Characters in Hamlet Characters in Hamlet What follows is an overview of the main characters in William Shakespeare's "Hamlet", followed by a list and summary of the minor characters from the play. Three different early versions of the play survive: known as the First Quarto ("Q1"), Second Quarto ("Q2"), and First Folio ("F1"), each has lines—and even scenes—missing in the others, and some character names vary. Marcellus, Bernardo (or Barnardo) and Francisco are sentries at Elsinore. Francisco gives up his watch to Bernardo in the opening of the play, and it is Bernardo and Marcellus, who first alert Horatio to the appearance of
Riverside Shakespeare disputed play "Edward III", as well as "A Funeral Elegy" which was written by John Ford and is mistakenly attributed to Shakespeare here. Riverside Shakespeare The Riverside Shakespeare is a long-running series of editions of the complete works of William Shakespeare published by the Houghton Mifflin company. The first "Riverside Shakespeare" was edited by Richard Grant White and published in 1883 and 1901. A new version was published in 1974 as a full scholarly edition, presenting each of the plays with introductions and textual notes, as well as several essays on Shakespeare's life and works. The general editor was G.