Romeo and Juliet: Character Analysis

Characters' Roles

• Rosaline motivates Romeo to attend the party where he meets Juliet
• Tybalt kills Mercutio, leading to Romeo's murder of Tybalt and subsequent banishment
• Romeo's actions lead to the deaths of everyone, contributing to the tragedy
• Juliet's fake death leads to Romeo's death
• Mercutio convinces Romeo to attend the ball, and his death leads to Romeo's banishment
• Friar Lawrence's bad advice contributes to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet
• The Nurse is a friend to Juliet and helps her marry Romeo

Plot Points

• Romeo attends the Capulet's party to see Rosaline
• Romeo and Juliet know each other for less than a day before agreeing to marry
• Friar Lawrence hopes the marriage between Romeo and Juliet will end the feud between their families
• Romeo seeks refuge in Mantua after killing Tybalt
• Juliet is initially sad and angry at Romeo for killing Tybalt
• Capulet thinks Juliet is weeping for Tybalt's death
• Juliet agrees to marry Paris as part of her and Friar's plan
• Paris wants to kill Romeo at the tomb because he thinks Romeo is desecrating Juliet and Tybalt's bodies
• Friar Lawrence's plan fails due to the undelivered letter
• Romeo and Juliet die by drinking poison and stabbing themselves

Quotes and Literary Devices

• "What, art thou drawn and among these heartless hinds?Turn thee Benvolio." - Tybalt
• "But soft!What light through yonder window breaks?It is the east, and Juliet is the sun." - Romeo
• "I doubt it not; and all these woes shall serve for sweet discourses in our times to come." - Romeo
• "What's in a name?The thing which we call a rose would smell just as sweet if it had any other name." - Juliet
• "Give me some present counsel, or, behold, 'Twixt my extremes and me this bloody knife shall play the umpire." - Juliet
• "Come, bitter conduct, come, unsavory guide!Thou desperate pilot, now at once run on The dashing rocks thy sea-sick weary bark!" - Romeo
• "Take this bottle, and when you're in bed, drink this distilled liquor.Immediately, a cold and quieting liquid shall run through all your veins.Your pulse will stop.There'll be no warmth or breath to prove that you're alive." - Friar Lawrence
• Oxymoron: combines two opposing words
• Soliloquy: character speaking their thoughts aloud
• Pun: two words sound alike but have different meanings
• Malapropism: similar sounding words mistaken for each other
• Alliteration: repetition of the same sound
• Personification: giving human-like qualities to nonhuman objects

Themes

• Love
• Romantic love
• Love conquers hate

Explore the roles of key characters in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, including Romeo, Juliet, Tybalt, Mercutio, and Friar Lawrence, and their contributions to the tragic outcome.