Romeo and Juliet Characters

Romeo is the young son of the affluent Montague family. He lusts after the unavailable, but oh-so gorgeous Rosaline until he sets eyes on Juliet Capulet (the only daughter of his family's arch enem...

Juliet is the beautiful (and only) daughter of the Capulets. In the play, she falls in love with Romeo Montague, the son of her family's mortal enemies.More Than Just a Pretty FaceJuliet is much mo...

Rosaline is the gorgeous and aloof woman Romeo crushes on until he meets the love of his life, Juliet. Rosaline has no speaking part, never appears on stage (according to the stage directions), and...

Mercutio (whose name is derived from the word "mercurial," meaning "volatile") is Romeo's sword-fight loving BFF. He never backs down from a duel and, although he's neither a Montague nor a Capulet...

Benvolio, whose name literally means "good will," is a classic nice guy. Benvolio often gets stuck playing the straight man to Romeo and Mercutio, but he occasionally manages to stick in his own fu...

Tybalt is Juliet's cousin, which makes him a Capulet. After he kills Romeo's BFF, Mercutio, in a street brawl, Romeo mortally stabs him, which causes Romeo to be banished from Verona.Tybalt is a ca...

The Nurse is one of the funniest characters in the play and one of the most disturbing. She and Juliet have what seems to be a gossiping, pillow-fighting sort of relationship at the beginning of th...

A mentor to both Romeo and Juliet, Friar Laurence constantly advises them to act with more caution and moderation. But Friar Laurence's own plans to help Romeo and Juliet end in tragedy. He's the g...

Lord Capulet (a.k.a. Capulet) is the father of Juliet. At first, he seems like a pretty good dad. When Paris comes sniffing around for thirteen-year-old Juliet's hand in marriage, Capulet puts him...

Like many other mothers of teens, Lady Capulet and her daughter clearly have a troubled relationship. The interactions between Lady Capulet and Juliet are strained and distant. Lady Capulet does ma...

As much as we hate to start our sentences with "as so-and-so said," we're breaking our rule here because this one is just too good. Here we go.As scholar Marjorie Garber points out, all you have to...

The Prince of Verona does the best he can to keep the peace, but he can't restrain the violence between the Montagues and the Capulets. If the Prince can't do anything about the feud, it means that...