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Romeo & Juliet Play: Overview & Resources

The Romeo & Juliet play is set in Renaissance Verona in Italy. In the Elizabethan imagination thatwould have presented a picture of heat, quick tempers and violence.

Date written: 1597

Read the full Romeo & Juliet script

Genre classification: Romeo & Juliet is regarded as one of Shakespeare’s tragedies.

Romeo & Juliet Characters: Romeo is the son of Lady Montague and Montague, the patriarch of a rich merchant family engaged in an ancient feud with another wealthy family, the Capulets. He gatecrashes a party at the Capulet mansion where he falls in love with Capulet’s daughter, Juliet. Juliet’s mother, Lady Capulet and her Nurse are other members of the Capulet household.

Friar Lawrence is a monk, who helps Romeo and Juliet to marry. Mercutio is Romeo’s friend, accidentally killed by Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt, whom Romeo kills and is banished to Mantua for his crime. Paris is the young nobleman Juliet is to marry, and whom Romeo kills. Benvolio is Romeo’s cousin and friend. Balthazar, Samson, Gregory, Peter and Balthazar areservants of the two families. Friar John is the associate of Friar Lawrence who is unable todeliver a critical message which is the immediate cause of the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.

Escalus is the Prince of Verona who threatens death for anyone who breaks the peace.

Themes in Romeo & Juliet: Romeo and Juliet is the deepest, most penetrating, exploration of love that canbe found in Shakespeare or, indeed, in any other writers’ plays. The play also explores the consequences of futile quarrelling and social division.