Shakespeare's Characters: B

Please note that uppercase type indicates the stressed syllable.

Bagot, Sir John - [BAG-ut] Richard II

Balthasar - [BAL-thuh-zar] The Comedy of Errors

Balthasar - [BAL-thuh-zar] The Merchant of Venice

Balthasar - [BAL-thuh-zar] Romeo and Juliet

Balthasar - Much Ado About Nothing

Bandit(s) - Timon of Athens

Banquo - [BANG-kwoh] Macbeth

Baptista - [bap-TEES-tuh] The Taming of the Shrew

Bardolph - 1 and 2 Henry IV

Bardolph, Lord Thomas - [BAR-dolf] 2 Henry IV

Barnardine - [BAR-nur-deen] Measure for Measure

Barnardo - Hamlet

Bartholomew - The Taming of the Shrew

Bassanio - [buh-SAH-nee-yoh] The Merchant of Venice

Basset - [BAHSS-it] 1 Henry VI

Bassianus - [bahss-ee-AY-nus] Titus Andronicus

Bastard (Philip Faulconbridge) - King John

Bastard (of Orleans) - 1 Henry VI

Bastard - Troilus and Cressida

Bates, John - Henry V

Bavian - The Two Noble Kinsmen

Bawd - Pericles

Beadle - [BEE-dl] 2 Henry VI

Beadle - [BEE-dl] 2 Henry IV

Beatrice - [BEE-uh-triss] Much Ado About Nothing

Beauford - [BOH-furd] 1 Henry VI

Beaumont - [BOH-mont] Henry V

Bedford (John Plantagenet) - 1 Henry IV/Henry V

Begger - The Taming of the Shrew

Belarius - [buh-LAIR-yus] Cymbeline

Belch, Sir Toby - Twelfth Night

Bellario - [buh-LAIR-ee-yoh] The Merchant of Venice

Benedick - [BEN-ih-dick] Much Ado About Nothing

Benvolio - [ben-VOHL-ee-oh] Romeo and Juliet

Berkeley - [BURK-lee] Richard III

Berkeley, Lord - [BURK-lee] Richard II

Berowne - [bih-ROON] Love's Labour's Lost

Berri - Henry V

Bertram - [BUR-trum] All's Well that Ends Well

Bevis, George - 2 Henry VI

Bianca - [bee-AN-kuh] The Taming of the Shrew

Bianca - [bee-ANG-kuh] Othello

Bigot - [BIG-ut] King John

Biondello - [bee-yawn-DELL-oh] The Taming of the Shrew

Bishop(s) - Richard III

Blanche of Spain - King John

Blunt, Sir James - Richard III

Blunt, Sir John - 2 Henry IV

Blunt, Sir Walter - 1 Henry IV

Boatswain - [BOH-sun] The Tempest

Bolingbroke, Henry - [BOWL-ing-broke] Richard II

Bolingbroke, Roger - [BOWL-ing-broke] 2 Henry VI

Bona, Lady - [BOH-na] 3 Henry VI

Borachio - [bor-AH-chee-yoh] Much Ado About Nothing

Bottom, Nick - A Midsummer Night's Dream

Boult - Pericles

Bourbon, Jean - Henry V

Bourbon, Lewis - 3 Henry VI

Boy - 1 Henry VI

Boy - Henry V

Boy - Much Ado About Nothing

Boy - Much Ado About Nothing

Boy - Richard III

Boy - Troilus and Cressida

Boy - Measure for Measure

Boy - Coriolanus

Boy - Antony and Cleopatra

Boy - The Two Noble Kinsmen

Boy - Henry VIII

Boyet - [boy-ETT] Love's Labour's Lost

Brabantio - [brah-BAN-shee-yoh] Othello

Brakenbury, Robert - Richard III

Brandon, Sir William - Richard III

Brandon - Henry VIII

Brother - 2 Henry VI

Brother - The Two Noble Kinsmen

Brother - Cymbeline

Brutus, Decius - [BROOT-us] Julius Caesar

Brutus, Junius - [BROOT-us] The Rape of Lucrece

Brutus, Junius - [BROOT-us] Coriolanus

Brutus, Marcus - [BROOT-us] Julius Caesar

Buckingham (Henry Stafford) - Richard III

Buckingham (Edward Stafford) - Henry VIII

Buckingham (Humphrey Stafford) - 2 Henry VI

Bullcalf, Peter - 2 Henry IV

Bullen, Ann - [BULL-in] Henry VIII

Burgundy - [BUR-gun-dee] King Lear

Burgundy (Philip) - [BUR-gun-dee] 1 Henry IV/Henry V

Bushy - Richard II

Butcher - 2 Henry VI

Butts, Doctor - Henry VIII

Shakespeare Online's spelled pronunciation guide is based primarily on How to Pronounce the Names in Shakespeare by Theodora Ursula Irvine (1919). Note that the number of syllables in a name occasionally changes depending on metre and alternate pronunciations might be used depending on location (UK, southern US, etc.) and editor preference.

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