1. ROMEO & JULIET  An Overview of the Major Characters and Plot

2. MAJOR CHARACTERS ROMEO ROMEO JULIET JULIET MERCUTIO MERCUTIO BENVOLIO BENVOLIO TYBALT TYBALT FRIAR LAWERENCE FRIAR LAWERENCE PARIS PARIS MONTAGUE MONTAGUE LADY MONTAGUE LADY MONTAGUE CAPULET CAPULET LADY CAPULET LADY CAPULET PRINCE ESCALUS PRINCE ESCALUS THE NURSE THE NURSE THE CHORUS THE CHORUS

3. ROMEO A member of the Montague Family who falls in love with Juliet, a member of the Capulet Family.

4. JULIET A member of the Capulet Family who falls in love with Romeo, a member of the Montague Family.

5. THE MONTAGUE FAMILY MONTAGUE: The father of Romeo and enemy of Capulet. MONTAGUE: The father of Romeo and enemy of Capulet. LADY MONTAGUE: The mother of Romeo and wife of Montague. LADY MONTAGUE: The mother of Romeo and wife of Montague. BENVOLIO: The cousin of Romeo. BENVOLIO: The cousin of Romeo.

6. THE CAPULET FAMILY CAPULET: The father of Juliet and enemy of Montague. CAPULET: The father of Juliet and enemy of Montague. LADY CAPULET: The mother of Juliet and wife of Capulet. LADY CAPULET: The mother of Juliet and wife of Capulet. TYBALT: The cousin of Juliet. TYBALT: The cousin of Juliet.

7. MERCUTIO  The best friend of Romeo and kinsman of Prince Escalus. He is not a member of either the Montague or Capulet families, but he is on Romeo’s side. He has a deep rivalry with Tybalt.

8. FRIAR LAWERENCE A Franciscan friar, friend to both Romeo and Juliet. Kind, civic-minded, a proponent of moderation, and always ready with a plan, Friar Lawrence secretly marries the impassioned lovers in hopes that the union might eventually bring peace to Verona. As well as being a Catholic holy man, Friar Lawrence is also an expert in the use of seemingly mystical potions and herbs.

9. PRINCE ESCALUS: The Prince of Verona. A kinsman of Mercutio and Paris. As the seat of political power in Verona, he is concerned about maintaining the public peace at all costs. PARIS: A kinsman of the Prince, and the suitor of Juliet most preferred by Capulet. Once Capulet has promised him he can marry Juliet, he behaves very presumptuous toward her, acting as if they are already married.

10. THE NURSE: Juliet’s nurse, the woman who breast-fed Juliet when she was a baby and has cared for Juliet her entire life. The Nurse believes in love and wants Juliet to have a nice-looking husband, but the idea that Juliet would want to sacrifice herself for love is insane to her. THE CHORUS: The Chorus is a single character who, as developed in Greek drama, functions as a narrator offering commentary on the play’s plot and themes.

11. SUMMARY OF ACT I The audience is introduced the major characters. We learn that the Montague Family and the Capulet Family are mortal enemies. A fight almost breaks out between Benvolio and Tybalt, but it is broken up. Prince Escalus is fed up with the fighting between the two families and declares that anyone else caught fighting in public will be severely punished. We are introduced to Juliet, whose father is throwing a big party because she is of age to get married. Paris, a kinsman to the prince, has his eyes set on Juliet, but she is not very interested. We are introduced to Romeo, who is very depressed because he is in love with Rosaline, a girl whom he can never be with. In an effort to cheer Romeo up, Mercutio convinces Romeo to sneak into the Capulet costume party.

12. SUMMARY OF ACT I Wearing a costume, Romeo does get into the Capulet costume party, where he and Juliet meet and immediately fall in love (not knowing that they are members of rivaling families). Before Act I ends, Romeo and Juliet realize that their families are enemies.

13. SUMMARY OF ACT II After the party, Romeo sneaks into Juliet’s backyard and speaks to her as she stands on the balcony of her bedroom. They profess their love for each other, despite their families, and agree to marry. Romeo meets with Friar Lawrence and asks him to perform the wedding. At first, Friar Lawrence is skeptical of Romeo’s love for Juliet, but he agrees to oversee the marriage because he believes it will bring about peace between the two families. Romeo and Juliet, with the help of her nurse, secretly meet and get married. No one other than the nurse and Friar Lawerence know if this marriage.