Boris Godunov

Main Characters and Their Development

• Boris Godunov - the central character, who is already on the Russian throne at the beginning of the play. He is portrayed in the context of the struggle for power and his own feelings of guilt and fear of his crimes being exposed.
• Grigory Otrepyev - another key character, a monk who later becomes an impostor claiming the Russian throne. His character evolves from despair and a search for meaning to confidence in his right to the throne.
• Marina Mnishek - a Polish princess in love with Grigory Otrepyev. Her ambitions to become the Tsarina of Russia push Grigory to take more active steps to seize the throne.
• Xenia - Boris Godunov's daughter, who mourns the loss of her brother Fyodor and appears in the play as a symbol of the Godunov family's suffering.
• Fyodor Shuisky - a boyar who plays the role of an intriguer, trying to use the situation to his advantage. He is one of the first to suspect Godunov's involvement in Tsarevich Dmitry's death.