# Two Treatises of Government — Character guide

> Key figures in Two Treatises of Government by John Locke.

- [Adam](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/adam.md): Adam stands at the center of the entire debate: Filmer insists his fatherhood over all posterity is the fountainhead of every king's authority, while Locke presses the awkward question of what 'monarch in habit, not in a
- [Sir Robert Filmer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/sir_robert_filmer.md): Filmer is the adversary Locke takes into his hands 'with all the expectation' and reads through with attention, only to find a system compressed into two claims: all government is absolute monarchy, and no man is born fr
- [Noah](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/noah.md): Noah appears in Locke's argument as a test case: if Shem inherited universal lordship as eldest heir, then Noah's laborious division of territories by lot among his sons was 'labour lost.' The tension is between paternal
- [Abraham](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/abraham.md): Abraham enters the argument as a scriptural precedent for how paternal authority and property rights actually operated among the patriarchs, not as Filmer imagines them. The tension lies in whether his dealings with sons
- [Jacob](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/jacob.md): Jacob's story of purchasing Esau's birthright and receiving Isaac's blessing becomes a trap for careless argument: Filmer reports it as if the blessing followed immediately on the purchase, but Scripture places a distanc
- [Isaac](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/isaac.md): Isaac stands in the argument as the father whose blessing Filmer claims followed directly upon Jacob's purchase of the birthright, a sequence Locke shows Scripture contradicts. The tension is whether a father's blessing 
- [Eve](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/eve.md): Eve enters the argument as the proof-text Sir Robert Filmer cannot do without: if her subjection to Adam were the original grant of government, every husband would be a monarch. Locke presses the distinction between conj
- [Cain](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/cain.md): First murderer, cited in arguments about punishment and sovereignty.
- [Abel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/abel.md): Shepherd and victim of Cain, referenced in discussions of natural law.
- [Judah](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/judah.md): Son of Jacob, mentioned in lineage and inheritance examples.
- [Saul](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/saul.md): First king of Israel, used to illustrate limits of royal power.
- [Barclay](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/barclay.md): Political theorist cited in arguments about resistance and tyranny.
- [Moses](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/moses.md): Lawgiver and prophet, referenced in discussions of divine and civil law.
- [Shem](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/shem.md): Son of Noah, mentioned in genealogical arguments about inheritance.
- [Hezekiah](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/hezekiah.md): King of Judah, referenced in discussions of religious reform and authority.
- [Samuel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/samuel.md): Prophet and judge, cited in debates about monarchy and divine will.
- [Joshua](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/joshua.md): Leader of Israel after Moses, used in examples of conquest and inheritance.
- [Jephthah](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/jephthah.md): Judge of Israel, cited in arguments about war and vows.
- [Aaron](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/aaron.md): High priest and brother of Moses, referenced in priestly authority discussions.
- [Grotius](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/grotius.md): Legal scholar cited in arguments about natural law and war.
- [Ahaz](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/ahaz.md): King of Judah, cited in examples of idolatry and divine judgment.
- [Seth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/seth.md): Third son of Adam, mentioned in genealogical succession.
- [Hooker](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/hooker.md): Theologian and legal philosopher, cited in arguments about natural law.
- [Mr. Selden](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/mr_selden.md): Legal scholar referenced in discussions of property and consent.
- [Sarah](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/sarah.md): Wife of Abraham, mentioned in narratives of promise and inheritance.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters