Romeo
Protagonist
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First appears on stage in Act 1, Scene 1, line 152 after being talked about. He uses a lot of Antithesis such as, oxymorons. He also says 'O' very often. For example in Act 1, Scene 1, lines 164-168. He speaks in a dramatic and polite way as well as speaking in verse. He is dramatic, emotional, dreamy, passionate and clever. He defends his friends as in Act 3, Scene 1, he kills Tybalt after Tybalt killed one of his best friends, Mercutio. He is madly in love with Juliet and risks his life for her when in Act 3, Scene 5, he stays longer than intended. He does however obey Friar Lawrence and goes to Mantua just like the plan was meant to be. He trusts Friar Lawrence fully and confides in him. The plan that Friar Lawrence has created is accepted as this is the only way that Romeo will be able to stay with the love of his life. However, the plan has a terrible ending and Romeo commits suicide when he believes that Juliet is dead, Act 5, Scene 3. Showing how dramatic he is, by taking this impulsive action. He thinks before he does, since he did not go to Friar Lawrence to ask for information about what happenend to Juliet. He took the decision to take his own life whilst it was not necessary.
Juliet
Protagonist
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First appears in Act 1, Scene 3, line 5 after being called by the nurse. She uses lots of words that are related with movement. For example, in Act 2, Scene 5. She speaks in verse and in Act 1 she does not say much and is somewhat quiet. Her personality is; charming, impatient, curious and dramatic just like Romeo. She was angered in Act 3, Scene 5 by her father who wants her to marry Paris. Yet she later apologises for her outburst and begs her father for forgiveness. This shows that she is quite a peaceful character aswell. She does take dramatic actions to make sure that she does not have to marry Paris and she relies on Friar Lawrence completely with his whole plan. The Nurse is not informed after Juliet is still angered by the fact that the Nurse thought it was a good idea for her to marry Paris. When Juliet wakes up and sees Romeo dead, in Act 5, Scene 3, she immediately takes the decision to kill herself. This too is a very dramatic action, showing the love she has for Romeo. She dies tragically, in the same way as her great love Romeo; by suicide.
Mercutio
Parallel Character to Romeo
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First appears in Act 1, Scene 4, line 14 when he is introduced as one of Romeo's closest friends and a troublemaker. He is a joker who likes to make people laugh. His language is rich and imaginative, he speaks in verse, yet when he dies, he speaks in prose. Mercutio uses many sexual puns. In Act 3, Scene 1, Shakespeare plays with irony as Mercutio is telling Benvolio how aggressive Benvolio is. He tells him that he is often angry for no reason and that this is not a good thing. Yet as soon as Tybalt appears Benvolio stays out of it and Mercutio, who was not even spoken to, decides to fight with Tybalt because he is saying inappropraite things to one of his best friends. This shows that Mercutio is quite aggressive yet he is also very loyal as he stands up for his friend, even though it meant his own death. Despite the fact that he is in a lot of pain, he continues joking till his very last moments: "Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man." (Lines 89-90)
Tybalt
Static Character
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First appears in Act 1, Scene 1, line 61 immediately starting a fight with Benvolio (A Montague). He dislikes Montagues and looks for fights. He speaks in verse and all his lines contain a sense of aggression. In Act 3, Scene 1 he kills Mercutio which follows by Romeo killing him as revenge. When he kills Mercutio he does not even know about the marriage between Romeo and Juliet yet. This is quite a surprise by Shakespeare, that Tybalt dies before he finds out. This is most probably meant as a surprise, because the whole audience must have wondered what Tybalt would say of the marriage and how angered he would be. The audience does not get to know Tybalt very well, yet when he dies the Nurse says: "O Tybalt, Tybalt, the best friend I had!" (Act 3, Scene 2, Line 61) This shows a different side of Tybalt since we only know him as the angry cousin of Juliet who hates Montagues and always picks fights. Yet, this is clearly different as said by the Nurse. Shakespeare did this so we become curious to how Tybalt was and we start to think about Tybalt's different sides. Shakespeare likes to keep his audience curious.
The Nurse
A Catalyst
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First appears in Act 1, Scene 3, line 2 talking to Lady Capulet about Juliet. She speaks in verse, but uses common language. She often complains about the pain in her back as she acts as a motherly figure to Juliet. She informs Romeo about what is happening to Juliet and helps arrange their marriage and meeting places. She is excited about being involved in this secret, yet when she hears that Juliet is supposed to marry Paris, she encourages Juliet despite the fact that she knows that Juliet is in love with Romeo. She does this because her opinion on Romeo changed after he killed Tybalt. She says to Juliet: "Romeo's a dishclout to him." (Act 3, Scene 5, Line 219) comparing Romeo to Paris. However this angers Juliet and she is not involved in Juliet's plans to drink poison in order to avoid her marriage to Paris. Shakespeare confuses the audience with this because everyone thought that the Nurse supported Juliet's decision to marry Romeo, yet this is different as she encourages Juliet to marry Paris instead now. This also shows how angered the Nurse is with Romeo due to the killing of Tybalt. When the Nurse discovers Juliet, she thinks that she is dead and she cries for her just like she would for one of her children. Shakespeare shows how attached the Nurse is to Juliet and how she considers Juliet as one of her own children.
