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Romeo and Juliet begin the play trapped by their social roles. Romeo is a young man who is expected to chase women, but he has chosen Rosaline, who has sworn to remain a virgin. The way Romeo speaks about Rosaline suggests he is playing a role rather than feeling true, overpowering emotion.
Romeo goes to the tomb, kills Paris, and poisons himself. Juliet wakes up, finds Romeo dead, and stabs herself. Actually understand Romeo and Juliet. Read every line of Shakespeare’s original text alongside a modern English translation.
- Romeo
- Juliet
- Friar Lawrence
- Mercutio
- The Nurse
- Tybalt
- Benvolio
- Capulet
- Lady Capulet
- Montague
The son and heir of Montague and Lady Montague. A young man of about sixteen, Romeo is handsome, intelligent, and sensitive. Though impulsive and immature, his idealism and passion make him an extremely likable character. He lives in the middle of a violent feud between his family and the Capulets, but he is not at all interested in violence. His o...
The daughter of Capulet and Lady Capulet. A beautiful thirteen-year-old girl, Juliet begins the play as a naïve child who has thought little about love and marriage, but she grows up quickly upon falling in love with Romeo, the son of her family’s great enemy. Because she is a girl in an aristocratic family, she has none of the freedom Romeo has to...
A Franciscan friar, friend to both Romeo and Juliet. Kind, civic-minded, a proponent of moderation, and always ready with a plan, Friar Lawrence secretly marries the impassioned lovers in hopes that the union might eventually bring peace to Verona. As well as being a Catholic holy man, Friar Lawrence is also an expert in the use of seemingly mystic...
A kinsman to the Prince, and Romeo’s close friend. One of the most extraordinary characters in all of Shakespeare’s plays, Mercutio overflows with imagination, wit, and, at times, a strange, biting satire and brooding fervor. Mercutio loves wordplay, especially sexual double entendres. He can be quite hotheaded, and hates people who are affected, p...
Juliet’s nurse, the woman who breast-fed Juliet when she was a baby and has cared for Juliet her entire life. A vulgar, long-winded, and sentimental character, the Nurse provides comic relief with her frequently inappropriate remarks and speeches. But, until a disagreement near the play’s end, the Nurse is Juliet’s faithful confidante and loyal int...
A Capulet, Juliet’s cousin on her mother’s side. Vain, fashionable, supremely aware of courtesy and the lack of it, he becomes aggressive, violent, and quick to draw his sword when he feels his pride has been injured. Once drawn, his sword is something to be feared. He loathes Montagues. Read an in-depth analysis of Tybalt.
Montague’s nephew, Romeo’s cousin and thoughtful friend. Benvolio makes a genuine effort to defuse violent scenes in public places, though Mercutio accuses him of having a nasty temper in private. He spends most of the play trying to help Romeo get his mind off Rosaline, even after Romeo has fallen in love with Juliet. Read an in-depth analysis of ...
The patriarch of the Capulet family, father of Juliet, husband of Lady Capulet, and enemy, for unexplained reasons, of Montague. He truly loves his daughter, though he is not well acquainted with Juliet’s thoughts or feelings, and seems to think that what is best for her is a “good” match with Paris. Often prudent, he commands respect and propriety...
Juliet’s mother, Capulet’s wife. A woman who herself married young (by her own estimation she gave birth to Juliet at close to the age of fourteen), she is eager to see her daughter marry Paris. She is an ineffectual mother, relying on the Nurse for moral and pragmatic support. Read an in-depth analysis of Lady Capulet.
Romeo’s father, the patriarch of the Montague clan and bitter enemy of Capulet. At the beginning of the play, he is chiefly concerned about Romeo’s melancholy.
Oct 21, 2024 · Romeo and Juliet, play by William Shakespeare, written about 1594–96 and first published in an unauthorized quarto in 1597. The appeal of the young hero and heroine is such that they have become, in the popular imagination, the representative of star-crossed lovers.
- David Bevington
- Romeo and Juliet is about a young hero and heroine whose families, the Montagues and the Capulets, respectively, are ferocious enemies. Romeo and J...
- Shakespeare’s principal source for the plot of Romeo and Juliet was The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet, a long narrative poem written in 1...
- Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is set in Verona, Italy.
- The characters of Romeo and Juliet have been continuously depicted in literature, music, dance, and theatre. The premise of the young hero and hero...
- Some of the most distinct film adaptations of Romeo and Juliet are Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 version of the same name, which notably cast actors sim...
- Romeo. One of the protagonists of the play, along with Juliet. He is the male heir to the dynasty of House Montague, which is in a long-standing feud with House Capulet.
- Juliet. One of the protagonists of the play, along with Romeo. She is the female heir to the dynasty of House Capulet, which is in a long-standing feud with House Montague.
- Friar Laurence. A kindly, philosophical friar of Verona who, as his community’s spiritual and intellectual center, keeps finding himself enmeshed in the dramas of House Montague and House Capulet.
- The Nurse. Juliet’s nurse is the main source of comic relief throughout the play. Forgetful, long-winded, bawdy, and seemingly immune to embarrassment, the nurse is happy to share cringe-worthy stories from her own past and Juliet’s… read analysis of The Nurse.
Quick answer: The true meaning of Romeo and Juliet is the futility of conflict and miscommunication. The ongoing feud and prejudices between the Montagues and Capulets lead to the...
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Jun 4, 2020 · The play’s most famous line references the feud between the two families, which means Romeo and Juliet cannot be together. And the line, when we stop and consider it, is more than a little baffling. The line is spoken by Juliet: ‘Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?’
