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Romeo & Juliet |
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Romeo-
Everyone likes Romeo. Mercutio and Benvolio both want his attention, the Nurse thinks he's honest, courteous, kind, and handsome. His mother loves him so much that she dies of grief when he's banished; and even Lord Capulet calls him "a virtuous and well-governed youth" and refuses to let Tybalt bother him. Friar Lawrence loves Romeo so much that he'll do almost anything to secure his happiness. He is passionate. Romeo has the blessing and the curse of feeling things deeply. At the beginning of the play, he is despairing over his unrequited love for Rosaline. He is able to give himself completely to his love for Juliet, and his only trouble comes when he gives in to "fire-eyed fury" after Mercutio is killed. He's virtuous, honest, charming, and well mannered.
Friar Lawrence-
He�s Catholic. Throughout the play, many people come to him for advice, and he does his best to help them. He often reminds Romeo of the Church's teachings, and he tries to use his position to end the feud. He is a good and wise man who is foiled by fate. The Friar's first speech about the paradoxes of life seems to prove that he has a deep understanding of life. He gives Romeo wise counsel every step of the way; he tells him to take the relationship slowly and to try to moderate his passion. As long as Romeo has Friar Lawrence to guide him, he can overcome any circumstances; it's only when Romeo has no one to quiet his passions that he kills himself.
The Nurse-
The Nurse is a comic character who becomes tragic because she isn't able to grow. Because she sees things in physical terms, she can't understand the depth of the lovers' emotional and spiritual bond. She says exactly what she thinks, whether or not it's appropriate.
Mercutio-
Witty, sarcastic, always the center of attention at parties, always ready with a put-down. He is clever, intelligent, and well educated. He is a master of words; he can make many puns. He is fiery and excitable. He whips himself into a frenzy with the Queen Mab speech, and he's already worked himself into a fighting mood by the time he meets up with Tybalt in Act III.
Tybalt-
Tybalt, a Capulet, is trouble from the beginning. He's so hot-tempered and full of hate that even his family thinks he's a "saucy boy." He can be seen as the embodiment of the feud. During the play, he fights Benvolio, Lord Capulet, Mercutio, and Romeo. In the first scene, when Benvolio talks of peace, Tybalt leaps in with "I hate the word as I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee." In nature and personality, he is contrasted to Mercutio. Mercutio is witty, cultured, and educated, and he isn't about to take an insult from someone like Tybalt, whose only means of expression is a sword. Mercutio's extreme dislike of Tybalt is another reason he must take up Tybalt's challenge of Romeo.
Benovolio-
Benvolio, a Montague, is the kind of person we'd all like to have for a friend. When Romeo wants to be left alone, he leaves him alone; when he wants to talk, Benvolio is there to listen with a sympathetic ear. And when Romeo is in trouble for killing Tybalt, it's Benvolio who gets him off the street and into hiding. Benvolio is known as a clear-thinking, reliable, and peace-loving young man. He tries to stop fighting whenever it starts.
Paris-
Unwanted Character. Shakespeare makes sure that he compares favorably with Romeo. He is young, handsome, wealthy, and, socially, his family is a step above Romeo's- Paris is related to Prince Escalus. Paris, too, is tired of the feud and sincerely in love with Juliet. He never tries to steal Juliet from Romeo; he proposes before Juliet meets Romeo, and he dies without knowing he has a rival.
1. Love vs. Hate- The play contrasts Romeo and Juliet's love against their families' hate as illustrated by the feud. In the Prologue, we're told that their love is stronger than the hatred of the feud, but it's a bitter struggle. Hatred is strong enough to separate the lovers, kill Mercutio, Tybalt, and Paris, banish Romeo, and finally force Romeo and Juliet to commit suicide. But love is even stronger: nothing can kill the love between Romeo and Juliet, and this finally triumphs.
2. Fate- In the Prologue, we're told that the lovers are "star-crossed," which implies that fate has it in for them. The number of fateful coincidences and accidents in the play are too numerous to miss: Romeo finds out about the Capulets' party from an illiterate servant; he winds up in the Capulets' orchard; Mercutio is killed under his arm- the list goes on and on. Every plan that the lovers make is thwarted. They're destined to die, and nothing can stop it.
3. True love can conquer all, as shown through Romeo and Juliet who defy unbelievable problems to be married, to consummate their marriage, and to live united for eternity.
4. Foolish quarrels should be ended, for they are never productive and often lead to tragedy, as in the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.
Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text's major themes. Like stars, birds are examples of motifs in Jomeo and Juliet.
Light/Dark Imagery
One of the more important instances of this motif is Romeo's lengthy meditation on the sun and the moon during the balcony scene, in which Juliet, metaphorically described as the sun, is seen as banishing the "envious moon" and transforming the night into day (II.i.46). A similar blurring of night and day occurs in the early morning hours after the lovers' only night together. Romeo, forced to leave for exile in the morning, and Juliet, not wanting him to leave her room, both try to pretend that it is still night, and that the light is actually darkness: "More light and light, more dark and dark our woes" (III.v.36).
