Ten of the best Shakespeare characters

For the Guardian, Robert McCrum came up with a list of the ten best Shakespeare characters, including:

Beatrice: Much Ado About Nothing

Beatrice and Benedick are, technically, a subplot. Beatrice, however, dominates the heart of this most misunderstood of Shakespeare’s plays, which is so much more than the romcom to which it is often reduced. Wise, witty and wounded, Beatrice has twice the dramatic potential of her romantic counterpart. Her call in Act IV’s wrecked wedding for him to “Kill Claudio” defines the breadth and depth of her character – mercurial, fiercely devoted, willing to risk everything – and also the dramatic genius of Shakespeare. Is this moment funny? Serious? Shocking? All three, simultaneously.

Read about another Shakespearean character on the list.

Beatrice is one of Toni Jordan's top 10 flawed romantic heroines.

--Marshal Zeringue