# Essays — Character guide

> Key figures in Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

- [The Narrator (Emerson)](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/emerson_narrator.md): The first-person narrator and central voice of the essays, often identified with Emerson himself.
- [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/napoleon.md): French military and political leader frequently cited as an example of power and character.
- [Jesus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/jesus.md): Central figure of Christianity, referenced as a moral and spiritual exemplar.
- [Plato](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/plato.md): Ancient Greek philosopher, often referenced for his ideas on truth and forms.
- [William Shakespeare](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/shakespeare.md): Renowned English playwright and poet, cited as the epitome of the poetic genius.
- [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/goethe.md): German writer and statesman, presented as a model of the universal man.
- [Sophocles](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/sophocles.md): Ancient Greek tragedian, referenced for his dramatic works.
- [George Washington](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/washington.md): First President of the United States, cited as an example of heroic character.
- [Aeschylus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/aeschylus.md): Ancient Greek tragedian, mentioned in connection with his play 'The Eumenides'.
- [Emanuel Swedenborg](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/swedenborg.md): Swedish theologian and mystic, discussed for his spiritual and philosophical ideas.
- [Homer](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/homer.md): Legendary ancient Greek poet, author of the Iliad and the Odyssey.
- [Socrates](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/socrates.md): Classical Greek philosopher, a central figure in the dialogues of Plato.
- [Epaminondas](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/epaminondas.md): Theban general and statesman, noted for his military genius and virtue.
- [John Milton](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/milton.md): English poet and intellectual, author of 'Paradise Lost'.
- [Michel de Montaigne](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/montaigne.md): French Renaissance writer, known for popularizing the essay form.
- [Plutarch](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/plutarch.md): Greek biographer and essayist, known for 'Parallel Lives'.
- [Jacob Boehme](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/jacob_boehme.md): German mystic and theologian, influential in Protestant mysticism.
- [Julius Caesar](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/julius_caesar.md): Roman general and statesman, cited as an example of ambition and power.
- [Dante Alighieri](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/dante.md): Italian poet, author of 'The Divine Comedy'.
- [Isaac Newton](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/newton.md): English mathematician and physicist, a key figure in the scientific revolution.
- [Aristotle](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/aristotle.md): Ancient Greek philosopher and scientist, a student of Plato.
- [Immanuel Kant](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/kant.md): German philosopher central to modern philosophy.
- [Saint Paul](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/saint_paul.md): Apostle whose writings form a key part of the New Testament.
- [Moses](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/moses.md): Hebrew prophet and lawgiver, a central figure in the Torah.
- [Zoroaster](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/zoroaster.md): Ancient Iranian prophet and founder of Zoroastrianism.
- [Martin Luther](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/martin_luther.md): German professor and key figure in the Protestant Reformation.
- [Pythagoras](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/pythagoras.md): Ancient Ionian Greek philosopher and founder of Pythagoreanism.
- [Francis Bacon](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/francis_bacon.md): English philosopher and statesman, a pioneer of the scientific method.
- [Pericles](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/pericles.md): Influential Greek statesman, orator and general of Athens during its golden age.
- [Baruch Spinoza](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/spinoza.md): Dutch philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, a key rationalist.
- [George Berkeley](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/george_berkeley.md): Irish philosopher known for his theory of immaterialism.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters