Romeo Montague | The son and heir of Lord Montague and Lady Montague. He kills Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin. |
Juliet Capulet | The daughter of Lord Capulet and Lady Capulet. |
Friar Laurence | He secretly marries Romeo and Juliet in hopes that the union will bring peace to Verona. |
Nurse | Juliet’s faithful confidante and loyal intermediary in Juliet’s relationship with Romeo. |
Mercutio | A kinsman to the Prince, and Romeo’s close friend. He is killed by Tybalt. |
Tybalt | A Capulet, Juliet’s cousin on her mother’s side. He kills Mercutio. Vain, fashionable. He loathes Montagues. |
Lord Montague | Romeo’s father, the patriarch of the Montague clan and bitter enemy of Capulet. |
Lady Montague | Romeo’s mother, Montague’s wife. She dies of grief after Romeo is exiled from Verona. |
Lord Capulet | Juliet’ father, The patriarch of the Capulet family, , husband of Lady Capulet, and enemy, for unexplained reasons, of Montague. |
Lady Capulet | Juliet’s mother, Capulet’s wife. She is eager to see her daughter marry Paris. |
Benvolio | Montague’s nephew, Romeo’s cousin and thoughtful friend, he makes a genuine effort to defuse violent scenes in public places, though Mercutio accuses him of having a nasty temper in private. |
Friar John | Messenger of the news of Juliet’s false death asked to go to Romeo in Mantua, but he is held up in a quarantined house, and the message never reaches Romeo. |
Balthasar | Romeo’s dedicated servant, who brings Romeo the news of Juliet’s death, unaware that her death is a ruse/not real. |
The Apothecary | An apothecary in Mantua. He sells poison to Romeo. |
Paris | A kinsman of the Prince, and the suitor of Juliet most preferred by Lord Capulet. Lord Capulet promises he can marry Juliet. |
Prince Escalus | The Prince of Verona. A kinsman of Mercutio (Romeo’s best friend) and Paris. He is concerned about maintaining the public peace at all costs |
Poison | poison is not intrinsically evil, but is instead a natural substance made lethal by human hands. |
Thumb biting | The thumb-biting, as an essentially meaningless gesture, represents the foolishness of the entire Capulet/Montague feud and the stupidity of violence in general. |
Romeo and Juliet- characters and symbols
September 2, 2019