Romeo and Juliet Characters with Descriptions

This article will introduce the characters of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (with descriptions for each). Though Romeo and Juliet is certainly one of Shakespeare’s more accessible plays, it can be hard to remember who’s who. (Is Mercutio a Capulet? Is Sampson a Montague?) As always, if you need it, here’s a scene-by-scene summary of the play.  

All my quotes come from Project Gutenberg’s searchable The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. 

Romeo and Juliet Characters with Descriptions

Romeo

When we meet Romeo, son of Lord and Lady Montague, he’s in the dumps. He’s in love with a girl named Rosaline who doesn’t love him back. On the advice of his friend Benvolio, Romeo decides to go to a party at the Capulets’ house. There he meets Juliet, daughter of the Lord and Lady Capulet (the sworn enemies of the Montagues). 

Romeo and Juliet fall immediately in love. (One can’t help but think that their families’ enmity intensifies their feelings – there’s even a psychological name for it.) After the party, Romeo hides under Juliet’s window and woos her further. (This is the famous, “But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?” scene – here’s a cool take on this scene by the BBC.) By the end of this scene, Romeo and Juliet are already talking about marriage. 

Full of adolescent infatuation, Romeo goes straight away to arrange the wedding with Friar Lawrence. (Understandably, Friar Lawrence thinks Romeo is still in love with Rosaline – Romeo responds, “I have forgot that name, and that name’s woe.”) The wedding set, Romeo communicates his honorable intentions to Juliet via her nurse and, within 24 hours of meeting each other, they are wed. 

Romeo and Juliet Characters with Descriptions (Continued)

Of course, this wouldn’t be a Shakespearean tragedy if everything went smoothly. The next day, Romeo, freshly wed to Juliet, runs into Tybalt, cousin to Juliet. Tybalt is still mad that Romeo crashed the party and tries to pick a fight. Without going into too much detail, Romeo tries to tell Tybalt that he loves him, but Tybalt’s anger can’t be assuaged. Tybalt ends up killing Romeo’s friend Mercutio – in revenge, Romeo kills Tybalt and is exiled for his crime.  

To a newly-wed 16-year-old, exile is a fate worse than death. He manages to spend one night with Juliet before leaving for Mantua. The next day, he hears from his friend Balthasar that Juliet is dead. (Of course, she isn’t dead. She and Friar Lawrence have hatched a plot to make it seem like she’s dead – Romeo hasn’t gotten word of this.) He goes to an apothecary to get some poison so he can kill himself on Juliet’s tomb.

He sneaks back into Verona and makes his way to Juliet’s tomb. He’s got the bad luck to arrive at the same time as Paris, the man Juliet was set to marry. They scuffle and Romeo kills him. Seeing his “dead” wife and having just stabbed her erstwhile fiance, Romeo takes the poison and dies. 

Juliet

The other half of the eponymous couple, Juliet behaves just as rashly as her beau. Before she attends the party, her mother comes to her and asks her to consider marrying Paris. (IMHO, Paul Rudd’s best role.) As no one knows that she has secretly married Romeo, Juliet’s parents push her to accept this pairing. Juliet refuses and is nearly disowned. After she plots with Friar Lawrence – pretend to be dead, meet Romeo in the family crypt – she returns, feigns obedience, and drinks the potion. 

She wakes to carnage. Imagine, for a moment, that you’re Juliet. Friar Lawrence has given you a potion that will make you seem dead. Furthermore, he has promised that your true love will be there when you wake. Instead, you wake to see the body of your husband and the freshly murdered corpse of your fiance. As this is likely the worst day the 13-year-old Juliet has ever experienced, she promptly kills herself. 

Romeo and Juliet Characters with Descriptions (Continued)

Tybalt

Juliet’s hot-headed cousin, Tybalt has it in for Romeo (and all Montagues). He picks a fight with Bevolio in the first scene of the play and is still salty when he sees Romeo at the Capulets’ party in act I, scene 5. 

By the time Tybalt sees Romeo again, the latter is married to Juliet. Not knowing this, Tybalt is still mad and challenges Romeo to a duel. As Tybalt is now Romeo’s kinsman (by marriage), Romeo refuses. Still furious and itching for a fight, Tybalt kills Romeo’s friend, Mercutio. Romeo loses his cool and kills Tybalt. 

Mercutio

Neither a Montague nor a Capulet, Mercutio is Romeo’s quick-witted friend. When Romeo refuses to fight Tybalt in act III, scene 1, Mercutio thinks Romeo is a coward and draws his sword. Though Romeo tries to intervene, Tybalt kills Mercutio. 

Though Mercutio only appears in four scenes, he plays an outsized role in the play. Most famously, Mercutio delivers his “Queen Mab” soliloquy in act I, scene 4, which ruminates on the power of dreams. (Here’s a creepier version by the National Theatre.) Mercutio is also known for his famous ““A plague o’ both your houses” line in act III, scene 1. 

Friar Lawrence

As the spiritual advisor to both houses, Friar Lawrence is in a perfect position to play matchmaker. Seeing the love that these two teenagers have for each other, I think Friar Lawrence’s heart is in the right place. When Romeo comes to him and asks him to officiate his wedding, he can tell that the youth is smitten. Furthermore, he sees the political advantage of such a union. Friar Lawrence hopes that Romeo’s marriage to Juliet might “turn your households’ rancour to pure love.”

All that being said, it’s hard to understand Friar Lawrence’s subsequent actions. When Juliet comes to him and threatens to kill herself if she has to marry Paris, Friar Lawrence’s bright idea is to have her drink a potion so her family will think she’s dead. I know he promises that he’ll communicate the plan to Romeo, but it just seems like a really rapid escalation. 

Romeo and Juliet Characters with Descriptions (Continued)

At the end of the play. Friar Lawrence does go to fetch Juliet from the crypt. Though he tries to convince Juliet to come out, he is unsuccessful. Once everyone has died, it is Friar Lawrence who gives an account of Romeo and Juliet’s love to the assembled characters. 

Juliet’s Nurse

Juliet’s nurse since childhood, she is Juliet’s confidant (and messenger) as she pursues her relationship with Romeo. Surprisingly, even though the nurse sees how much Juliet loves Romeo, she still advises her to marry Paris. 

Paris

When we first meet Paris, he’s asking Juliet’s father for her hand in marriage. Initially, Juliet’s father tells Paris to wait until Juliet turns fourteen before he marries her. He then prevaricates and tells Paris that he can come to the party and try to woo her. 

After Tybalt’s death, Juliet’s father takes a firmer hand – he tells Paris that he will marry Juliet in three days. Paris is thrilled. When he then sees Juliet in Friar Lawrence’s cell, nothing seems amiss. You can imagine his disappointment when he shows up on the wedding day and his fiancée appears to be dead. 

Romeo and Juliet Characters with Descriptions (Continued)

Believing Juliet dead, Paris goes to put flowers on her grave – only to see Romeo there as well. From Paris’ standpoint, Romeo has no reason to be in the Capulets’ crypt. He suspects Romeo is “come to do some villainous shame / To the dead bodies,” and confronts him. He is stabbed for his efforts. 

Benvolio 

As Romeo’s cousin, Benvolio is a loyal Montague. Early in the play, Benvolio encourages Romeo to get over Rosaline. In fact, it’s Benvolio’s idea to crash the Capulets’ party in act I, scene 5. Later, Benvolio is with Romeo when Mercutio is killed by Tybalt. 

Escalus, Prince of Verona

The ultimate authority in Verona, the prince is fed up with the Capulet-Montague feud. He declares at the end of the first scene that “If ever you disturb our streets again, / Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.” Later, when he hears the circumstances surrounding Tybalt’s death, he decides to merely banish Romeo. 

Lord and Lady Montague

At the beginning of the play, Romeo’s parents are concerned about Romeo’s mood. They know nothing about Romeo’s marriage to Juliet. Before they learn of Romeo’s death at the end of the play, we find out that Lady Montague has died of grief. When Lord Montague finds out about Romeo’s love for Juliet, he offers to make a gold statue of Juliet as a remembrance of her beauty. 

Lord and Lady Capulet

As Juliet’s parents, they want to secure Juliet’s future with an appropriate marriage. Though they have the best intentions, their insistence that Juliet marry Paris is the catalyst for the tragedy at the end of the play. Given the violence that they eventually witness, it’s surprising that they manage to put aside their grief and make peace with the Montagues. 

Romeo and Juliet Characters with Descriptions (Continued)

Abram

A servant in the Montague house, he gets into a fight with two Capulet servants at the beginning of the play. 

Balthasar

One of Romeo’s servants, he gives the news to Romeo in Mantua that Juliet is dead. 

Peter

A servant to Juliet’s nurse. 

Romeo and Juliet Characters with Descriptions (Continued)

Sampson and Gregory

The two Capulet servants who fight Balthasar and Abram in the first scene of the play. 

Friar John

One of Friar Lawrence’s acquaintances, Friar John was supposed to communicate Friar Lawrence’s plan to Romeo in Mantua. Unfortunately, due to an outbreak of plague, Friar John wasn’t able to reach Mantua. 

Romeo and Juliet Characters with Descriptions (Continued)

Apothecary 

When Romeo finds out that Juliet is dead, he goes to an apothecary to buy some poison. 

Wrapping Up – Romeo and Juliet Characters with Descriptions

Of all Shakespeare’s plays, Romeo and Juliet has a cultural cache that belies its adolescent subject matter. (Here’s an excellent article about the play’s lasting importance.) Ultimately, the play illustrates how gender, sex, and power intersect and affect the lives of two star-crossed lovers. 

If you’ve found this article useful or interesting, you can also check out my summaries and analyses of 1984, Frankenstein, The Great Gatsby, Hamlet, The Crucible, Beloved, Brave New World, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Macbeth, Jane Eyre, and Of Mice and Men.