1. Romeo and Juliet Characters

2. Characters close to Romeo
Team Montague
Characters close to Romeo

3. Romeo Montague 16 years old Only son of Lord and Lady Montague
Peaceful: Not interested in the feud between the Montagues and Capulets
Hopeless romantic: in love with Rosaline and Juliet throughout the play

4. Lady Montague Mother of Romeo Wife of Lord Montague
Emotional: dies of grief after the death of a character

5. Lord Montague (Referenced as Montague)
Father of Romeo
Wife of Lady Montague
Leader of all Montagues
Concerned: worried about Romeo’s sadness

6. Balthasar
Romeo’s servant
Confused: Tells Romeo about Juliet’s “death”

7. Abram Servant to the Montague family
Violent: Fights Capulet servants at the beginning of the play

8. Benvolio Romeo’s cousin
Tries to convince Romeo to move on from his love of Rosaline
Loyal: Defends Romeo in his times of need
Non-violent: activist for peace between the Montague and Capulet families

9. Mercutio Romeo’s best friend
Funny: makes inappropriate jokes with puns and wordplay
Spiteful: hates the Capulets; he fights and makes fun of them
Unromantic: doesn’t understand why Romeo is concerned with the romantic side of love instead of physical acts

10. Characters close to Juliet
Team Capulet
Characters close to Juliet

11. Juliet Capulet 13 years old
Only daughter of Lord and Lady Capulet, but mostly cared for by The Nurse
Obedient: at the beginning of the play she listens to what her parents tell her to do
Naïve: believes everything that Romeo tells her and blindly goes along with Friar Laurence’s plan

12. Lord Capulet (Referenced as Capulet)
Father of Juliet
Wife of Lady Capulet
Leader of all Capulets
Confused: doesn’t understand the emotions of Juliet or why she doesn’t want to marry Paris
Impatient: demands others respect him, and is furious when something doesn’t go his way

13. Lady Capulet Juliet’s Mother
Became a wife and mother around the age of 14
Impatient: pushes for Juliet to marry Paris
Unemotional: relies on The Nurse to care for Juliet

14. The Nurse
The mother figure for Juliet who served as a type of nanny for her
Entertaining: makes vulgar jokes and long speeches at inappropriate times
Trustworthy: Juliet’s confidant
Worried: concerned about Juliet’s rushed love for Romeo, her concerns lead to a strain on her relationship with Juliet

15. Gregory and Sampson Servants to the Capulet family
Begin a fight at the beginning of the play by insulting Montague servants
Immature: don’t know what they are fighting over, just that they like to instigate a fights with the Capulets

16. Tybalt Juliet’s cousin
Hateful: loathes the Montagues and is eager to fight Romeo at a formal event as well as in public areas
Arrogant: proud of his sword fighting skills and ready to use them on anyone who disrespects him

17. Other Important Players

18. Prince Escalus Prince of Verona
Threatens death to a Capulet or Montague who fights in the public streets
Political: set on keeping the peace between the Capulets and Montagues after citizens begin to complain

19. Paris
The suitor who Lord and Lady Capulet want choose for Juliet to marry
Bold: once he is “engaged” to Juliet, he begins to act possessive over her
Apathetic: not very romantic when it comes to his relationship with Juliet

20. Rosaline
The girl who Romeo is in love with at the beginning of the play
Romeo and Rosaline would have never been together because she has decided to live a life of chastity

21. The Apothecary Like a pharmacist Sells deadly drugs to Romeo
Selfish: cares more about money than morals

22. Friar Lawrence Marries Romeo and Juliet in secret
Kind: friend and advisor to Romeo
Sympathetic: has good intentions and hopes this marriage will ultimately end the feud between the Montagues and Capulets

23. Friar John A friend of Friar Lawrence
Friar Lawrence sends him an errand to bring a message from Verona to Mantua
Unlucky: stopped at the boarder between Verona and Mantua due to a quarantine that is supposed to stop sicknesses from spreading between the cities

24. Photo credit:
Many of the photos can be found here: /images
These pictures are from Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 film version of Romeo and Juliet.