Hudibras · Characters
Character guide
Key figures in Hudibras by Samuel Butler.
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Hudibras
major
Also known as Sir Hudibras, Knight, Sir Knight, The Knight, the Knight, Thither the Knight, The subtle Knight
A Presbyterian knight who rides out to reform the world by force and returns, repeatedly, as his own punchline.
Ralpho
major
Also known as Ralph, plain Ralph, Squire, Good Squire, wrathful Squire, The Squire
Hudibras's squire, an Independent sectary whose plain sense and quick disguises keep rescuing his master from the consequences of his own heroics.
Sidrophel
supporting
Also known as This Sidrophel, Sidrophello, Sir Agrippa, Cornelius Agrippa, Sir Cornelius Agrippa
A fraudulent astrologer and conjurer who sells Hudibras the supernatural answers he is too vain to doubt.
Whachum
supporting
Sidrophel's cunning assistant, a petty schemer who helps turn the astrologer's sham magic into working fraud.
Talgol
supporting
A fierce butcher who fights as a champion in the bear-baiting riot and gives the Knight more than he bargained for.
Crowdero
supporting
A fiddler swept into the bear-baiting fray, whose capture and release become a comic siege in miniature.
Orsin
supporting
Also known as furious Orsin, Noble Orsin
Orsin belongs to the tavern-and-market world of tradesmen and showmen whose bear-baiting Hudibras disrupts, and his bear is the creature at the brawl's center. Grief for Bruin curdles into blazing wrath: he vows the authors of his woe shall pay with flesh and bone, and his speech to Cerdon, Talgol, and the rest turns a scattered rout into a marching vendetta. His pursuit keeps the comic chase alive through the early cantos, giving the knight a pursuer as stubborn as he is pompous.
Bruin
supporting
Also known as The gallant Bruin, stout Bruin, the Bear, Bear, The worsted Bear
Bruin is the tethered prize of the bear-baiting that Hudibras rides in to break up, and the brawl's fortunes turn on his hide. Wounded and ringed by mastiffs, he refuses to yield, using every trick of a stout and politic warrior to gain ground and sell his carcase dear. His doomed stand gives the poem its first great mock-heroic set piece, making a lumbering beast the unlikely mirror of the knight's own pretensions to honour.
Trulla
supporting
Also known as gentle Trulla
Trulla moves among the butchers, tinkers, and bear-ward's allies who make up the anti-Hudibras faction, and Cerdon credits her with saving Bruin from the dogs. Her name means something like a wench or trull, yet she fights with a man's stoutness, mocking the poem's assumptions about who belongs in combat. Her presence sharpens the satire's gender comedy and keeps the crowd of low-born combatants vivid as the chase for the knight unfolds.
Cerdon
supporting
Also known as The upright Cerdon next advanc't, Cerdon the Great, valiant Cerdon, Last Colon, Colon
Cerdon is one of the resolute tradesmen Orsin rallies after the bear-baiting rout, a fighter as ready with a cobbler's pun as with a cudgel. He answers Orsin's fury with practical news, reporting that he and Trulla dragged Bruin off to safety, and swears vengeance on the knight and his squire. His blunt pledge of violence embodies the poem's delight in low characters who talk like epic champions, and his loyalty keeps the vengeful crew moving in pursuit.
Magnano
supporting
Also known as Mong these the fierce Magnano
Magnano numbers among the warriors stout whom Hudibras lately subdued and who now regroup under Orsin's call for vengeance. A tinker by trade, he carries the same combustible mix of injured pride and appetite for payback that drives the whole crew, and his name's metallic ring suits a man who fights with pots and kettles as readily as swords. His presence swells the comic army that dogs the knight through the middle cantos, turning a petty scuffle into a running war.
Cerberus
minor
Also known as Proud Cerberus
The three-headed dog of myth, referenced as a character in the narrative.
Oliver Cromwell
minor
Also known as the usurper Oliver Cromwell, Cromwell, Oliver
The Lord Protector, frequently alluded to as a political figure.
Muhammad
minor
Also known as Mahomet
Prophet of Islam, mentioned in religious satire.
Joan of Arc
minor
Also known as Joan of, Pope Joan, Joan, Jo
French heroine and legendary female pope, used in satirical comparisons.
Montaigne
minor
French essayist, cited in philosophical digressions.
King Charles II
minor
Also known as King Charles I
The restored monarch, referenced in political satire.
Adam
minor
First man in the Bible, mentioned in theological jokes.
Cupid
minor
God of love, referenced in romantic satire.
Lob
minor
A rustic or clownish character, possibly a servant.
Eve
minor
First woman in the Bible, mentioned in theological satire.
Sarah Jimmers
minor
Also known as sally
A woman mentioned in passing, possibly a local figure.
Romulus
minor
Mythical founder of Rome, mentioned in passing comparisons.
Aeneas
minor
Trojan hero, referenced in classical allusions.
John Duns Scotus
minor
Also known as Johannes Dunscotas, Dunscotas
Medieval scholastic philosopher, mocked for obscure reasoning.
Thomas Aquinas
minor
Also known as Thomas
Scholastic theologian, cited in Hudibras's pedantic arguments.
Chiron
minor
Centaur tutor of Achilles, referenced in classical allusions.
Taliacotius
minor
Renaissance surgeon known for nose grafts, mentioned in mockery.
Roger Bacon
minor
Also known as Friar Bacon, Bacon
Medieval philosopher and scientist, referenced as a magician.
Satan
minor
The devil, invoked in religious satire and oaths.
Raymund Lully
minor
Also known as Mr. Ray
Medieval alchemist and philosopher, mentioned in occult contexts.
Ignatius Loyola
minor
Founder of the Jesuits, satirized as a schemer.
Julius Caesar
minor
Also known as Caesar
Roman dictator, used in historical comparisons.
Pygmalion
minor
Mythical sculptor, referenced in classical allusions.
Hercules
minor
Mythological hero, used in epic comparisons.
Martin Luther
minor
Also known as Martin
Protestant reformer, referenced in religious satire.
Pyrrho
minor
Greek skeptic philosopher, mentioned in philosophical jokes.
Prometheus
minor
Titan who gave fire to humans, referenced in classical allusions.
Paracelsus
minor
Renaissance physician and alchemist, mentioned in occult contexts.
Philip Nye
minor
Also known as Philip, Phil
Puritan clergyman, satirized as a religious hypocrite.
Bongey
minor
A minor character, possibly a servant or local figure.
Caligula
minor
Roman emperor, used as a byword for tyranny.
Virgil
minor
Roman poet, referenced in classical allusions.
Pliny
minor
Roman naturalist, cited in mock-scholarly notes.
William Pryn
minor
Also known as Pryn
Puritan pamphleteer, satirized for his zeal.
Alexander Ross
minor
Also known as Alexander
Scottish writer and controversialist, mocked in the poem.
Apollo
minor
Also known as quoth Apollo
God of poetry, invoked in mock-epic conventions.
Homer
minor
Also known as old Homer
Ancient Greek poet, referenced as epic source.
Echo
minor
Also known as Quoth Echo
Nymph from myth, used in a punning exchange.
Madam Bennet
minor
Also known as Madam
A procuress or bawd, mentioned in satirical context.
Plato
minor
Greek philosopher, cited in philosophical satire.
Copernicus
minor
Astronomer, referenced in Sidrophel's pseudo-science.
Lord Napier
minor
Also known as Napier, The famous Lord Napier
Scottish mathematician, inventor of logarithms, referenced.
Demosthenes
minor
Greek orator, used in rhetorical comparisons.
Sir William Davenant
minor
Also known as Sir William d'Avenant, Sir William
Poet laureate, mentioned in literary satire.
Doomsday Sedgwick
minor
Also known as This Sedgwick
A Puritan preacher, satirized for his apocalyptic sermons.
Anaxagoras
minor
Also known as Anaxogaras
Pre-Socratic philosopher, mentioned in philosophical jokes.