ELA ROMEO JULIET

Romeo

Montague; impulsive and romantic; falls for Juliet instantly and secretly marries her; kills Tybalt in revenge for Mercutio and is banished to Mantua

Juliet

Capulet; 13 years old; more level-headed than Romeo but equally passionate; defies her family and secretly marries Romeo; fakes her death to avoid marrying Paris

Friar Lawrence

A priest who secretly marries Romeo and Juliet hoping to end the feud; his sleeping potion plan backfires when the letter never reaches Romeo

Mercutio

Romeo's witty, hot-headed best friend; killed by Tybalt; his death is the turning point of the play

Tybalt

Juliet's aggressive cousin who hates all Montagues; kills Mercutio; then killed by Romeo in revenge

The Nurse

Juliet's confidante and helper; assists with the secret marriage but later advises Juliet to just marry Paris

Paris

The man Lord Capulet wants Juliet to marry; not a villain, just caught in the middle; killed by Romeo at the tomb

Lord Capulet

Juliet's father; forces her to marry Paris and becomes aggressive when she refuses; unaware she is already married

Lady Capulet

Juliet's mother; supports the arranged marriage to Paris; largely absent emotionally from Juliet's life

Prince Escalus

The ruler of Verona who repeatedly tries to stop the feud; banishes Romeo after Tybalt's death

Montagues vs. Capulets

The ancient family feud that drives the entire play — Romeo and Juliet's love is forbidden because of it

Romeo vs. Tybalt

Tybalt kills Mercutio; Romeo kills Tybalt in revenge and is banished — this is the moment everything unravels

Juliet vs. her parents

Her parents force her to marry Paris without knowing she is already married to Romeo

Romeo and Juliet vs. fate

Framed as "star-crossed lovers" from the prologue — the play presents them as doomed no matter what

Friar Lawrence's plan vs. reality

The letter never reaches Romeo; Juliet wakes up too late; both lovers die in the tomb

Act 1 — The Feud and the Party

Capulet throws a party; Romeo crashes it and falls in love with Juliet at first sight; they only realize afterward they are from enemy families

Act 2 — The Balcony and Secret Marriage

The famous balcony scene where they confess their love; Romeo and Juliet secretly marry with Friar Lawrence's help the next day

Act 3 — Deaths and Banishment

Tybalt kills Mercutio; Romeo kills Tybalt in revenge; Prince Escalus banishes Romeo from Verona; Juliet is told to marry Paris

Act 4 — The Sleeping Potion Plan

Friar Lawrence gives Juliet a potion that makes her appear dead for 42 hours; she takes it the night before her wedding to Paris

Act 5 — The Tragic Ending

Romeo never receives Friar Lawrence's letter; he buys poison and goes to the tomb; finds Juliet "dead" and kills himself; Juliet wakes up, finds Romeo dead, and kills herself with his dagger; both families reconcile over the loss

"Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona where we lay our scene"

From the Prologue — introduces the two feuding families and tells us upfront that the lovers are doomed (foreshadowing and dramatic irony)

"A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life"

From the Prologue — establishes fate as a central theme; they are destined to die before the play even begins

"But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun."

Romeo in Act 2 Scene 2 (the balcony scene) — uses extended metaphor to compare Juliet to the sun; shows his idealization of her

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

Juliet in Act 2 Scene 2 — argues that names (Montague/Capulet) are meaningless; love should not be limited by family identity

"O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?"

Juliet in Act 2 Scene 2 — "wherefore" means "why," not "where"; she is asking why he has to be a Montague, not where he is

"A plague on both your houses!"

Mercutio in Act 3 Scene 1 after being stabbed by Tybalt — curses both families; foreshadows the deaths that follow because of the feud

"O, I am fortune's fool!"

Romeo in Act 3 Scene 1 after killing Tybalt — acknowledges he is a victim of fate/bad luck; reinforces the star-crossed theme

"Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow."

Juliet at the end of the balcony scene — oxymoron "sweet sorrow" captures how love and pain are tangled together; shows her intelligence and poetic voice

"Then I defy you, stars!"

Romeo in Act 5 upon hearing Juliet is dead — he rejects fate and chooses action; tragic irony because his defiance leads to both their deaths

"For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo."

Prince Escalus in Act 5 — final couplet that closes the play; summarizes the tragedy and names Juliet first (unusual, highlights her importance)

Prologue

The 14-line sonnet that opens the play; introduces the feud, the star-crossed lovers, and tells us they will die — Shakespeare intentionally removes suspense to focus the audience on how and why, not if

Star-crossed lovers

A phrase from the prologue meaning their love is opposed by the stars/fate; one of the play's central themes is whether the characters control their destiny or are doomed from the start

Dramatic irony

When the audience knows something the character does not — e.g., we know Juliet is just asleep when Romeo thinks she is dead

Oxymoron

A figure of speech combining contradictory terms — Romeo and Juliet is full of them: "loving hate," "cold fire," "sweet sorrow" — they reflect the contradictions of love

Foil

A character who contrasts with another to highlight certain traits — Mercutio is a foil to Romeo (realistic vs. romantic); Paris is a foil to Romeo (socially acceptable vs. forbidden)

Aside

When a character speaks directly to the audience but other characters cannot hear — used to reveal private thoughts

Sonnet

A 14-line poem with a specific rhyme scheme — Shakespeare wrote the prologue and some dialogue in sonnet form; Romeo and Juliet even speak a shared sonnet when they first meet

Iambic pentameter

The rhythmic structure of most of Shakespeare's verse — 10 syllables per line with alternating unstressed/stressed beats; higher-class characters usually speak in it, lower-class in prose

Tragic flaw (hamartia)

The character trait that leads to a tragic hero's downfall — Romeo's is impulsiveness; he acts on emotion without thinking through consequences