| Character | Description |
| King Lear | old ruler of England who retires |
| Goneril | Lear's oldest daughter married to the Duke of Albany |
| Regan | Lear's middle daughter married to the Duke of Cornwall |
| Earl of Gloucester | a nobleman loyal to Lear who has one bad and one good son |
| Oswald | Goneril's steward |
| Duke of Cornwall | husband of Regan |
| King of France | suitor and later husband to Cordelia |
| Edmund | the bad, younger son of the Earl of Gloucester |
| Cordelia | Lear's youngest and loyal daughter |
| Fool | court jester to King Lear |
| Duke of Albany | husband of Goneril |
| Edgar | the good, older son of the Earl of Gloucester |
| Earl of Kent | loyal follower of Lear who disguises himself as Caius |
