Romeo & Juliet Information

1. Romeo & Juliet Information Your test Cheat Sheet 

2. Romeo • The son and heir of Montague and Lady Montague. • In his late teens. • He is handsome, intelligent, and sensitive • His only interest is love. At the beginning of the play he is madly in love with a woman named Rosaline, but the instant he lays eyes on Juliet, he falls in love with her and forgets Rosaline. • He secretly marries Juliet, the daughter of his father’s worst enemy; he happily takes abuse from Tybalt; and he would rather die than live without his beloved. • Romeo is also an affectionate and devoted friend to his relative Benvolio, Mercutio, and Friar Lawrence.

3. Juliet • The daughter of Capulet and Lady Capulet. • A beautiful thirteen-year-old girl • She grows up quickly upon falling in love with Romeo, the son of her family’s great enemy. • Juliet’s closest friend and confidant is her nurse, though she’s willing to shut the Nurse out of her life the moment the Nurse turns against Romeo.

4. Friar Lawrence • friend to both Romeo and Juliet. • Kind, civic-minded, a proponent of moderation, and always ready with a plan • He secretly marries the impassioned lovers in hopes that the union might eventually bring peace to Verona. • also an expert in the use of seemingly mystical potions and herbs.

5. Lord Capulet • The patriarch of the Capulet family • Father of Juliet • husband of Lady Capulet • enemy, for unexplained reasons, of Montague. • He truly loves his daughter, though he is not well acquainted with Juliet’s thoughts or feelings, and seems to think that what is best for her is a “good” match with Paris.

6. Lord Montague • Romeo’s father • bitter enemy of Capulet • At the beginning of the play, he is chiefly concerned about Romeo’s melancholy

7. Tybalt • A Capulet, Juliet’s cousin on her mother’s side. • Vain, fashionable, supremely aware of courtesy and the lack of it, he becomes aggressive, violent, and quick to draw his sword when he feels his pride has been injured. • He loathes Montagues.

8. Prince Escalus • The Prince of Verona. • kinsman of Mercutio and Paris. • As the seat of political power in Verona, he is concerned about maintaining the public peace at all costs.

9. Mercutio • A kinsman to the Prince, and Romeo’s close friend. • overflows with imagination, wit, and, at times, a strange, biting satire and brooding fervor. • He can be quite hotheaded, and hates people who are affected, pretentious, or obsessed with the latest fashions. • He finds Romeo’s romanticized ideas about love tiresome,

10. 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. • He spends most of the play trying to help Romeo get his mind off Rosaline, even after Romeo has fallen in love with Juliet.

11. Paris • A kinsman of the Prince, and the suitor of Juliet most preferred by Capulet. • Once Capulet has promised him he can marry Juliet, he behaves very presumptuous toward her, acting as if they are already married.

12. Balthazar • Romeo’s dedicated servant, who brings Romeo the news of Juliet’s death, unaware that her death is a lie.

13. Nurse • Juliet’s nurse, the woman who has cared for Juliet her entire life. • A vulgar, long-winded, and sentimental character • provides comic relief with her frequently inappropriate remarks and speeches • the Nurse is Juliet’s faithful confidante and loyal intermediary in Juliet’s affair with Romeo • The Nurse believes in love and wants Juliet to have a nice-looking husband, but the idea that Juliet would want to sacrifice herself for love is incomprehensible to her.

14. Rosaline • The girl Romeo thinks he is in love with at the beginning of the play • He goes to the Capulet party to see her, but sees Juliet and falls in love with her instead

15. Drama Terms • Aside- a brief remark made to the audience, unheard by the other characters • Monologue- a lengthy speech. Unlike a soliloquy, however, a monologue is addressed to other characters. • Soliloquy- a lengthy speech in which a character; alone on stage, expresses his or her thoughts to the audience. • Couplet- a pair of successive lines of verse, especially a pair that rhyme and are of the same length

16. Drama Terms, cont. • Dramatic Irony- When the audience knows something that the actors don’t. (Ex: when everyone thinks Juliet is dead, but we know she took a sleeping potion) • Iambic Pentameter- a pattern of unstressed, stressed syllables. Shakespeare uses this pattern of syllables to write Romeo and Juliet. • Dramatic Foil- a character who contrasts another character in order to highlight particular qualities of the other character

17. The Shakespearean Stage • Who would play characters like Juliet and the Nurse? Why? Young boys • What was the name of the place where Shakespeare’s plays would be performed? The Globe Theatre • When would Shakespeare’s plays be performed? Why? During the day, in order to have natural light • Who ruled England at the time of Shakespeare? Queen Elizabeth I • Approximately how much would it cost to see one of Shakespeare’s plays? $1.66

18. Quotes to Consider • “That we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet!” • “O that I were a glove upon that hand that I might touch her that cheek!” • “Never there was a story of more woe than that of Juliet and her Romeo,”

19. Ideas to Ponder… • What does it mean that Romeo and Juliet are “star cross’d lovers,” as seen in the prologue? They are fated to meet an unhappy end; fate is against them. • Who do you think is ultimately responsible for Romeo and Juliet’s death? Think about the play as a whole and decide what events and actions lead to the tragic ending of the work. • In what city does the play take place? Verona, Italy • Who are the two feuding families? The Montagues & The Capulets

20. It’s all about the order! • The servants pick a fight in the town square. • Romeo speaks to Juliet at her balcony, and they decide to marry. • Romeo marries Juliet. • Mercutio is killed. • Tybalt is killed. • Romeo is banished. • Juliet takes a sleeping potion. • Romeo kills himself. • Juliet kills herself.