Key characters

JULIET

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet...

Act 2, Scene 2

Juliet is the only child of Lord and Lady Capulet. She has led a sheltered life as the daughter of the wealthy Capulet family, and is fairly naive to the outside world. At just thirteen years old, Juliet already has great expectations placed on her, and it is expected that she will soon marry. When we first meet her, Juliet is told by her mother that girls of her age must marry, as Lady Capulet did herself:

Here in Verona, ladies of esteem,
Are made already mothers: by my count,
I was your mother much upon these years
That you are now a maid.

Lady Capulet, Act 1, Scene 3

When asked what she thinks of the concept of marriage, Juliet responds to her mother “It is an honour that I dream not of.” (Act 1, Scene 3) Her father Capulet has decided that Paris, an eligible young bachelor and a relative of the Prince, should woo Juliet and be her husband. Yet while Juliet is unsure of the idea of marriage, she agrees to meet Paris at the Capulet ball and consent to her parents’ wishes:

I'll look to like, if looking liking move:
But no more deep will I endart mine eye
Than your consent gives strength to make it fly.

Act 1, Scene 3

However, at the Capulet ball when Juliet spies Romeo she feels instantly attracted to him and there is a mutual connection between them. After just 14 lines spoken to each other, Juliet and Romeo share a kiss to which Juliet replies “You kiss by the book.” (Act 1, Scene 5) She appears to have almost instantly shifted from a young child following her parents’ orders, to a passionate young girl following her heart and own instincts. While she does not immediately know the identity of Romeo, she is compelled to find out asking the Nurse “Go ask his name: if he be married, / My grave is like to be my wedding bed.” (Act 1, Scene 5) In a matter of hours, Juliet has shifted from someone who had never considered marriage before, to someone who actively pursues a love interest.

When Romeo breaks into the Capulet grounds to visit Juliet after the party, she is happy to see him yet fearful that Romeo will be found and killed. Juliet is all too aware of the ‘proper’ way a young woman should behave towards a potential suitor, yet finds herself wanting to share declarations of love to Romeo straight away. She makes sure that she tells Romeo that despite any outward behaviours, she is true and earnest in her feelings for him:

In truth, fair Montague, I am too fond,
And therefore thou mayst think my 'havior light:
But trust me, gentleman, I'll prove more true
Than those that have more cunning to be strange.
I should have been more strange, I must confess...

Act 2, Scene 2

She challenges Romeo to assure her of his feelings and even insists that he be careful in his language of love: “O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon, / That monthly changes in her circled orb, / Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.” (Act 2, Scene 2) For someone inexperienced in love, Juliet seems confident and commanding in this romantic exchange. In fact, once Romeo and Juliet are assured of their true feelings for one another, it is Juliet who first raises the idea of marriage and drives the swift planning of the event.

Unlike Romeo, Juliet has no friends of her own age. She is isolated and sheltered within the world of the Capulets. In the few days between meeting Romeo and her death, Juliet is transformed from child to woman. She questions the fickle nature of the Montague and Capulet feud, perhaps for the first time, and cannot understand why she cannot love someone simply because of a name. Her secret marriage to Romeo forces her already distant relationship with her parents to worsen, and her independence begins to grow as a result.

Juliet’s closest friend and companion is the Nurse who has cared for her since birth. The Nurse acts as confidante and is aware of Juliet and Romeo’s secret relationship. Juliet even sends the Nurse to consult Romeo in the organising of their wedding. As an employee of the Capulet household, this is a dangerous act for the Nurse, and shows her true devotion to Juliet. However, as the plot unfolds, the Nurse comes to the conclusion that Juliet and Romeo’s relationship is too fraught and not worth continuing. She counsels Juliet to marry Paris instead and forget Romeo. Feeling deserted by her close friend, Juliet decides to sever her ties with the Nurse. Juliet shows immense strength in response to her predicament and even manages to curse her lost bond with the Nurse, “Ancient damnation, O most wicked fiend…” (Act 3, Scene 5)

Juliet shows great courage and bravely stands up to her father and mother when they arrange her immediate marriage to Paris, after Tybalt’s death and Romeo’s banishment: “Now, by Saint Peter's Church and Peter too, / He shall not make me there a joyful bride.” (Act 3, Scene 5) She pleads with Lord Capulet to “Hear me with patience but to speak a word” but he abandons her in anger, saying she must marry Paris or be disowned. At this point, Juliet has no one left to turn to within her own family and household, so seeks counsel from the Friar. She shows her desperation and strength of her convictions when she insists to Friar Lawrence: “Be not so long to speak; I long to die...” (Act 4, Scene 1)

Juliet shows great maturity in her new relationship with Romeo. She is able to criticise Romeo’s actions and decisions, while being profoundly in love with him. She keeps her wits about her and does not blindly follow Romeo after he kills Tybalt. She demonstrates immense courage, strength and willpower in her choices and actions. Juliet releases herself from her parents’ command by following the Friar’s plan, which will reunite her with Romeo in the Capulet tomb. Waking to find Romeo’s dead body, Juliet chooses to take her own life, not out of loss and weakness, but out of intense love for Romeo.

MERCUTIO

Prick love for pricking and you beat love down.

Act 1, Scene 4

Mercutio is Romeo’s quick-witted friend and a relation of Prince Escalus. He is considered one of the most lyrical and fascinating characters in Shakespeare’s canon. As in the word ‘mercurial’, Mercutio is swift to shift in mood and temperament, and seems comfortable swinging between comic hijinks to friendly tussles to intense expositions on love to deathly sword fights.

He first appears in the play with Romeo in Act 1, Scene 4 where he mocks his lovelorn friend. Mercutio jokes frequently but is by no means a light character, as the complexity of his language, however crude, is socially perceptive and functions on many levels. He cares deeply for Romeo and constantly tries to free him from the bounds of romantic love. Mercutio’s death at the hands of Tybalt enrages a formerly peaceful Romeo. Mercutio jokes and entertains his friends (and the audience) until his final moments, playing the joker to the end. However, just before Mercutio dies, he turns to Romeo and his friends and curses the feuding families. Many critics say that Shakespeare almost had to kill Mercutio half way through the story, otherwise his vibrant flair and distrust in love would have dominated the story. Mercutio’s death is the key catalyst for Romeo’s downfall, and a major narrative turning point for the story.

LORD CAPULET

...'tis not hard, I think,
For men so old as we to keep the peace.

Act 1, Scene 2

Lord Capulet is Juliet’s father and the head of the household. He has long been feuding with Lord Montague, Romeo’s father, but there is no suggestion in Shakespeare’s script as to the grounds for the feud. The Prince states it was ‘bred of an airy word’ (Act 1, Scene 1).

Capulet appears to truly love his daughter and states that she is “the hopeful lady of my earth” (Act 1, Scene 2). Initially when speaking with Paris, Capulet insists she is not yet ready for marriage:

My child is yet a stranger in the world;
She hath not seen the change of fourteen years,
Let two more summers wither in their pride,
Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride.

Act 1, Scene 2

Yet the events of the play cause Capulet to swiftly change his mind and assert his rule over his family. Being his only child , Capulet believes he knows what is best for Juliet and will not hesitate to enforce it.

Capulet is the head of his household in a patriarchal society, and so is able to command everyone around him to do as he says, from servants to his own wife and family. He expects and commands respect, displayed when he reprimands Tybalt: “I’ll make you quiet!” (Act 1, Scene 5) Capulet does however display some restrain, such as when he forbids Tybalt from “making a mutiny among my guests” (Act 1, Scene 5) when Romeo crashes their ball.

Lord Capulet is prone to extreme outbursts and rage when his orders are not followed. This is most apparent when Juliet refuses to marry Paris, where we see him pushed to his limits. His response is brutal in its threatening nature to his child:

Graze where you will you shall not house with me:
Look to't, think on't, I do not use to jest.
Thursday is near; lay hand on heart, advise:
An you be mine, I'll give you to my friend;
And you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in
the streets,
For, by my soul, I'll ne'er acknowledge thee,
Nor what is mine shall never do thee good:
Trust to't, bethink you; I'll not be forsworn.

Act 3, Scene 5

At the end of the play, having realised the extent of his loss, Lord Capulet is remorseful and makes his peace with Lord Montague, “O brother Montague, give me thy hand” (Act 5, Scene 3). We see more of the Capulet parents than the Montague parents during the course of the play.

THE NURSE

Go girl, seek happy nights to happy days.

Act 1, Scene 2

The Nurse is Juliet’s closest friend and confidante. She has known Juliet since birth, being her wet nurse as a baby and then primary caregiver, which was custom for children of noble birth and wealth. In this way, the Nurse knows Juliet far more intimately than her own parents do.

The Nurse is an affable, loving woman who is a devoted, long-time employee of the Capulet household. She talks a little too much for Lady and Lord Capulet’s liking, and is often told to be quiet. The Nurse tells us that she had a husband and a daughter who have both died, which may lend reason to her bond with Juliet and service to the Capulet family. Juliet often makes mention of the Nurse’s age in comparison to her own youth, particularly when frustrated at the amount of time it takes the Nurse to send messages for her to Romeo.

The Nurse is the only member of the household who is complicit in her relationship with Romeo. While initially very excited at the idea of Paris as a match for Juliet – “Why, he’s a man of wax!” (Act 1, Scene 3) – the Nurse goes to great lengths to help organise Juliet’s secret union with Romeo, defying the Capulet family. After Romeo kills Tybalt, the Nurse even visits the Friar’s cell to insist Romeo pull himself together and go to Juliet: “Stand up, stand up; stand, and you be a man: / For Juliet's sake, for her sake, rise and stand...” (Act 3, Scene 3)

However, when Romeo is banished and Juliet’s parents insist she marry Paris, the Nurse switches sides and agrees with the Capulets. No longer believing that Romeo and Juliet’s relationship is viable, she withdraws her original support and advises Juliet to listen to her parents and marry Paris:

Then, since the case so stands as now it doth,
I think it best you married with the county.
O, he's a lovely gentleman!
Romeo's a dishclout to him: an eagle, madam,
Hath not so green, so quick, so fair an eye
As Paris hath. Beshrew my very heart,
I think you are happy in this second match,
For it excels your first: or if it did not,
Your first is dead; or 'twere as good he were,
As living here and you no use of him.

Act 3, Scene 5

In doing this, as she has done her whole life, the Nurse believes she is acting in Juliet’s best interests and ensuring her a stable, good life. However, Juliet feels completely betrayed by the Nurse in this moment, and her words signal the end to their close relationship, unbeknownst to the Nurse.

PRINCE ESCALUS

...all are punished.

Act 5, Scene 3

As the Prince of Verona, Escalus holds the position of political power and is therefore concerned with maintaining public peace and order at all costs. It is clear that governing a city with two constantly warring families is not an easy feat, and when we meet the Prince in Act 1, he is furious at the ongoing violence calling the populace, “Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace,” (Act 1, Scene 1). Giving insight into the feud and the lengths he is willing to go to to enforce law and order, he says:

On pain of torture, from those bloody hands
Throw your mistemper'd weapons to the ground,
And hear the sentence of your moved prince.

Act 1, Scene 2

Later, he even goes as far to say “on pain of death, all men depart”, foreshadowing that people will lose their lives if the feud continues.

Prince Escalus instructs Lord Capulet and Montague to speak with him individually about the ongoing feud and they appear to follow orders, however the Prince does not seem to have much sway over the household’s children and their constant brawling.

He banishes Romeo for killing Tybalt and then is seen again at the end of the play, delivering the final lines: ‘For never was a story of more woe/ Than this of Juliet and her Romeo’. (Act 5, Scene 3) Prince Escalus is also related to Mercutio, and so expresses that the Montague and Capulet feud has affected him personally after Mercutio’s death – “And I, for winking at your discords, too have lost a brace of kinsmen.”