Philaster
A prince, the rightful heir to the throne of Sicily, but that all changes when one day his father is deposed by the King of Calabria who kills almost everyone, but spares Philaster for some reason.
King of Calabria
The King of Calabria comes to Sicily and kills the king and takes over the kingdom. Of the royal family, only one life is spared, the life of Philaster himself. He does this to help gain public appeal, hoping that Philaster's survival will be a consolation to the Sicilians.
Arethusa
The king's daughter whom he offers to a prince from Spain to be the Spaniard's wife. But Arethusa is in love with Philaster. Philaster and Arethusa communicate through Philaster's young page, Bellario.
Bellario
This servant messenger is a page who often relays messages between Philaster, his knight, and Arethusa, Philaster's secret girlfriend.
Pharamond
The Spanish prince to whom the king offered his daughter as a sign of alliance. Pharamond is a villainous character who doesn't even care about Arethusa. While he entertains the offer for her hand in marriage, he is also sleeping with a side girlfriend named Megra.
Megra
Publically, Megra has no right to Pharamond, but privately, the two have been lovers for some time, so when Pharamond accepts the Calabrian king's offer for Pharamond to marry princess Arethusa, Megra decides to ruin that plan. She sabotages Arethusa by saying that she's been seeing Bellario with Arethusa often, so they must be sleeping together (in reality, they are relaying messages to Philaster).
Euphrasia
Another suitor of Philaster's who has been secretly disguising herself as a boy—none other than the page Bellario. Euphrasia cannot stand to lose her connection to Philaster, so when everything sorts itself out in the end and Arethusa and Philaster end up together, this longing lover volunteers to stay their servant and friend.
