Romeo and Juliet Study Guide

Characters:

Romeo: The son of Montague, who is deeply romantic and dramatic in nature. He falls in love with Juliet.

Montague: Romeo’s father, who is concerned about his son’s melancholy.

Lady Montague: Romeo’s mother, who dies in grief after Romeo gets exiled from Verona.

Mercutio: Romeo’s hot-headed friend, who fights Tybalt on the behalf of Romeo and dies.

Benvolio: Romeo’s cousin, was a peacemaker for when tensions rose, looked out for Romeo and stayed by his side.

Juliet: Daughter of Capulet, falls in love with Romeo, defies her family’s rules for him.

Nurse: Juliet’s caretaker who tries to help Juliet, but ultimately fails.

Capulet: Juliet’s strict and oppressive father, who wants Juliet to marry Paris.

Lady Capulet: Juliet’s mother who is fairly disconnected from Juliet, and relies on her nurse for her information.

Tybalt: Juliet’s angry cousin, who has a short temper and often tries to spark violence. 

Friar Lawrence: A holy man who tries to assist Romeo and Juliet in their romance, but gives bad advice and planning.

Paris: A man who wishes to marry Juliet and is favored by Juliet’s parents.

Prince: The prince of Verona, who wants to put an end to the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets, no matter what it takes.

Plot Lines:

Montagues vs. Capulets: The two families are sworn enemies of each other, causing a struggle between Romeo and Juliet’s romance. Their love for each other has been kept secret due to this feud.

The Prince’s Command and how people react: The Prince wants the fighting to stop, or else everyone involved will be punished to death. Even after this warning, Romeo, Tybalt and Mercutio still get caught up in violent duels.

Romeo and Juliet’s romantic relationship (plus Paris and Rosaline): Before Romeo met Juliet, he was infatuated with Rosaline. Once Romeo goes to another party, he meets Juliet and tries to successfully marry her despite their families’ enmity. Juliet has been promised to Paris, but she loves Romeo instead of him.

Friar Lawrence and Nurse messing everything up: Friar Lawrence comes up with a plan to marry Romeo and Juliet, but he makes risky decisions and it ultimately leads to both of their demise. The Nurse also influences Juliet’s love for Romeo, but then pushes for her to marry Paris, which confuses her at the climax of the play.

Quotations:

“If you ever disturb our streets again, your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.”

The Prince says this to the houses Capulet and Montague, manifesting his anger on them that if they kept on fighting, they’d be punished by death.

“Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.”

Romeo exclaims this upon seeing Juliet for the first time at the Capulet’s party. He is immediately struck by her beauty and questions whether he has ever truly been in love before. This moment marks the beginning of his deep infatuation with Juliet and sets the stage for their tragic romance.

“I will withdraw: but this intrusion shall, now seeming sweet, convert to bitterest gall.”

Tybalt says this to Romeo, swearing to duel him eventually once he gets stopped by Capulet at the party. 

“Is she a Capulet? O dear account! My life is my foe’s debt.”

Romeo has just discovered that Juliet is a Capulet, his family's sworn enemy. This realization fills him with despair, as he understands that his happiness and love are now tied to his foe. The phrase My life is my foe’s debt highlights the irony of his situation and foreshadows the tragic consequences of their love.

“My only love, sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late!”

Juliet says this about Romeo once she sees him with Mercutio, a Montague. She realizes Romeo is from her family’s enemy.

“But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!”

Romeo says this once he sees Juliet on the balcony, appreciating her looks while hiding in a bush.

“O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?”

This is Juliet expressing her melancholy from her realization that Romeo is a Montague, and that she thought their families’ rivalry would make it impossible for them to have a romance.

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet;”

Juliet reflects on the idea that names are arbitrary and should not define a person. She argues that Romeo’s name should not be an obstacle to their love, as his essence remains unchanged regardless of his family name.

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

Juliet uses this phrase for her distress at the situation.

“For this alliance may so happy prove, to turn your households’ rancor to pure love.”

Friar Laurence expresses hope that Romeo and Juliet’s marriage will end the feud between the Montagues and Capulets, transforming hatred into love.

“I do protest, I never injur’d thee, but love thee better than thou canst devise.”

Romeo says this to Tybalt, refusing any fighting with him after he challenges Romeo to a duel. This is most likely because Romeo along with his friends are just trying to have fun.

“Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man.”

Mercutio says this after he had been stabbed by Tybalt while dueling. He was stabbed due to Romeo holding Mercutio back, and when Tybalt takes advantage of the situation, he pierces Mercutio in the stomach.

“A plague o’ both your houses! They have made worms’ meat of me.”

Mercutio says this while dying, expressing his anger with the feud that the Montagues and the Capulets have between each other, which caused his death.

“O, I am fortune’s fool!”

Romeo says this after he kills Tybalt, which was Juliet’s cousin.

“I beg for justice, which thou, prince, must give; Romeo slew Tybalt, Romeo must not live.”

Lady Capulet says this to the Prince after she realizes what Romeo has done to Tybalt.

“Take thou this vial, being then in bed and this distilled liquor drink though off.”

The apothecary says this to Romeo while giving him the poison that would kill him while he’s in Juliet’s tomb.

“Her body sleeps in Capel’s monument, and her immortal part with angels lives.”

Balthazar says this to Romeo, talking about him seeing Juliet dead, even though she’s in a deep slumber.

“Good gentle youth, tempt not a desperate man … by heaven, I love thee better than myself, for I come hither arm’d against myself.”

Romeo warns Paris not to provoke him, as he is already overwhelmed with grief and despair. He implies that he has come to Juliet’s tomb intending to end his own life.

“O true apothecary!  Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.”

Romeo says this once he drinks the dial of poison he got from the apothecary, and while he’s dying, he kisses Juliet on the lips.

“See what a scourge is laid upon your hate, that heaven finds measures to kill your joys with love! And I, for winking at your discords too, have lost a brace of kinsmen: all are punish’d.”

The Prince says this to the two houses of Capulet and Montague, talking about the many deaths that have resulted from Romeo and Juliet’s romance and their rivalry.

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

The Prince also says this about Romeo and Juliet’s tragic youthful romance.