Romeo and Juliet Character Overview

Romeo

• Romeo is a Montague, around 16 or 17 years old.
• He is intelligent and sensitive.
• Romeo is impulsive and immature.
• He does not care about the family feud.
• At the start of the play, he is infatuated with a girl named Rosaline.
• He has a romantic nature.

Lady Montague

• She is Romeo's mother.
• She dies of grief after Romeo's death.

Lord Montague

• He is Romeo's father.
• He is concerned about Romeo's sadness.
• He is the patriarch of the Montague family.

Balthasar

• He is Romeo's servant.

Abraham

• He is a Montague servant.
• Abraham fights Sampson and Gregory at the beginning of the play.

Benvolio

• Benvolio is Romeo's cousin and friend.
• He tries to stop the fights between the Montagues and Capulets.
• He acts as a peacemaker.
• Benvolio advises Romeo about love and tries to make him feel better.

Mercutio

• Mercutio is a friend of Romeo's and associated with Prince Escalus.
• He is known for having a bad temper.
• Mercutio does not like emotional people.
• He believes love is purely physical.
• Mercutio acts as a foil to Romeo.

Juliet

• Juliet is a Capulet, 13 years old.
• She is initially naive and not ready for marriage.
• Her parents try to arrange a marriage for her.
• She doesn't have much freedom as a girl.
• She is close to her nurse.

Lord Capulet

• He is Juliet's father.
• He truly loves Juliet but doesn't fully understand her feelings.
• He is easily angered if things don't go his way.
• He expects respect and propriety.
• He is the patriarch of the Capulet family.

Lady Capulet

• She is Juliet's mother.
• She is an ineffective mother, relying on the nurse.
• She wants Juliet to marry Paris.
• She married young and is eager for Juliet to marry.

Nurse

• She has cared for Juliet since she was born.
• She is described as vulgar and long-winded.
• She is Juliet's loyal confidante.
• She provides some comic relief in the play.
• She had a daughter who died in infancy.

Gregory and Sampson

• They are servants to the Capulets.
• They start a fight with the Montagues at the beginning of the play.

Tybalt

• Tybalt is Juliet's ill-tempered cousin.
• He is vain and fashionable, and prideful.
• He is skilled in sword fighting and someone to be feared.
• He dislikes the Montagues.

Prince Escalus

• He is the Prince of Verona.
• He is concerned with maintaining public peace.
• He is related to Mercutio and Paris.

Paris

• He is related to Prince Escalus.
• The Capulets prefer him to marry Juliet.
• He treats Juliet inappropriately after Capulet says he can marry her.

Rosaline

• Rosaline is the woman that Romeo is obsessed with at the beginning of the play.
• She plans to become a nun.

The Apothecary

• He is like a pharmacist.
• He values money more than morals.

Friar Lawrence

• He is a friend to Romeo and Juliet.
• He is kind and civic-minded.
• He secretly marries Romeo and Juliet in hopes their marriage will end the feud.
• He is a Catholic holy man familiar with potions and herbs.

Friar John

• He is a Catholic holy man asked to tell Romeo about Juliet's false death.
• He is held up in a quarantined house and does not deliver the message.