The Captain is husband to Castiza. He regrets his marriage and longs to go to sea. He approaches Tangle, a crafty lawyer, and makes plans to sell his wife to Count Proditor. Caught by Phoenix and Fidelio, the Captain is forced to return to sea without funds.
CARLO TURBULENZO
A "ghost character." Carlo Turbulenzo does not appear in the play but is described as a party who failed to appear in the prosecution of a lawsuit.
CASTIZA
Castiza is married to the Captain and is sad that her husband is no longer happy to be married. Nevertheless, she repulses Count Proditor's advances. She expresses woe and outrage when she discovers the Captain's intent to sell her and joy when Fidelio and Phoenix defeat the Captain's plans.
CONSTABLE
The Constable brings in the captive Furtivo to Falso, who is Furtivo's employer.
COUNT PRODITOR
Count Proditor cherishes a strong dislike for Phoenix, son of the Duke of Ferrara. He hopes, by urging Phoenix to travel, to find a way to discredit or kill the Duke's son. He also makes unsavory advances toward Castiza, the Captain's wife, and arranges to "buy" Castiza when the Captain takes a notion to rid himself of the restrictions of wedlock. Proditor's plans to accuse Phoenix of patricide fail, and Proditor is banished from Ferrara when Phoenix becomes Duke.
DUKE OF FERRARA
The Duke of Ferrara has ruled for forty-five years and now feels his age quite keenly. He wants his son Phoenix to travel and learn how to rule. When at the play's end it is revealed that Phoenix has remained about the dukedom in disguise and has learned a great deal about his own people, the Duke bestows his power and title upon his worthy son.
FALSO
Falso is a Justice of the Peace and father of the Jeweler's Wife. His deceased brother has left the care of his niece to him along with her sizable dowry. Falso plans never to approve a marriage for his niece. Instead, he plans to keep the dowry himself and would have his niece service him as a wife. Falso's scandalous behavior becomes public knowledge at the play's end when the disguised Phoenix reveals himself as the Duke's son.
FIDELIO
Fidelio is the son of Castiza and a friend of Phoenix, son of the Duke of Ferrara. Fidelio is Phoenix's sole choice of traveling companion, and together the two don disguises and go about Ferrara and its environs. Fidelio calls himself a scrivener and helps save Castiza from being sold to Count Proditor, presenting to the Duke a record of all the dishonesty and chicanery that he and Phoenix have observed within the realm.
FIRST SOLDIER
The First Soldier, an old acquaintance of the Captain's, has been sure the Captain would never wed and is quite glad that his own wench provides for his upkeep instead of vice versa-and all without the "benefit" of marriage.
FIRST SUITOR
This unnamed First Suitor comes to the crafty lawyer Tangle with legal problems.
FUCATO
Fucato is servant to Falso. With Furtivo and Latronello, he robs the disguised travelers Phoenix and Fidelio.
FURTIVO
Furtivo is a servant of Falso. He brings Falso the news that Falso's brother has died, and he is caught robbing Phoenix and Fidelio.
GENTLEMAN
This unnamed Gentleman temporarily blinds the officers who attempt to arrest the Knight, and the Knight escapes.
GROOM
This unnamed Groom is employed at an Inn where the disguised Phoenix and Fidelio lodge; he identifies for them the crafty lawyer Tangle.
INFESTO
Infesto is a minor nobleman in the court of the Duke of Ferrara.
JEWELER'S WIFE
The Jeweler's Wife is the daughter of Falso. She is having an affair with the Knight, whom she says is her husband's brother and whom she refers to as "Pleasure." This lascivious woman has no qualms about bringing her illicit lover into her father's house. Her shameful story arrives at court with her through the subterfuges of the disguised Phoenix.
KNIGHT
This unnamed Knight is having an affair with the Jeweler's Wife, whom he calls "Revenue" in an obvious reference to the primary gain that he realizes from this relationship. Eventually arrested for debt, he is helped to escape by the Gentleman, who temporarily blinds the Knight's captors.
LATRONELLO
Latronello is a servant of Falso's. He disguises himself and robs Phoenix and Fidelio.
LUSSORIOSO
Lussurioso, a courtier under the Duke of Ferrara, flatters the Duke by saying that the Duke's son Phoenix is older in virtue than in years.
MAID
Serving at the home of the Jeweler's Wife, this unnamed Maid mistakes Phoenix for her mistress' Knight and takes him to her mistress' bedchamber.
METREZA AURIOLA
A "ghost character." Metreza Auriola does not appear in the play but is described by the Jeweler's Wife as a female acquaintance in Ferrara who keeps a lover for less than what the Jeweler's Wife spends to keep her Knight.
NIECE
The care of this unnamed Niece has been left to Falso when his brother, her father, dies. The Niece loves Fidelio, but her uncle Falso presses her for intimacy, and he has no intention of approving a husband for her or parting with the dowry set aside for her by her deceased father. Privy to much of what goes on in Falso's home, she is aware that it was the servants of Falso who robbed Phoenix and Fidelio. Her plight is relieved at the play's end when Phoenix reveals before the Duke all the chicanery he has observed while traveling about Ferrara.
PHOENIX
Phoenix is the Duke of Ferrara's son. He chooses Fidelio, son of Castiza, as traveling companion when the Duke decides that a view of the world will help make Phoenix a better ruler when he assumes the Dukedom. Traveling in disguise, Phoenix and Fidelio go not to foreign realms but instead circulate among the local people, discovering and recording instances of vulgarity and outrage along the way. Phoenix discovers much in his disguise:
the double-dealings of the crafty lawyer Tangle;
he hatches a plot to save Castiza from being sold by her husband the Captain;
he uncovers adultery between the Knight and the Jeweler's Wife.
A victim of robbery, Phoenix learns that the Justice of the Peace who should redress such thievery is instead aiding and abetting the thieves, who are in Falso's employ.
Phoenix also puts an end to Falso's atrocious behavior toward the Niece who has been placed under his care.
Phoenix proves himself worthy and becomes Duke at the end of the play.
PISTOR
A "ghost character." Pistor does not appear in the play, but it is mentioned that he once sold his wife, and Tangle tells the tale.
PLEASURE
Pleasure is a nickname used by the Jeweler's Wife to refer to her gigolo, the Knight. The name obviously refers to the gain realized by the woman from this relationship.
QUIETO
Quieto is a Ferraran whose past has been wild and crowded with incident. He now loves the quiet life and feels that modern law contains too much cheating and too many errors. He is called to court to minister to the lawyer Tangle, who has become so immersed in his crafty work that his mind is unhinged. Quieto provides medications and leads Tangle through a sort of exorcism coupled with bleeding; his ministrations seem to affect Tangle positively.
REVENUE
Revenue is a nickname used by the Knight to refer to his mistress, the Jeweler's Wife. The name obviously refers to the gain realized by the Knight from this relationship.
SECOND SOLDIER
This unnamed Second Soldier, friend of the Captain's, regales his friend with the tale of recently having taken three ships at sea.
SECOND SUITOR
This unnamed Second Suitor comes to lawyer Tangle to beg advice about a legal matter.
TANGLE
Tangle is a crafty lawyer whose legalese increasingly pervades every aspect of his thought and speech. Tangle offers advice that all too often is in error; with the fees he collects, he pays upon his own rather large number of outstanding lawsuits. Tangle's obsessive and unethical behavior unsettles his mind to the extent that Quieto must minister to him, offering medicines, bleeding, and a bit of exorcism to clear Tangle's tangled mind.