Romeo and Juliet Characters

Characters close to Romeo Team Montague Characters close to Romeo

Romeo Montague 16 years old Only son of Lord and Lady Montague Peaceful: Not interested in the feud between the Montagues and Capulets Hopeless romantic: in love with Rosaline and Juliet throughout the play

Lady Montague Mother of Romeo Wife of Lord Montague Emotional: dies of grief after the death of a character

Lord Montague (Referenced as Montague) Father of Romeo Wife of Lady Montague Leader of all Montagues Concerned: worried about Romeo’s sadness

Balthasar Romeo’s servant Confused: Tells Romeo about Juliet’s “death”

Abram Servant to the Montague family Violent: Fights Capulet servants at the beginning of the play

Benvolio Romeo’s cousin Tries to convince Romeo to move on from his love of Rosaline Loyal: Defends Romeo in his times of need Non-violent: activist for peace between the Montague and Capulet families

Mercutio Romeo’s best friend Funny: makes inappropriate jokes with puns and wordplay Spiteful: hates the Capulets; he fights and makes fun of them Unromantic: doesn’t understand why Romeo is concerned with the romantic side of love instead of physical acts

Characters close to Juliet Team Capulet Characters close to Juliet

Juliet Capulet 13 years old Only daughter of Lord and Lady Capulet, but mostly cared for by The Nurse Obedient: at the beginning of the play she listens to what her parents tell her to do Naïve: believes everything that Romeo tells her and blindly goes along with Friar Laurence’s plan

Lord Capulet (Referenced as Capulet) Father of Juliet Wife of Lady Capulet Leader of all Capulets Confused: doesn’t understand the emotions of Juliet or why she doesn’t want to marry Paris Impatient: demands others respect him, and is furious when something doesn’t go his way

Lady Capulet Juliet’s Mother Became a wife and mother around the age of 14 Impatient: pushes for Juliet to marry Paris Unemotional: relies on The Nurse to care for Juliet

The Nurse The mother figure for Juliet who served as a type of nanny for her Entertaining: makes vulgar jokes and long speeches at inappropriate times Trustworthy: Juliet’s confidant Worried: concerned about Juliet’s rushed love for Romeo, her concerns lead to a strain on her relationship with Juliet

Gregory and Sampson Servants to the Capulet family Begin a fight at the beginning of the play by insulting Montague servants Immature: don’t know what they are fighting over, just that they like to instigate a fights with the Capulets

Tybalt Juliet’s cousin Hateful: loathes the Montagues and is eager to fight Romeo at a formal event as well as in public areas Arrogant: proud of his sword fighting skills and ready to use them on anyone who disrespects him

Other Important Players

Prince Escalus Prince of Verona Threatens death to a Capulet or Montague who fights in the public streets Political: set on keeping the peace between the Capulets and Montagues after citizens begin to complain

Paris The suitor who Lord and Lady Capulet want choose for Juliet to marry Bold: once he is “engaged” to Juliet, he begins to act possessive over her Apathetic: not very romantic when it comes to his relationship with Juliet

Rosaline The girl who Romeo is in love with at the beginning of the play Romeo and Rosaline would have never been together because she has decided to live a life of chastity

The Apothecary Like a pharmacist Sells deadly drugs to Romeo Selfish: cares more about money than morals

Friar Lawrence Marries Romeo and Juliet in secret Kind: friend and advisor to Romeo Sympathetic: has good intentions and hopes this marriage will ultimately end the feud between the Montagues and Capulets

Friar John A friend of Friar Lawrence Friar Lawrence sends him an errand to bring a message from Verona to Mantua Unlucky: stopped at the boarder between Verona and Mantua due to a quarantine that is supposed to stop sicknesses from spreading between the cities

Photo credit: Many of the photos can be found here: http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/romeo-and-juliet- 1968/images These pictures are from Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 film version of Romeo and Juliet.