses them as a reflection of the main character allowing the reader to empathize with the main characters’ mistakes. In Henry V, both the boy and King Henry try to convince the audience that they are men and do what is best for themselves and for the people around them. Because the audience already sympathizes with the boy, the parallels between the two allow the audience to forget Henry’s mistakes and see him as a good king. In King Lear, the parallels between King Lear and Cornwall’s first servant help the audience understand why Lear would have banished his daughter. By looking at these parallels, the reader gains more empathy for Lear by realizing that Lear thought he was acting virtuously. Leontes, in The Winter’s Tale, is cruel at the beginning of the play but has a change of heart by the end. A drastic change takes place in Leontes’s character from the beginning to the end of the play. The shepherd mirrors Leontes and helps the audience deal with the sixteen-year gap and transition from an unforgiving king to a penitent one. The namelessness of these three characters lets the audience first sympathize, then empathize with the main character. When looked at through the lens of their nameless characters all three kings can be seen as people full of love for their country and their family. Unfortunately, all three kings are usually recognized only by their human faults.