Themes

 Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is one of the greatest love

stories of all time. True love, reckless passion, and youthful naiveté
all conspire to tear Romeo and Juliet apart. Love, though noble and
beautiful, ultimately results in tragedy.

 Shakespeare first introduces the theme of fate in the prologue

of Romeo and Juliet, where he characterizes the play as a tale of
two "star-crossed lovers" whose love is doomed from the start. Fate
and chance keep the lovers apart, driving the plot of the play toward
its tragic, inevitable conclusion.

 Imagery of light amid darkness features prominently in the

play, reflecting the contrast between love and hatred, hope and
despair, life and death. In one famous scene, Romeo opines, "What
light through yonder window breaks?/ It is the east, and Juliet is the
sun." Light symbolizes the dawning of Romeo and Juliet's love,
whereas darkness symbolizes chaos and death.

Extended Character
Analysis
Romeo
Romeo is one of the titular characters in Shakespeare’s famed
romantic tragedy and Juliet’s young lover. He is the only son of Lord
and Lady Montague, nobles of Verona. Although intelligent, he is
also immature, impetuous, and reckless. His one focus throughout
the play is love, though not necessarily the women to whom he
alleges his love. Simply put, he is enamored with the idea of love.
Although he tends to be more serious than his friends, he enjoys
joking with them, especially Mercutio, in bawdy sexually-laced
double entendres, and he acts recklessly in order to live out his
romantic fantasies.

At the start of the play, Romeo’s friends notice that he is not acting
like himself. They soon realize that Romeo is lovesick. He is madly
in love with Rosaline, a character never seen on stage. However,
their courtship is doomed to fail, because Rosaline has vowed
never to marry. Romeo’s language throughout the early portion of
the play demonstrates that he is less enamored with Rosaline than
he is with the idea of falling in love. He tries to encapsulate his
feelings in romantic sonnets, but his words come out choppy and
disingenuous. In an effort to lift Romeo's spirits, Benvolio tells him
his feelings are just infatuation brought on by lack of experience
with women. Romeo’s friends then encourage him to attend the
Capulet's party to get out of his lovesick slump.

At the Capulet's party, Romeo sees Juliet and falls in love with her
immediately. Many readers and audiences interpret Romeo’s falling
out of love with Rosaline as a sign of his reckless and overly
emotional behavior. However, others view his change of heart as a
transformation of character. In many ways, Romeo’s attitude
towards love evolves from that of a naive, love-sick teenager to that
of an adult. During their brief courtship, Juliet recognizes that
Romeo’s language follows romantic tropes, overly sentimental
cliches, and fantastical metaphors. When Romeo comes to Juliet’s
balcony at night and tells her, “Lady, by yonder blessed moon I
swear, / That tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops—”, Juliet
interjects, “O, swear not by the moon… do not swear at all.” Romeo
idolizes Juliet, speaking of her in overly romanticized language and
imagining her as an ethereal, magnificent being. He believes she is
unattainable and thus otherworldly. Juliet, who is more levelheaded
than her rash counterpart, tells him to love her on his own accord
and not according to the poetry he has read. When Juliet criticizes
him for kissing by “th’...

JULIET
Juliet is one of the titular characters in Shakespeare’s tragic love story and Romeo’s lover.
The only daughter of Lord and Lady Capulet, Juliet is almost fourteen years old when the
play opens. She is characterized early on in the play by her compliance and respect for
authority. She is shy about discussing marriage and sex; for example, when her nurse recites
bawdy jokes, Juliet recoils in embarrassment. She obeys her parents and her nurse, and she
dutifully attends the ball where she is to meet her potential suitor, Paris.

The ball marks a turning point in Juliet’s character development. She meets Romeo at the ball
and falls in love with him. While Romeo speaks in overly sentimental sonnets, Juliet’s
approach to love is more level-headed, displaying an insightful and measured understanding
of love. She weighs her love of Romeo with her knowledge that he is, by name, her enemy.
As she says, “‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy / Thou art thyself, though not a Montague /
What’s Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot … What’s in a name? That which we call a rose /
By any other name would smell as sweet” (act II, scene II). Juliet is able to overlook her
family’s generational feud to see that names are arbitrary. She understands that a name
should not tinge her love for Romeo. In contrast to Romeo, who often acts impulsively and
speaks about Juliet’s ethereal beauty, Juliet roots her love for Romeo in reality. This can be
seen in the most recognizable scene of the play, in which Romeo professes his love to Juliet
as she stands on the balcony. Juliet, more grounded in reality, asks Romeo directly, “Dost
thou love me?” She encourages Romeo to speak plainly, to love her genuinely, and to be
frank with her.

While Romeo is fantastical in his approach to love, Juliet is sensible, developing a

resourcefulness and discretion in her actions. She arranges their night together and plans for
their wedding. Juliet sternly refuses Paris’s proposal of marriage, and when her nurse
encourages her to marry Paris, she ceases to...

(The entire section is 546 words.)

MERCUITO
Mercutio is Romeo’s friend and the prince’s kinsman. His name—which recalls the adjective
“mercurial,” meaning volatile; mercury, the ungraspable, fluid metal; and Mercury, the
Roman God of messages and trickery—sheds light on his complex character.

Mercutio is one of the most charismatic and eloquent characters in the novel, hinted at by his
name’s allusion to the Roman God of communication. He is also mercurial, or easily and
rapidly changeable. When he believes the Capulets are threatening him or one of the
Montagues, he quickly transforms from charismatic and loveable to vengeful and vindictive.

Mercutio is one of the most comedic characters in the play—in fact, many of his actions fulfil
the role of a traditional Shakespearean fool: neither a Capulet nor a Montague, he is free of
restrictions on his behavior; he freely makes bawdy jokes and plays with words, and his
joyous spirit makes him one of the play's most lovable characters.

In his role as friend and fool, he serves as a foil to the moping, lovestruck Romeo. Mercutio
loves his friend and tries to cheer him up with his witty and bawdy jokes. In one of the most
well-known, pun-filled speeches of the play, Mercutio cheers up Romeo before the ball by
telling him that he has been visited by “Queen Mab,” “the fairies’ midwife” who rides in a
tiny coach made of “empty hazelnuts” and who “plagues” lovers in their sleep and leaves
“blisters” on the lips of sleeping women. In this passage, Mercutio uses his eloquence and
vivid imagination to prompt Romeo out of his lovesick slump over Rosaline. Mercutio
reassures him that dreaming about Rosaline is ludicrous when there are so many other
beautiful women. Furthermore, when the equally witty nurse comes to visit on Romeo’s
behalf in act II, scene IV, Mercutio banters with her.

While Mercutio has a playful and jovial side, he is also an intense, loyal, and hellbent
character. His allegiance lies wholeheartedly with the Montagues and especially Romeo. In
the marketplace brawl scene in act III, scene I, Mercutio grows frustrated when Romeo
refuses to fight the Capulet enemy, Tybalt. He swiftly...

(The entire section is 564 words.)

THE NURSE
Juliet’s nurse is a servant in the Capulet family who wet nursed
Juliet as an infant and has raised her ever since. After the death of
her infant daughter, Susan, the Nurse treats Juliet as her own
daughter. She serves as Juliet’s main confidante and companion;
Juliet trusts her nurse with her most intimate secrets. After the ball,
Juliet recruits her nurse for help and asks her to meet Romeo and
discover his intentions. Later, the Nurse brings Romeo to Juliet and
helps the two consummate their marriage. She even warns the two
lovers after their night together that Lady Capulet is approaching
Juliet’s bedroom. She supports Juliet after the fiery Lord
Capulet scolds Juliet for refusing to marry Paris. Although Lord
Capulet verbally assaults the Nurse, she still defends and consoles
Juliet.

In contrast to Juliet, who is contemplative, intense, and practical,

the Nurse is talkative, bawdy, and vulgar. Her sexually suggestive
humor provides comic relief throughout the tragedy. When she is
first seen on stage, she talks at length and in detail about nursing
the infant Juliet, and both Juliet and Lady Capulet tell her to stop.
She often scrambles her words, such as when she reports the brawl
in the Verona marketplace, which briefly leads Juliet to believe that
Romeo is dead.

While Juliet and her Nurse are very close, their relationship
becomes strained toward the end of the play. After Romeo’s
banishment, the nurse tells Juliet to marry Paris—a message Juliet
interprets as a sign of betrayal, even if the nurse meant it with
goodwill. Juliet feels she can no longer confide in the nurse.
Nevertheless, the nurse remains devoted to Juliet and helps in the
preparation for Juliet and Paris’s wedding. On the morning of the
wedding, the nurse is devastated to find Juliet’s “dead” body.

FRIAR LAWRENCE
riar Laurence is a good-hearted Franciscan friar who
marries Romeo and Juliet in hopes that their union will end the feud
between the Capulets and the Montagues. He is one of the most
peaceful and wise characters, whose well-intentioned efforts
ironically lead to the two lovers’ deaths.

Friar Laurence first appears on stage in act II, scene III, picking
herbs and plants for his medicines and placing them in a basket. He
greets Romeo warm-heartedly and gently prods him when he thinks
that Romeo has been out all night with Rosaline. Romeo confides in
Friar Laurence that he attended the ball and has fallen in love with
his enemy’s daughter. Friar Laurence is surprised by Romeo’s
change of heart, remarking, “Holy Saint Francis, what a change is
here! / Is Rosaline, whom thou didst love so dear, / So soon
forsaken?” (act II, scene III). Even so, he offers Romeo advice,
counseling him to be prudent. He muses, warning Romeo to go into
his love for Juliet “wisely and slow...” for “they stumble that run fast.”

Throughout the play, Romeo and Juliet come to Friar Laurence for
guidance. In contrast to most members of the Capulet and
Montague houses, Friar Laurence is kind and good-natured. Juliet
turns to him when she believes that her nurse has betrayed her,
and Romeo hides in Friar Laurence's home before he is banished.
Friar Laurence devises the death deception and arranges for Juliet
to take the sleeping potion to get out of the wedding to Paris.

However, in a twist of situational irony, Friar Laurence's altruism

leads to the play’s tragedy. When Romeo does not receive word
that Juliet has taken the sleeping potion, he mistakenly believes
that she is dead. Heartbroken, Romeo poisons himself. Juliet
awakens shortly thereafter and stabs herself when she finds Romeo
dead beside her. After the two young lovers die, Prince Escalus
absolves the Friar for his involvement in their deaths, recognizing
his compassion and acknowledging that the family feud was the
real cause for Romeo and Juliet’s deaths.