The protagonist of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night," (1601-1602?) producing all of the momentum within the play. After being shipwrecked on the shores of Illyria and separated from her twin brother, Sebastian, Viola disguises herself as a eunuch named Cesario so she may serve the Duke Orsino. Viola falls in love with the Duke, although he is in love with the Countess Olivia, who, in turn, falls in love with Cesario. When Sebastian arrives in Illyria, he and Olivia marry, as she believes him to be Cesario.

The 3rd Earl of Jersey and 6th Viscount Grandison, William Villiers was an English peer and politician from the prominent Villiers family.

The 4th Earl of Jersey, George Bussey Villiers was an English peer, politician, and courtier at the court of King George III. George Villiers was the son of William Villiers and tutee of William Whitehead.

English poet and statesman, son of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, brought up in the household of Charles I alongside Charles II and James II. Villiers fought alongside the future Charles II for the royalist effort during the English Civil War, subsequently accompanying Charles into a period of exile prior to the Restoration. Villiers' life ended in poor health and depleted finances, with an embellished image of his end presented by Alexander Pope.

An English statesman, courtier, patron of the arts, and favorite of King James I, George Villiers, First Duke of Buckingham, was an extremely influential and unpopular political figure whose aggressive and capricious foreign policies contributed to the eruption of the English Civil War.

Roman goddess of love.

Roman general and politician, a favorite of Julius Caesar, and later, an ally of Mark Antony.

English essayist, novelist, dramatist, and poet of the Tudor era, strongly associated with Sir Thomas Wyatt and the Earl of Surrey.

Wife to the eccentric William Holles Vane (1713-1789), 2nd Viscount Vane. She was known for her many marital infidelities. Her Memoirs of a Lady of Quality were included in Tobias Smollett's novel The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751).

Both an architect and playwright, John Vanbrugh is best known for designing Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. His comedies The Relapse (1696) and The Provoked Wife (1697) engendered much controversy for their sexually explicit content. The Provoked Husband; or, A Journey to London (1782) was Vanbrugh's late attempt to retract the moral laxness of his earlier works, but Vanbrugh died before finishing it. It was completed by Colley Cibber as a work with somewhat less moral severity that Vanbrugh intended.