Romeo and Juliet Cast of Characters
Time: The 14th Century
Place: Verona and Mantua: Cities in Northern Italy
Montague Family:
1. Lord Montague: Romeo’s father
2. Lady Montague: Romeo’s mother
3. Romeo: Son of Lord and Lady Montague
4. Benvolio: Lord Montague’s nephew, and Romeo’s good friend
5. Balthasar: Romeo’s servant
6. Abram: Lord Montague’s servant
Capulet Family:
1. Lord Capulet: Juliet’s father
2. Lady Capulet: Juliet’s mother
3. Juliet: Daughter of Lord and Lady Capulet
4. Nurse: The woman who really raised Juliet. Juliet tells her innermost
secrets to the nurse.
5. Tybalt: Lord and Lady Capulet’s nephew; Juliet’s cousin
6. Peter: Servant to the nurse
7. Sampson: Servant to Lord Capulet
8. Gregory: Servant to Lord Capulet
Others:
1. Prince Escalus: The ruler of Verona
2. Mercutio: A relative of the Prince, and a good friend of Romeo
3. Friar Laurence: A Franciscan Priest
4. Count Paris: A young nobleman; a relative of the Prince
5. Apothecary: A man who made medicine using herbs. We would call
this person a pharmacist nowadays.
6. The Chorus: The narrator
NAME MEANINGS
BENVOLIO: A NAME MADE UP BY SHAKESPEARE, MEANING “WELLWISHING”. STYLISTICALLY, BENVOLIO SPEAKS IN A MANNER WHICH
OFTEN ECHOS EITHER THE BIBLE OR BROOKE’S ORIGINAL POEM. IN THIS
SENSE, BENVOLIO IS AKIN TO THE NARRATOR.
TYBALT: “BRAVE PEOPLE”. THE SAME NAME WAS THE CHARACTER
TIBERT/TYBALT, THE “PRINCE OF CATS” IN REYNARD THE FOX, A FOX
FROM BRITISH FOLKLORE WHO APPEARS WRITTEN ABOUT IN TALES OF
TRICKERY. JOHN W. DRAPER WROTE ABOUT HOW EACH OF THE
PRINCIPLE CHARACTERS OF ROMEO AND JULIET MIMIC ONE OF THE FOUR
HUMORS AND TYBALT IS CHOLERIC.
ESCALUS: ONLY NAMED IN ONE STAGE DIRECTION. “ESCALUS” IS A
VERSION OF “DELLA SCALA”, REPRESENTING THE FAMOUS RULERS OF
VERONA UNDER WHO’S RULE DA PORTO AND BANDELLO SET THEIR
“ROMEO AND JULIET” STORIES. ESCALUS IS ALSO THE NAME OF THE
FIRST KNOWN GREEK PLAYWRIGHT. THERE IS SOME EVIDENCE THAT
SHAKESPEARE WOULD HAVE BEEN FAMILIAR WITH ESCALUS. THE USE OF
THIS NAME IS AN HOMAGE TO FOUNDATIONAL PLAYWRIGHTS.
ROMEO: HIS NAME WENT FROM PYRAMUS (OVID) TO MARIOTTO
(SALERNITANO) TO ROMEO (DA PORTO) TO ROMEUS (BROOKE).
SHAKESPEARE TOOK THE NAME DIRECTLY FROM ARTHUR BROOKE’S
POEM. INTERESTINGLY, BROOKE CALLS HIS HERO “ROMEUS” EXCEPT FOR
IN ONE COUPLET IN WHICH HE ALTERS THE NAME TO “ROMEO” IN ORDER
TO RHYME WITH “MERCUTIO”. FLORIO’S 1598 ITALIAN DICTIONARY A
WORLDE OF WORDES WOULD HAVE DEFINED “ROMEO” AS “A ROAMER, A
WANDERER, A PALMER FOR DEVOTION’S SAKE”.
PARIS: HOMER DOES NOT TREAT PARIS VERY WELL. PARIS IS UNSKILLED
IN BATTLE AND WEAK. HE IS, HOWEVER, FAVORED BY APHRODITE WHO
FORCES HELEN OF TROY TO BE WITH HIM. FOR THIS REASON, PARIS
MEANS “ABDUCTOR OF HELEN”. SHAKESPEARE IS DRAWING LESS THAN
SUBTLE PARALLELS.
JULIET: A NAME OF LATIN ORIGIN, MEANING “YOUTHFUL; JOVE’S CHILD”.
SHAKESPEARE MOVED THE EVENTS OF HIS “ROMEO AND JULIET” FROM
THAT OF THE SOURCE TEXT, HIS PLAY TAKES PLACE IN JULY WHILE
BROOKE’S WAS CLEARLY SET AROUND CHRISTMAS. ONE THEORY FOR
THIS IS THAT “JULIET” IS ASSOCIATED WITH “JULY”. ALSO BECAUSE
ELIZABETHAN AUDIENCES WOULD HAVE IMMEDIATELY CALCULATED THAT
JULIET WAS CONCEIVED ON OR AROUND ALL-HALLOWS EVE, ANOTHER
ILL-OMEN FOR HER FUTURE.
MERCUTIO: MERCUTIO’S NAME CONNECTS HIM DIRECTLY WITH THE GOD
MERCURY, WHO SHARES MANY OF HIS CHARACTERISTICS. BOTH NAMES
ARE RELATED TO THE WORD “MERCURIAL” WHICH MEANS BEING
SUBJECT TO SUDDEN OR UNPREDICTABLE CHANGES. MERCUTIO IS
NEITHER A MONTAGUE NOR CAPULET SO HE IS ABLE TO FLOAT AROUND
THE HOUSES.