Characters

 

Abram: 

He is a servant of the Montagues. Abram appears in the first scene of the play and quarrels with the Capulet servants, Sampson and Gregory.

 

Apothecary:

The apothecary is a druggist in Mantua. He only speaks a few lines, but Romeo offer's an insightful description of his poor shop and of his appearance. The apothecary is thin and wears ragged clothes. His shop has a few strange things spread throughout, perhaps to make it look like more than it is: a tortoise, a stuffed alligator, skins of strange fish, green pots, seeds, rose petals pressed into cakes for perfume. He is so poor that he sells Romeo a deadly, fast-acting poison even though it is against the law in Mantua to do so.

 

Balthazar:

He is a servant to Romeo. Balthasar appears with Abram in the first scene of Act I, but does not participate in the quarrel with the Capulet servants. He is loyal to Romeo and tries to help him. After Juliet's funeral, he rushes to Mantua to bring the news of Juliet's "death" to Romeo. He shows his concern for Romeo and asks him to remain patient, to not act hastily. Balthasar returns with Romeo to Verona and accompanies him to the tomb, although Romeo tells him not to interfere. At the end of the play, Balthasar provides Prince Escalus with the letter which Romeo has written to his father. The letter supports Friar Lawrence's account of what has happened.

 

Benvolio:

He is a nephew to Montague and a cousin and friend to Romeo. His name means well-wisher, which reflects to some degree Benvolio's role in the play as a loyal friend and a peace-maker. Benvolio attempts to stop the fight between the servants at the beginning of the play. Early in the play, Benvolio wishes to help Romeo's parents by learning from Romeo why he has been acting so strangely and trying to avoid everyone. When he questions Ro meo gently and learns that his problem is love sickness, he counsels Romeo to look at other beau ties and forget about anyone who is not interested in him. Benvolio suggests that Romeo go to the Capulet party and see other pretty young women.

 

Throughout the play, Benvolio demonstrates his common sense and his loyalty to his friends. Benvolio tries to serve as a restraining influence on Mercutio, who seems to constantly be talking himself into trouble. Also, when Benvolio and Mercutio discuss the challenge from Tybalt to Romeo, he shows confidence in Romeo by stating that Romeo will answer the challenge.

 

In the marketplace scene in which the stabbings of Mercutio and Tybalt occur, Benvolio senses that tempers are flaring, and that the hot weather will lead to trouble. When Tybalt enters and he and Mercutio exchange words, Benvolio advises that they should go somewhere private, or talk calmly in the marketplace, or just leave. This advice, of course, has no effect.

 

After the fight, Benvolio emphatically urges Romeo to run away before he is caught and put to death. Then, when the prince arrives, Benvolio attempts to provide a fair account of what has happened, maintaining that Romeo behaved properly, but that both Tybalt and Mercutio were hot-tempered and looking for a quarrel. He also points out how everything happened so quickly that he could not draw his sword in time to stop Tybalt and Romeo from fighting.

 

Capulet (Lady Capulet):

Lady Capulet is Lord Capulet's wife and Juliet's mother. Juliet's mother has two important conversations with her daughter during the play. The first one occurs in Act I. In it, Lady Capulet directs Juliet to think about marriage. She informs Juliet that Paris is interested in marrying her, and reminds Juliet that she herself became a mother when she was about Juliet's age. The second conversation takes place in III.v, just after Romeo's departure for ' Mantua. Lady Capulet informs Juliet that the marriage between her and Paris will take place and that preparations have begun. She at first misunderstands Juliet's sorrow as stemming from mourning for Tybalt. She becomes angry that Juliet refuses to marry Paris. She refers to Juliet as a fool and says she wishes Juliet were dead. Though she tries somewhat to check her husband's similarly angry words, after a long decisive speech from him to Juliet, Lady Capulet refuses to speak to her daughter. Though Juliet's mother shows some tenderness and concern for her in Act IV prior to the wedding morning, her larger, practical concern appears to be the wedding preparations, not Juliet's feelings. She seems genuinely sorrowful at the discovery of Juliet's body on the wedding morning and once again at the Capulet monument. She even suggests it may cause her to die.

 

Capulet (Lord Capulet):

A leading citizen of Verona and head of one of the two feuding families. His attitudes seem to display a mixture of qualities rather than conveying a sense of consistency of action. When the audience first sees him, he is calling for a sword to join in the fighting of the servants and young men in the opposing households. He acts this way even though he is an older man and a more dignified behavior would most likely be more appropriate for his age. However, he is concerned with maintaining order in his own house, especially after the prince's promise to execute any disturbers of the peace. Thus, he takes pains to prevent Tybalt from starting a brawl in his house at the party. Capulet is also motivated by his desire to appear as a good host. He jokes with the guests, compliments the dancers, orders the servants to regulate the heat in the room better by subduing the fire, and takes a peaceful attitude towards Romeo's uninvited presence at the feast. His attitude towards Juliet shows this mixture of traits also. When Paris asks for her hand in marriage, he says she is too young and that Paris should let two more years pass. He also seems to say that his agreement is only a part of such an arrangement and that Juliet must agree also. Yet as negotiations with Paris continue in Act III, Capulet assumes that Juliet will do exactly as he wishes. In his conversation with Paris, he also shows more concern about his image than about his daughter's feelings. He thinks she is extremely grieved by Tybalt's death, not at all suspecting the real cause of her grief, Romeo's banishment. He appears to be more concerned about how the scheduling of the marriage will affect townspeople's attitudes towards the seriousness or casualness of his grieving for Tybalt. As Juliet and her parents discuss the arranged marriage to Paris and Juliet's unwillingness to participate in the wedding is revealed, Capulet threatens to throw Juliet out and let her die in the streets. Even after this confrontation with Juliet, Capulet continues with wedding preparations, indicating his complete disregard for Juliet's hopes for her future. When Juliet pretends that she has just returned from confession to Friar Lawrence and is sorry for her stubbornness, Capulet is so pleased he changes the wedding date, demonstrating again how out of touch he is with his daughter's true feelings.

 

After Juliet's death, sorrow is Capulet's dominant response. Yet his sadness appears to be tinged with the knowledge that he will die without heirs and that the wedding feast is spoiled. Only when he sees Juliet in the tomb bleeding and dead does his sorrow over her loss and over his role in the feud seem complete. Finally, Capulet extends his hand in forgiveness and reconciliation to Montague.

 

 Escalus (Prince Escalus):

The ruler of Verona. Fourteenth-century Italy consisted of kingdoms, papal states, and local lordships. Verona under Prince Escalus was in the third category. The prince is physically present in three scenes (Li, III.i, and V.iii), yet his presence is felt throughout the play for he makes the laws and the decisions in Verona.

 

In his first appearance, Escalus speaks very sternly about the fighting between the servants and the young men in the opposing households. He directs the fighting parties to throw their weapons to the ground, stating that they have started civil wars three times just by words alone. He threatens any disturber of the peace with death. This speech is effective in stopping the current fighting, and the prince effectively separates the angry Capulets and Montagues. Yet, the prince's approach does not put a permanent stop to the fighting, as the marketplace incident later shows.

 

In his second appearance, the prince must investigate the cause of the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt. He shows lenience rather than exacting the letter of the law he pronounced earlier, making his rule seem inconsistent at best: he banishes Romeo rather than executing him, although he warns that Romeo's return would incur the death penalty. Furthermore, he appears to have based this decision on his personal interests, stating that the Capulet/ Montague feud has caused the death of his kinsman, Mercutio.

 

Both Juliet and Romeo, as well as Friar Lawrence, seem to respect the prince's banishment of Romeo as a firm and definite ruling. Friar Lawrence devises two plans to comply with it, but hopes that the prince can be persuaded to relent.

 

In his final appearance, the prince is forced to investigate more deaths: those of Romeo and Juliet. He collects eye-witness testimony and corroboration of this evidence. In his grief, his words are brief to Capulet and Montague. From the point of view of the whole community, the prince pronounces insightful commentary of the actions which have occurred, commenting that through the feud, "all are punish'd" (V.iii.295). In other words, all have suffered and lost. Prince Escalus's words accurately describe the tone at the end of the play: "a glooming peace this morning with it brings" (V.iii.304-5). Peace has finally been achieved, but at a cost.

 

Friar John:

Friar John is a Franciscan friar who has been asked by Friar Lawrence to carry an important letter to Romeo in Mantua. Before he can deliver the letter, he is quarantined in Verona because of the plague. As soon as he is able, he gives word to Friar Lawrence

 

Friar Lawrence:

Friar Lawrence is a Franciscan monk. He lives in modest quarters suitable to someone who is a follower of St. Francis. He is a priest who is able to conduct religious ceremonies such as marriage and burial. He is also able to hear confessions and forgive sins. He serves as an adviser to Romeo and later to Juliet, and he develops several plans for the young lovers to follow. Also, he comments on the action at key points. Many of his speeches have a philosophical content to them.

 

When the friar first appears on stage (II.iii), he is gathering weeds and flowers in the early morning while the dew is still fresh and before the day gets hot. He makes medicines and various preparations from the plants he gathers in his willow basket. He comments that there is something powerful and potentially good in each thing on the earth but that everything must be used in a good way to preserve its good qualities.

 

Friar Lawrence, a friend to Romeo, knows about Romeo's infatuation with Rosaline. When Romeo comes to him early in the morning, he jokes that maybe Romeo has been out with Rosaline and did not get home to rest. He thinks that Romeo's shift in affection from Rosaline to Juliet is sudden and hasty, but he agrees to marry them because he thinks that it may help to end the hatred between the feuding households. Just before the marriage, Friar Lawrence counsels the lovers on the benefits of moderation. He will not allow them to stay alone together until they are married.

 

To the young lovers in the play, Friar Lawrence seems trustworthy and wise, when many other adults in Verona seem to be full of rejection, ridicule, bad advice, and bad example. Romeo trusts Friar Lawrence so much that he goes to the priest's residence to hide before leaving town. Romeo is frustrated and upset and even threatens to stab himself. Friar Lawrence counsels Romeo against this course of action. He suggests that Romeo should develop a philosophic outlook, an idea heartily rejected by Romeo. When nothing else will work, the friar not only points out to Romeo all the worst things which could have happened but did not, but instructs Romeo to visit Juliet and then to leave town until everything can be worked out with the families and the prince.

 

Juliet trusts the friar when she has given up on the nurse. She goes to see the friar when her parents are insisting on her marriage to Paris. When Friar Lawrence sees how desperate and frantic Juliet is, he suggests the potion to her. This represents a change of plan from the one discussed with Romeo. This new plan does not make any reference to gaining the approval of the families, yet it attempts to preserve the happiness of the lovers.

 

The friar's plan fails, mostly due to accidents of mistiming. Romeo receives word of Juliet's "death" through his servant. The friar's news that Juliet is not actually dead has been prevented from getting through to Romeo. Lord Capulet changes the date of the wedding. Romeo arrives just before Juliet wakes up, and then kills himself. Still, Juliet could have been saved. The friar does get to the tomb in time to save her. When she wakes up, he tries to persuade her to leave. Yet, when he hears a noise, he runs out, afraid of discovery.

 

After the bodies of Romeo and Juliet are discovered, the friar offers the prince a summary of what has happened. Having confirmed the story with Romeo's letter to his father (delivered by Balthasar) the prince absolves the friar of wrong doing, calling him a "holy man" (V.iii.270), and blames the feuding families for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.

 

Gregory:

As another a servant of the Capulets, he accompanies Sampson, and jokes and puns with his friend. Gregory tries to avoid being led into a fight with the Montague servants by Sampson.

 

Juliet:

Juliet is the daughter of Lord and Lady Capulet and one of the two title characters. When the play begins, Juliet is about two weeks shy of her fourteenth birthday, we learn from the nurse's remarks. In Juliet's first meeting with her mother and the nurse, Juliet shows herself to be a docile, dutiful child. She comes when she is called, responding respectfully to her mother: "Madam, I am here, / What is your will?" (I.iii.5-6). When her mother discusses the topic of Paris's interest in her, Juliet consents to go to the party and meet Paris. She adds that she will only allow her looks to go as far as her mother gives her permission. Juliet's youthfulness is echoed in comments by her father, who has hesitated over Paris's interest in marrying her.

 

The first meeting between Romeo and Juliet is a defining moment in Juliet's life. Romeo describes her as lovely and rich in beauty. Juliet speaks this way to him as well. Their words to each other complete a sonnet, in which Juliet, a heretofore inexperienced child, suddenly speaks with great naturalness, insight, and understanding about love. Equally suddenly, Juliet becomes resourceful, and not yet ready to share with the nurse her newfound discovery. Instead of asking the nurse Romeo's name directly, she asks the nurse about the identities of various young men leaving the party, Romeo among them. She realizes in a moment of illumination that she is in love with an enemy to her family. When Juliet speaks to the night her love for Romeo, she speaks of his true perfection of self. Unlike the older generation in the play, she is able to look beyond names and feuds. She utters one of the most quoted lines in all of Shakespeare's works, when she says "That which we call a rose / by any other word would smell as sweet" (II.ii.43-4). She admits her complete love for Romeo, and it is at this moment that he reveals himself to her standing on the ground beneath her balcony. Although Juliet speaks of the "maiden blush" (II.ii.86) on her face and wonders if she has said too much, she bluntly asks Romeo "Dost thou love me?" (II.ii.80); In addition to Juliet's ability to honestly expresses herself, some commentators have noted that she is quite practical, in contrast to Romeo. She is concerned about Romeo's safety, warning him about her kinsmen and wondering how he was able to get over the high orchard walls. Additionally, it is Juliet, not Romeo, who sets into motion the practical details of the wedding, instructing Romeo to send her word about where and when the event will take place (II.ii. 144-46).

 

From this point on, Juliet shows herself to be focused on her husband and her love for him and willing to do whatever it takes for the two of them to be together. Her passion shows in her impatience for her wedding night. She can hardly wait and compares her feelings to those of a child with a new outfit to wear but having to wait overnight until the special holiday to do so. When the nurse brings a confused account of the death of Tybalt, making it sound as if Romeo has died, Juliet is devastated.

 

Even when the account is made plain, Juliet threatens to take her life if she and Romeo cannot be together.

 

Juliet is willing to take risks and look for opportunities to allow herself and Romeo to be together. When Romeo and Juliet have one night of love together, it is in Juliet's own room. Juliet lets him go, reluctantly. When Juliet's parents come in to talk to her about Paris, she refuses to accept their proposal. The nurse advises her to accept, resulting in Juliet's decision not to confide in the nurse any longer. Juliet mentions her threat of suicide to Friar Lawrence, and states her willingness to do whatever he advises. Before Juliet takes the friar's potion, she thinks of everything that could go wrong with it. She considers the possibility that Friar Lawrence may have given her real poison to protect himself from discovery. She also considers the possibility of poor timing, which would mean that she would wake up in the tomb alone. However, all of these possible mischances are set aside for the chance for her and Romeo to be together. At the end of the play, she has the choice of leaving the tomb with the friar or staying with Romeo and joining him in death. She chooses death rather than living in a world without Romeo.

 

Mercutio:

Mercutio is a kinsman to the prince and friend to Romeo. Mercutio is often interpreted as a comic foil to Romeo. (A foil is a character who by strong contract, underscores or enhances the distinctive qualities of another character.) Mercutio's bawdy discussions of sex, for example, and his witty and light-hearted use of language contrast sharply with Romeo's romantic view of love and his gloomy lovesickness. It will be helpful in understanding Mercutio to look at some words related to his name: mercurial, an adjective meaning changeable; Mercury, the Roman messenger god and god of eloquence; and mercury, the poisonous element.

 

Mercutio's eloquence is displayed throughout the play. In scenes in which he appears and speaks, he tends to become the center of attention. He dominates his companions with his teasing and quick wit. When Romeo and his group of friends are walking to the Capulet party, Romeo is moping about Rosaline. The witty Mercutio tries to get Romeo's mind on something else. He also describes imagination in a powerful, memorable way in his "Queen Mab" speech (I.iii.52-94). The speech, a dramatic demonstration of Mercutio's eloquence, describes dreams as coming from a fairy creature. When Mercutio's cleverness threatens to run away with him, Romeo asks him to be quiet. When Mercutio and Benvolio look for Romeo after the Capulet party, Mercutio makes various obscene jokes at Romeo's expense, but Romeo will not reveal his hiding place. His wit and his bawdy humor are also displayed in his conversation with the nurse, who arrives looking for Romeo. Mercutio's changeable nature shows in the fatal marketplace scene. At one moment he is joking with Benvolio about quarreling, and the next moment he is quarreling in deadly earnest himself. He had hoped to see Romeo answer Tybalt's challenge to a duel, and is disappointed by what he sees as Romeo's cowardice or submission. He suddenly jumps in and accepts Tybalt's challenge himself. He fights well, but is fatally injured when Tybalt takes unfair advantage of Romeo's well-meant interference. Mercutio's bitterness—or poisonous attitude—is shown in his wishing a plague on both the Montagues and the Capulets. Despite his usually easy-going manner, when confronted by a member of the Capulet household Mercutio is eager to fight. He becomes angered by Tybalt's taunts and Romeo's refusal to fight. When he is mortally wounded, curses the houses of Montague and Capulet. The extent of his feelings is revealed by the fact that this acrimonious denouncement is repeated three times by Mercutio: in III.i.91, 99-100, and 106.

 

Montague (Lady Montague):

Lady Montague is Lord Montague's wife and Romeo's mother. She has very few lines in the play. She seems to be a person of reason and restraint, physically holding her husband back from fighting and tells him not to "stir one foot to seek a foe" (I.i.80). In the final scene of the play, the audience hears from Lord Montague that his wife has died of grief over Romeo's banishment.

 

Montague (Lord Montague):

Head of the Montague household and Romeo's father. He appears very little in the play, yet he seems to be closer to Romeo than Juliet's parents are to her. For example, he describes Romeo's mysterious behavior to his nephew, Benvolio. He indicates that both he and his friends have tried to learn from Romeo the cause of his behavior. He is pleased at Benvolio's offer to talk to Romeo. During the prince's investigation of the marketplace brawl which left Mercutio and Tybalt dead, Montague defends his son to the prince, saying that Romeo simply acted as the law itself would have in taking Tybalt's life. In the final scene of the play, he appears to be genuinely grieved at his son's untimely death. Recognizing finally that the feud must be laid aside, Montague takes Capulet's hand extended in a gesture of peace. Moreover, he offers to make a memorial statue of Juliet in gold.

 

Nurse:

The nurse is a servant in the Capulet household. The nurse is often interpreted as a comic foil to Juliet. (A foil is a character, who through strong contrast, underscores or enhances the distinctive qualities of another character.) She seems to be in higher standing than the other servants, since she is a companion to Juliet, is present in private family conversations, and has her own servant, Peter. In Renaissance England, unmarried, widowed, or poor women might work for relatives in positions like the one in which the nurse finds herself. At any rate, she is trusted by the Capulets and informed about their intimate affairs. The nurse's main role in the play is as a companion and advisor to Juliet. She feels affection for Juliet, whom she has cared for since Juliet was an infant. It is revealed that the nurse lost her own child, Susan, and perhaps she views Juliet as a daughter. The nurse's affection for Juliet remains constant throughout the play, even if her advice is of questionable value. Juliet trusts the nurse enough to send her to Romeo the morning after the balcony scene to learn what Romeo's intentions are. On this errand, the nurse takes it upon herself to make sure that Romeo's intentions are honorable, since Juliet is young and inexperienced. When Juliet learns of what has happened in the marketplace, the nurse tries to comfort her and decides to bring Romeo to Juliet. On the morning after the lovers' one night of married happiness together, the nurse warns them that Romeo needs to leave Juliet's bedroom because Lady Capulet is coming. When Lord Capulet scolds Juliet harshly, the nurse tells him he is wrong to do so. She does not back down, so that he even yells at her. When Juliet and the nurse are left alone after the angry scene with Juliet's parents, the nurse tries to comfort and console Juliet.

 

The nurse, with her bumbling mannerisms and her bawdy language, is often thought to be one of Shakespeare's great comic characters. She is a talkative woman, and tends to repeat herself and to free-associate in her conversations. When she and Lady Capulet and Juliet are about to discuss Paris's offer for the first time, she repeats a story about Juliet as a toddler several times. Lady Capulet has to ask her to stop. When she brings the message back to Juliet from Romeo, Juliet has to ask her to get to the point faster. Under pressure, she also talks in a confusing style that misleads her listener. When she tries to tell Juliet about what has happened in the Verona marketplace, Juliet at first thinks that Romeo is dead because of the way the nurse is garbling the details.

 

Another aspect of the nurse's conversation is that she does not mind making vulgar jokes. She even does so with Juliet, since the jokes pertain to Juliet's wedding night and the possibility of pregnancy. The nurse also converses in this vulgar manner with Mercutio.

 

The nurse is depicted as a practical, down-to- earth character. She advises Juliet to marry Paris. Even though she knows Juliet is married to Romeo, she considers that Romeo's banishment makes him useless to Juliet. She sees no obstacle to a second marriage in Juliet's secret wedding vows pronounced to Romeo. She even helps in the kitchen the night before the planned wedding between Juliet and Paris. In this scene, she jokes with Lord Capulet and he calls her by her name, Angelica.

 

Page to Paris:

Paris's page accompanies him to Juliet's tomb. He is instructed to stay alone in the churchyard and whistle a warning to Paris if anyone approaches. Even though he is afraid, he does as he is told. When he realizes that Paris and another man (Romeo) are fighting, he runs to get the watch. He testifies to the prince at the end of the play about his knowledge of the occurrences within the tomb.

 

Paris:

Paris is a young nobleman and kinsman to Prince Escalus. He is a conventional young lover who seeks Juliet's hand in marriage. He is said by Juliet's mother to be handsome in appearance, and the nurse describes Romeo as a dishcloth compared to Paris. Observing the standards of the time, he first approaches Juliet's father about the possibility of his marrying Juliet. In fact, he has more conversations with Lord Capulet than with Juliet throughout the whole course of the play. When Capulet seems to express reservations about a marriage between his child and Paris based on Juliet's youth, Paris tries to be persuasive. He takes Capulet's advice in going to the party to try to win Juliet's hand there. He does not appear to be aware of Juliet's feelings at all, because he goes to see Friar Lawrence to arrange the wedding without even recognizing that Juliet has no romantic feelings for him and is, in fact, already married. However, he seems to be a genuine and forthright person. He is sorrowful at Juliet's funeral, and, in the last act, he brings flowers to her grave. This suggests that he has true feelings for Juliet, as it is a private action, not a public one performed for the benefit of an audience, such as her family. Additionally, he refers to Juliet as his love. Even at this point, however, he does not seem to really understand Juliet; he thinks she died from grief over Tybalt.

 

Peter:

Peter is the nurse's servant. He carries the nurse's fan for her on her errand to Romeo from Juliet. He talks in the sexual double meanings popular among the Capulet servants. At the nurse's orders, he stands at the gate when they return to Juliet with Romeo's message. After Juliet's funeral, he asks the musicians to play music to comfort him. When they won't, he refuses to pay them. He appears to enjoy the opportunity to boss the musicians, probably since he himself is usually ordered about.

 

Romeo:

Romeo is the son to Lord and Lady Montague and one of the two title characters. Romeo's first love interest is not Juliet but a young woman named Rosaline, who, like Juliet, happens to be a Capulet. When characters first refer to Romeo, he is de scribed as acting in a peculiar way. His friend and cousin, Benvolio, discovers why: the cause is hopeless, incurable lovesickness. Rosaline has vowed to live unwed and without a lover. (Rosaline, incidentally, never appears in the play.) Romeo's infatuation with Rosaline and her resoluteness to remain celibate inspire Romeo's behavior. He goes out walking near the woods before dawn. If anyone sees him, he runs away into the woods to avoid having company. When the sun comes up, he returns home, retreats into his bedroom, and won't come out. Benvolio advises Romeo that his feelings are infatuation, based on a lack of experience with women. After being encouraged to do so by Benvolio and Mercutio, Romeo attends the Capulet party and sees Juliet. When they meet, they fall in love immediately.

 

Romeo is surrounded by a group of young male friends. Like his friends, Romeo enjoys joking. However, Romeo's jokes, unlike Mercutio's in particular, usually do not have a sexual double meaning. He also tends to be more serious than his friends. In speaking about going to the Capulet party, Romeo says that he plans to stand at the side of the dance floor and watch the other dancers. He even wonders whether they should be going at all and worries about the effect of these actions on the rest of his life.

 

Many observers debate Romeo's development in the play. Some argue that he is overly emotional, hasty and immature and that he remains that way throughout the play. While some readers view Romeo as immature for falling out of love with Rosaline and in love with Juliet so quickly, others maintain that Romeo's infatuation with Rosaline early in the play in a sense prepares him to experience real love. Even though Romeo's speeches about love early in the play are wordy and somewhat awkward, they show that he has a sense of beauty and is trying hard to express what it is like to be in love. When he first sees Juliet, he shows that he is able to appreciate true beauty and express it in a powerful way. His speeches become more eloquent.

 

Romeo is also criticized by some for his apparent lack of moderation. While he demonstrates self-control in his rejection of Tybalt's challenge to a fight, after Mercutio steps in and is killed, Romeo abandons his self-restraint and fights and kills Tybalt. In his earnestness to avenge Mercutio, he fails to consider the consequences his actions will have on his relationship with Juliet. His words "O, I am fortune's fool" (III.i.136), some would argue, suggest that he does consider the consequences of his emotional actions, but only after it is too late. Many others would argue that Romeo's words demonstrate his attempting to evade responsibility for his actions completely by blaming what has happened on fate.

 

After he learns he is to be banished for killing Tybalt, Romeo throws himself to the ground and weeps. Friar Lawrence tells him that banishment is better than death, but Romeo responds that being without Juliet is torture. Romeo's desperate weeping is alternately viewed as unmasculine and unproductive or as demonstrative of the passionate depth of his commitment to Juliet. He says he can't accept Friar Lawrence's calm, philosophical advice be cause Friar Lawrence, as a man who is celibate, is not in a position to understand Romeo's feelings: Juliet is his heaven, and hell is being in exile without her. Romeo only accepts Friar Lawrence's counsel when it includes a visit to Juliet.

 

Some readers believe that Romeo achieves greater maturity toward the plays end. When Romeo's servant brings word of Juliet's funeral, Ro meo decides immediately what he will do and takes action, rather than weeping as he did when he was banished. He thinks quickly of the poison he knows he can buy in Mantua. When he rushes back to Verona, he does not take time to see who Paris is before killing him and joining Juliet, but he does grant Paris's wish to be placed in the tomb near Juliet.

 

Sampson:

He is a servant of the Capulets. Sampson quarrels with Montague servants and bites his thumb at Montague servants as a gesture of defiance in order to provoke a fight. Additionally, he represents some fairly typical Renaissance attitudes towards women. He uses a biblical phrase about women being the "weaker vessels" (I.i.16), and his comments about women indicate that he thinks of them as sexual objects.

 

Tybalt

He is a nephew to Lord Capulet and a cousin to Juliet. He does not speak many lines, but he influences the entire course of the play to a degree that exceeds his seemingly minor role in it. Throughout the play, he demonstrates his angry, resentful, and stubborn nature. When Tybalt first appears, Benvolio is attempting to stop the servants of the Capulet and Montague households from fighting. By contrast, Tybalt urges on the fight and succeeds in drawing Benvolio in to fighting with him. At the Capulet party, Tybalt recognizes Romeo's voice and within ten words is calling for his sword. He also refers to Romeo as a "slave" (I.v.55). Tybalt says he does not consider it a sin to strike Romeo dead.

 

Tybalt shows his stubbornness at the Capulet party. Lord Capulet urges Tybalt to control himself, telling him that he is acting like a boy trying to be a man. Although Tybalt has to give in to his uncle, he vows to get revenge on Romeo for coming to the Capulet party uninvited. The next day, Tybalt sends a letter to Romeo's house challenging him to a duel. Tybalt's actions in Act III influence the remaining events of the play. He quarrels with Mercutio and challenges Romeo to a sword fight. Tybalt insults Romeo, and he insists that Romeo draw his sword and fight with him. Romeo refuses to fight and Mercutio instead takes up the challenge. Tybalt is a skilled fighter, according to Mercutio, who comments that Tybalt has studied dueling. Thus, when Mercutio taunts him and calls for a fencing move, Tybalt is able to display it. In addition to his being belligerent and stubborn, Tybalt also has no qualms about fighting unfairly. When Romeo steps between the fighters, Tybalt stabs Mercutio under Romeo's arm. After Mercutio is killed, Tybalt declares that Romeo will accompany Mercutio in death. Instead, Tybalt is slain.

 

Character Studies

While most interpretations of the characters of Romeo and Juliet have focused on the nature of their love, there has recently been a greater tendency to emphasize the manner in which they mature as a result of their passion for each other. This emergence into adulthood is clearly illustrated in the development of their language, which progresses from the forced and artificial rhetoric of their early scenes to a more sincere form of expression later in the play. The lovers can also be interpreted through an explicitly Christian reading of the play. Such a perspective stresses that their maturing love reflects a form of spiritual education in which Romeo and Juliet ultimately accept their destiny as part of God's plan to punish and reconcile the opposing families.

 

The bawdy, or humorously obscene, language of the Nurse and Mercutio present a stark contrast to the purity of Romeo and Juliet's passion. For this reason, these two characters are often interpreted as comic "foils" to the lovers. (A foil is a character who through strong contrast underscores or enhances the distinctive traits of another character.) The Nurse, a well-conceived, rich, and natural character, is often considered one of Shakespeare's greatest comic creations. Mercutio, too, is renowned for his wit and vitality. He is viewed as an extreme egotist and sensualist, whose open personality and coarse sexual humor reflect his individuality and naturalness. Shakespeare has been particularly praised for his well-defined portraits of these characters. This success is especially significant in Mercutio's case, whom the dramatist created from only a brief reference in Brooke's poem.

 

Throughout the play, Friar Lawrence serves as a friend and counselor to both Romeo and Juliet. He provides a religious dimension to the play, attempting to restore peace in Verona and dispel the evil of the feud by uniting the young couple in marriage. The Friar is generally viewed as a good man who exercises poor judgment when he hastily marries the lovers. He stands by his actions, however, and tries to prevent Juliet's marriage to Paris by devising the sleeping potion scheme. Ultimately, he acknowledges the intervention of a higher order in determining the lovers' fate when he declares "A greater power than we can contradict / Hath thwarted our intents" (V. iii. 153-54). The play also offers another perspective of the Friar. Numerous references demonstrate that had he, too, acted with less haste, the tragic deaths of Romeo and Juliet may have been prevented. For example, had the priest sent the message concerning Juliet's assumed death to Romeo via Balthasar rather than Friar John, the final catastrophe might have been averted. No matter how one interprets his role in the play, Friar Lawrence is indeed an active agent in bringing about the lovers' tragedy.

 

 

Themes

 

The Power and Passion of Love and Hate

Although Romeo and Juliet is considered one of the world’s greatest love stories, it can be argued that the love story is only a vehicle for the resolution of the story about hate, that is, the feud between the two families. After all, the story starts with a street fight between Montague and Capulet servants and ends with a peace agreement between the two lords. The power of hate is illustrated in the first scene by the exhibition of enmity between servants of the two families. The extent of the hatred has grown from the family itself to its servants. The power of love is seen, of course, in the determination of Romeo and Juliet to defy their families and be together. They love their parents, but the hate between the families causes the young couple to hate those who would keep them apart. The passion of Tybalt’s hate is seen in his inability to forget about the party crashing. Even though his uncle talks him out of a fight that night, the next morning he sends a challenge to Romeo’s house. Romeo’s love for Juliet prevents him from quarrelling with Tybalt because he does not want to fight with his beloved’s cousin, who has become his cousin by marriage. But his love for his friend Mercutio is powerful enough to turn into a rage of hateful revenge, so Romeo attacks Tybalt for killing Mercutio. For Juliet, the death of her cousin is a test of her love for Romeo. Which is stronger: her love for her family or for Romeo? As it turns out, her love for Romeo is strong enough to allow her to forgive him for his terrible deed, to choose her family by marriage, her husband, over her blood family. Juliet’s love is further tested when she has to overcome her doubts about the trustworthiness of Friar Laurence and her fear of taking the potion. Again, her love is strong enough to risk everything. Romeo’s love is strong enough to risk the Prince’s punishment to get to Juliet’s tomb. Both have love strong enough to be willing to die for the other, and they do. Thus, the whole play is a clash of passionate love and passionate hate, each strong enough to cause tragedy. 

 

 

The Problem of Time

While lousy timing fits into the theme of the action being determined by twists of fate, it is not just rotten luck that affects time in Romeo and Juliet. The chronology of the play is a rush of time. Romeo and Juliet are married the day after they meet. Romeo kills Juliet’s cousin the same day and is banished from Verona only a day after the prince has first announced his intent to severely punish anyone caught fighting because of the Capulet/Montague feud. The couple has only one night of honeymoon before Romeo must run away, as Friar Laurence says,

 

 till we can find a time

 to blaze your marriage, reconcile your friends,

 Beg pardon of the Prince, and call thee back.   

 

When Friar Laurence devises his plan to rescue Juliet, he needs time to get a message to Romeo, but that time is taken away when Lord Capulet moves up the date for Juliet’s wedding to Paris. That change might not have been ruinous if Friar John had not been delayed on his way to find Romeo. There is so little time that the Capulet household stays up all night to prepare for the wedding that turns out to be Juliet’s funeral. If only Friar Laurence had made it to the tomb in time, he might have been able to prevent Romeo from killing Paris and/or himself, which would have prevented Juliet from killing herself. But time is against them. 

 

Fate and Forebodings

Elizabethans expected a tragedy to rest upon a twist of fate. Although Shakespeare made Romeo and Juliet more complicated than that, there are certainly numerous references to fate in the play, perhaps as a concession to the audience’s expectations. The play opens with a reference to "star-crossed lovers" as if their fates are predetermined by their astrological signs. On the way to the Capulet party, Romeo has a sense that something will happen at the ball that will lead to doom. Later, with his dying breath, Mercutio calls a curse upon the feuding families: "A plague on both your houses!" Then Romeo says, after killing Tybalt, that he is "fortune’s fool." When Romeo thinks that Juliet is dead, he tells the stars that he will defy them, as if he knows that fate wants to keep them apart, so he will win by joining Juliet in death. All the accidents of timing in the play seem to be fate working against the young lovers for the Elizabethan audience did not see these incidents as coincidences but rather as the hand of fate directing the action. 

 

Style

 

Light and Dark Polarity Motif

A motif is a recurring element such as an incident, formulaic structure, or device that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes. A visual motif used in Romeo and Juliet is the contrast of light and dark, but in a sensory way, rather than in the sense of good and evil. For example, Romeo’s balcony speech depicts Juliet as the sun that banishes the envious moon and turns night into day. In like manner, the morning after their wedding, they both try to delay Romeo’s departure by pretending that it is still night, knowing that "More light and light, more dark and dark our woes." Ultimately, because the light of their love is not allowed to burn brightly, they both choose the darkness of death. 

 

Shakespearean Tragedy

A Greek tragedy has one central heroic, but flawed, figure. Romeo and Juliet had two central characters, and neither is presented as having the characteristics of a classical hero. Prior to Shakespeare, Elizabethans used a twist of fate as the single causative factor for the tragic ending. Shakespeare, however, devised more complicated causes stemming from character traits and motives. Another difference between the Greek and Shakespearean tragedies is the use of irony. In a Greek play, the audience is aware of the irony that the hero does not see. The chorus exists to advise the audience about what to expect. For example, the audience knows the secret of the parentage of Oedipus, but Oedipus does not and proceeds to marry his mother. Although Shakespeare uses a chorus in Romeo and Juliet, only the basic plot and ending were revealed, not how the drama is to unfold. Shakespeare allows the audience to discover the irony for themselves.

 

 

Blank Verse

The normal form of speech in Shakespearean drama is blank, or unrhymed, verse. This form of verse works well for all scenes and persons whose appeal is mainly to the emotions of the spectator or reader. Each unrhymed line has five stresses; however, Shakespeare subtly varied the stresses, as well as rhythms, pauses, and tones in order to convey different moods and even the personal peculiarities of a character.

 

Rhymed Verse

In the early plays, such as Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare used quite a bit of rhymed verse in five-stress lines, usually in couplets. The prologues to Acts 1 and 2 end in a couplet, as does the play itself. Couplets also often come at the end of a scene or episode to signal changes to those behind the stage. In the process, the couplet achieves an aesthetic end to the dialogue and signals a change in action to the audience even before the actors leave the stage (e.g., act 1, scene 2, Romeo says, "I’ll go along, no such sight to be shown, But to rejoice in splendour of mine own"). After a passage of blank verse or prose, rhymed verse could also have the effect of stiffening the dialogue and heightening the emotion. When Romeo and Juliet first meet, their dialogue becomes a sonnet, thus emphasizing the rise of their emotions. Shakespeare cleverly used rhymed verse for another effect—that of contrast—by having one character talk in blank verse while another uses rhymed verse.

 

Prose

The use of prose in a play that is mainly in verse has the effect of lowering the emotional level and quickening the pace of the play. Prose speech works best for passages of comedy and as the speech of the lower or more comic characters (e.g., the opening dialogue between Sampson and Gregory).

 

 

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Copyright Information

 

(c)2000-2005 BookRags, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

 

The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.

 

(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design® and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.

 

The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.

 

The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.