Characters

In Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, we meet several characters, but only a handful of them are truly important. 

The two protagonists of the play are the young lovers, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet. They fall instantly in love and share the characteristic of being very impulsive and governed by their emotions. This leads them to defy their parents and the established order to be together, which eventually culminates in their tragic suicides. Generally, their love is characterized by secrecy and recklessness.

The young lovers are assisted by Juliet’s nurse and Romeo’s friend Friar Lawrence. These two almost fill out the role as surrogate parents to the youngsters, but they actually do not give good advice. As an example, the Friar’s pl...