1637
(Suckling revised his play in the next year, adding a character and rewriting the last act to give the play a happy ending. See Aglaura (second version).)
a synoptic, alphabetical character list
AGLAURA
Zorannes's sister, she is in love with Prince Thersamnes. Before the opening of the play, she has secretly married the Prince. Their wedding night is twice interrupted; once when Zorannes rushes in to let the Prince know that he has been betrayed. She is separated from Thersamnes and placed in a small tower. The King, who is in love with her, asks her to become his mistress, but she refuses. She herself puts off the wedding night a second time when Thersamnes escapes, claiming that it isn't the right time. Zorannes sends her to a cave where, armed with a dagger, she expects to meet the King. She stabs Thersamnes fatally instead, and dies from grief.
ARIASPES
Brother of the King, and plotting to usurp the crown. He gives the Queen, Orbella, a box of poison and battles with Zorannes and his men outside the cave; Zorannes kills him.
COURTIER, FIRST, SECOND, and THIRD
Each courtier engages in verbal badinage with Orsamnes and Philan and gossips about the doings in court, as well as debating Platonic love.
EXPRESSE
Carries a message to the king in the first scene of the play.
HUNTSMAN
Leads the hunt in the opening scene of the play.
JOLAS
Brother to Jolina, Aglaura's lady in waiting, and a lord of the council. He pretends to be loyal to the Prince, but in reality he is plotting with Ariaspes against both the King and the Prince. He is in love with Semanthe, but she is in love with Zorannes (who has disguised himself as "Ziriff") and also a platonic, and refuses him. He is with Ariaspes and "Ziriff" at the cave, planning to ambush the King, and also planning with Ariaspes to kill "Ziriff." However, Zorannes kills him first.
JOLINA
Jolas's sister and Aglaura's lady in waiting, she is apparently innocent and unaware of her brother's plotting.
KING
The king of Persia, a cruel tyrant; married to Orbella, brother of Ariaspes and father of Thersamnes. Before the beginning of the play, there have been civil wars, but he and Thersamnes are supposedly reconciled. However, Thersamnes's secret marriage to Aglaura makes him suspicious, and he captures and separates them, partly to keep the Prince under close guard and partly to have his way with Aglaura. He tries, unsuccessfully, to persuade Aglaura to become his mistress, but she refuses, and he is enraged when the Prince escapes. He is easily persuaded to go to a remote cave where Aglaura is waiting for Thersamnes. He is ambushed and killed before she arrives.
LADY
She has a brief exchange about the flower in her hair in the opening scene of the play.
ODIRIS
A conspirator with Ariaspes, he dies in a fight with the King's men in III.
ORBELLA
The Queen of Persia, married to the King. She was formerly, before his exile, plighted to Zorannes. She falls in love with Ariaspes and plots with him to overthrow the King. Zorannes reveals himself to her and charges her with faithlessness. She weeps and begs for forgiveness, and he forgives her. However, she is still angry that Zorannes has killed Ariaspes, and she opens the box of poison Ariaspes had given her, thus killing Zorannes. She is then killed by Pasithas.
ORITHIE
A friend of Aglaura and a lady of the court, she is also secretly in love with Thersamnes. Aglaura discovers her secret in conversation with her and they enjoy talking about the absent Prince together.
ORSAMNES
A courtier. He gossips and chats about his view of Platonic love with the ladies of the court, but he is also loyal to Prince Thersamnes. He fights successfully in III, killing men of both Ariaspes' and the King's factions. He is still alive at the end of the play to exclaim in horror.
PASITHAS
Loyal to Zorannes, he kills the Queen at the end of the play.
PHILAN
A courtier as Orsamnes, loyal to the Prince and Orsamnes's friend. He fights in the same skirmish along side Orsamnes and is similarly successful. Like him, Philan is still alive at the end of the play and captures the fleeing Pasithas.
SEMANTHE
A lady much given to Platonic love, she was in love with Zorannes and is now in love with "Ziriff" (Zorannes in disguise), possibly because she subconsciously recognizes the similarity. She rejects Jolas's advances and weeps over "Ziriff" at the end of the play.
SERVANT, FIRST, SECOND, and THIRD
Each carries a message to Zorannes at the beginning of the play.
SERVING-MAN
Thersamnes' serving man, who carries in a message.
STEPHINIS
A conspirator with Ariaspes, he dies in a fight with the King's men in III.
THERSAMNES
The Prince of Persia. He is at odds with his father and has secretly married Aglaura at the beginning of the play. He is captured and taken away before his wedding night begins and forced to give Aglaura up. Later he escapes and tries to convince Aglaura to consummate the marriage. He comes to the cave where Aglaura is waiting for him, but she mistakes him for the King and fatally stabs him.
ZIRIFF
Zorannes' name throughout most of the play when he is in disguise.
ZORANNES
Aglaura's brother and still in love with Orbella, the Queen, he has disguised himself as "Ziriff" and returned to the Persian court in order to get revenge upon the King who killed his father. He pretends to be in the plot with Ariaspes so that he can have the King killed, but he really plans to kill Ariaspes, too. He warns Thersamnes about the dangers to him several times. It is Zorannes who tells the King to meet Aglaura in the cave, and drops a covert hint to her that she takes to mean that she ought to stab the man she will meet in the cave. However, Zorannes has already killed the King before she arrives—he has also killed Jolas and Ariaspes—and so she mistakenly kills Thersamnes instead. He tells her not to blame herself, but she dies of a broken heart anyway. He has witnessed for himself Orbella's amorous passages with Ariaspes, but is persuaded to forgive her, and he is poisoned when he inhales the contents of the box she opens.