Alhayali 1

Huda A. Alhayali

Dr. Sabah Atallah

Renaissance Drama

12 December 2019

Characterization in Romeo & Juliet

Characterization is the way that an author develops and shows the personality of a

character. This is often done in three distinct ways:

 Through the actions of a character

 Through direct descriptions of a character

 Through the dialogue between characters

In Romeo and Juliet and other plays by Shakespeare, the dialogue itself is the most

utilized characterization technique. Even by just using dialogue, there are several ways

Shakespeare did this.

1. Theme and Imagery: Often there are themes or images in the dialogue of particular

characters that keep repeating. For example, one character may often use words like ‘fire’ or

‘flame,’ which would indicate a temperamental, quick-to-anger personality.

2. Names: Shakespeare often gives names that connect in some way to characters’

personalities.

3. Speech Patterns: Shakespeare also gives us clues about characters through the

dialogue by giving different types of characters different speech patterns. All of the dialogue in

his plays is written in iambic pentameter, which means lines, phrases, and sentences contain

five sets of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one.

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This line from Romeo and Juliet is a good example of this rhythm:

But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?

When the writing follows this rhythmic pattern but is not rhymed, that is called blank

verse. Shakespeare often has the most important characters or characters of the highest social

class speaking in blank verse. Characters who are supposed to be comedic or lower class

characters often speak in more obvious rhyme.

Here are descriptions of each of the important characters and clues that Shakespeare

gives us about their personalities through some or all of the techniques mentioned:

Romeo: Romeo is a romantic, often impulsive, and acts upon his senses, especially in the

beginning of the play. This can be seen in the way he talks, for his speech is often hyperbolic, or

exaggerated, and refers to his senses. This is what he says when, at the beginning, a woman

named Rosaline has spurned him:

Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs; Being purged, a fire sparkling in lover’s

eyes; Being vexed, a sea nourish’d with lovers’ tears. What is it else? A madness most discreet, a

choking gall and a preserving sweet.

In these lines, he is expressing his view on love, which is that it involves ‘madness,’ is

completely consuming, and creates an imbalance of emotions; either extreme happiness or

extreme despair. Later in the play, other characters, including Juliet and Friar Laurence, scold

Romeo for being irrational, overly emotional, and childish. The way other characters interact

with him reinforce the information we learn about him through the way he talks.
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Juliet: Juliet, though only 13 years old, is characterized as level-headed and calm;a sharp

contrast against Romeo. Her speech is often structured as a logical argument: using ‘if/then’ and

‘therefore’ to show her reasoning. She is often thinking out loud about how their relationship

could be made legitimate. These famous lines are an example of this:

Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?…Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Tis

but thy name that is my enemy; Though art thyself, though not a Montague.

Here, Juliet rationalizes that it is just his name that makes him her enemy, and if he gave

it up, there would but nothing wrong with their relationship.

She also urges Romeo to be more level-headed and thoughtful as they try to solve their

problems. On the night they swear their love to each other at her balcony she says, ‘Swear not by

the moon,’ because the moon, changing every night as it revolves around the earth, is not

constant or dependable. That same night she says, ‘I have no joy of this contract to-night: It is

too rash, too unadvised, too sudden:’ all of the things that Romeo is and she is not.

Benvolio: Benvolio is Romeo’s cousin and functions as a peacemaker (unsuccessfully)

between the feuding families. He is often telling members of his own family to calm down

during a dispute. This character is a great example of how Shakespeare used names to

characterize; the Latin root ben means good, and Benvolio’s main function is to keep the peace.

Readers who know this will be able to remember this character more easily.

Mercutio: Mercutio is Romeo’s friend and is slain by Tybalt. He is not a Montague; he is

related to the Prince of Verona, but often finds himself in disputes between the families, falling

on the Montague side. He is energetic and witty. He is the person who talks Benvolio and Romeo

into attending the party at the Capulets’ house;but he is quick-tempered. He often speaks in puns,

such as, ‘Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man,’ to indicate that he is going to
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die. The name probably comes from the word mercurial, which means unpredictable or ever-

changing, which suits his character well.

Tybalt: Tybalt is the most aggressive member of the Capulet family when it comes to

hating the Montagues. When he spots Romeo and Benvolio at the Capulets’ party, he is quick to

call to arms—even Lord Capulet does not feel as strongly as he does, as shown when he tells

Tybalt to leave them alone because they are not causing harm.

Nurse: The nurse is an example of one of Shakespeare’s lower class characters. Her

speech rhymes in a regular pattern and the content is more vulgar: she makes sexual innuendos

and jokes, talks freely about breastfeeding Juliet, and mentions that she does not have many teeth.

Shakespeare often has characters like the nurse to show a contrast between nobility and their

servants for comedic effect.

Friar Laurence: Friar Laurence is the Franciscan priest who marries Romeo and Juliet

and later helps them devise a plan to escape. He ensures that they are technically following

Catholic laws while at times helps them maneuver around them. He, like Juliet, is a level-headed

problem solver. He admonishes Romeo for being overly emotional and dramatic after being

banished by saying, ‘Thy tears are womanish; Thy wild acts denote the unreasonable fury of a

beast.’ He reminds him that it is better to be banished than to be dead and that it is a fair

punishment for him killing Tybalt.

Lord and Lady Capulet: Juliet’s parents are of the noble class, and they speak in blank

verse. In the beginning, Lord Capulet shows compassion towards Juliet by saying she should

wait to marry until she is older, but when they change their minds and decide she should marry

Paris right away, they threaten to disown her for her disobedience. Their behavior, contrasted
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with the nurse’s, shows how little Juliet’s parents really knew her compared with the nurse, and

their concerns are more political than emotional.

In his play Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare puts his minor characters to good use.

Romeo’s friend Mercutio and Juliet’s nurse are both characters that are not considered the main

focus of the play, but nevertheless play a crucial role in the lives of Shakespeare’s central

characters. The nurse acts as a link between the Capulet and Montague families, and thus allows

communication and planning to take place between Romeo and Juliet, while Mercutio’s presence

in the story is instrumental to the plot. Each role is useful and necessary in the play because they

provide some comic relief, but also because their personalities help to define the protagonists and

their actions enhance the way that the story turns out. Without these characters, the play would

not function properly. Mercutio and the nurse both enhance the play’s theme of ‘young love’ by

comparing their level-headed ways to the passion-driven ways of the main characters. The crude

language that is used by Mercutio and the constant sexual references that are made by the nurse

amplify the naïveté of the love between Romeo and Juliet. Both have a preoccupation with sex,

while Romeo and Juliet prefer to profess the complete adoration that they have for one another.

Both of these minor characters act as foils to the protagonists. The nurse is both aged and, though

well meaning, somewhat of a bumbling fool. She often confuses words and repeats herself,

whereas Juliet is well-spoken and seems to be much more educated than her confidante.

Similarly, where Juliet is a sign of youth in its prime, the nurse is much older and has given birth

and been married, although both her husband and child are said to be deceased. In the same way

that the nurse stands as the opposite of Juliet, Mercutio is much different than Romeo. Romeo is

a lovestruck romantic, while Mercutio is a clever realist. In the first act, Romeo is troubled by his

unrequited feelings for Rosalind. He begins to question love and states, “Is love a tender thing?
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It is too rough, too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like a thorn.” In response, Mercutio says,

“If love be rough with you, be rough with love;/Prick love for pricking you and beat love down.”

Romeo is melodramatic and likely expects a similarly sensational and sympathetic response to

his situation. Mercutio’s straightforward proclamations serve to bring the audience back to

reality as well and allow us to recognize Romeo’s tendency to be overdramatic. By providing us

with these oppositional characters, Shakespeare highlights the qualities that he finds important

within Romeo and Juliet. While the nurse and Mercutio serve to promote themes within the story

and to make the viewer notice certain qualities in the protagonists, they are also very important

to the development of the plot. Mercutio’s death signifies the transition of the story from the path

of a comedy to that of a tragedy. Because Romeo does not specifically tell Mercutio of his

newfound love for Juliet, it is impossible for Mercutio to use his words to affect the plot.

However, his death does inspire Romeo to seek revenge on Tybalt, and thus has a profound

effect on the fate of the two lovers. In contrast to this relationship, Juliet and her nurse are very

close, and she chooses to turn to the nurse for assistance in her relationship with Romeo. This

allows the nurse to have a direct effect on the outcome of the story. The nurse can be seen as a

sort of mother figure for the young Juliet. She has been with her ever since she was born, and

Juliet values her loving advice. Were her initial response to the pairing of the Capulet and

Montague a positive one, Juliet would have been much more likely to pursue the forbidden

romance. Apart from merely speaking influential words, the nurse also plays an important role in

the progression of the plot through the actions that she takes. Firstly, it is the nurse who initially

reveals Juliet’s identity to Romeo. It can also be noted that, on more than one occasion, the nurse

agrees to meet up with Romeo in order to obtain information and relay messages from Juliet. In

act three, scene four, during one of their meetings, the nurse agrees to accept the delivery of a
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rope ladder so that Romeo may enter Juliet’s room in order to marry her. Once Mercutio dies and

the nurse’s role becomes a tragic one, she still manages to influence the relationship between the

two young lovers by losing Juliet’s trust by advising her to marry Paris. When Juliet seeks

comfort from the nurse, she surprises the young girl by responding that Romeo is not the correct

choice for a husband.

Mercutio and the nurse are both important characters in Romeo & Juliet. Without the

nurse, it is arguable that Juliet would have had much more difficulty obtaining information about

Romeo, and may not even have followed through with the marriage had it not been for her words.

Similarly, without the death of Mercutio, the story would lack a pivotal point and Romeo would

not have been so bloodthirsty towards Tybalt. It is also important to note the effect that these

characters have on the viewer’s opinion of the protagonists. Certain qualities that are present in

the main characters become amplified when they are compared with those opposite qualities that

exist within the secondary characters. These contradictory qualities provide the play with a sense

of humour and give its first half of the story a comedic sense. Without Mercutio and the nurse,

the story of Romeo and Juliet would not be the same as we know it today.