She provides a contrast with Juliet, given that her view oflove is earthy and sexual, whereas Juliet is idealistic and intense. But, until a disagreement near the play's end, the Nurse is Juliet's faithful confidante and loyal intermediary in Juliet's affair with Romeo. A vulgar, long-winded, and sentimental character, the Nurse provides comic relief with her frequently inappropriate remarks and speeches. The Nurse-Juliet's nurse, the woman who breast-fed Juliet when she was a baby and has cared for Juliet her entire life. He finds Romeo's romanticized ideas about love tiresome, and tries to convince Romeo to view love as a simple matter of sexual appetite. He can be quite hotheaded, and hates people who are affected, pretentious, or obsessed with the latest fashions. Mercutio loves wordplay, especially sexual double enten-dres. One of the most extraordinary characters in all of Shakes-peare's plays, Mercutio overflows with imagination, wit, and, at times, a strange, biting satire and brooding fervor. Mercutio-A kinsman to the Prince, and Romeo's close friend. As well as being a Catholic holy man, Friar Lawrence is also an expert in the use of seemingly mys-tical potions and herbs. Kind, civic-minded, a proponent of moderation, and always ready with a plan, Friar Lawrence secretly marries the impassioned lovers in hopes that the union might eventuallyīring peace to Verona. Juliet's closest friend and confidant is her Nurse, though she's willing to shut the Nurse out of her life the moment the Nurse turns against Romeo.įriar Lawrence-A Franciscan friar, friend to both Romeo and Juliet. Nevertheless, she shows amazing cour-age in trusting her entire life and future to Romeo, even refus-ing to believe the worst reports about him after he gets involved in a fight with her cousin. Because she is a girl in an aristocratic family, she has none of the freedom Romeo has to roam around the city, climb over walls in the middle of the night, or get into swordfights. A beautiful thirteen-year-old girl, Juliet begins the playas a naIve child who has thought little about love and marriage, but she grows up quickly upon falling in love with Romeo, the son of her family's great enemy. Juliet -The daughter of Capulet and Lady Capulet. Romeo is also an affectionate and devoted friend to his relative Ben-volio, Mercutio, and Friar Lawrence. He secretly marries Juliet, the daughter of his father's worst enemy he happily takes abuse from Tybalt and he would rather die than live without his beloved. His only interest is love and he goes to extremes to prove the serious-ness of his feelings. He lives in the middle of a violent feud between his family and the Capulets, but he is not at all interested in violence. Though impulsive and immature, his idealism and passion make him an extremely likable character. A young man of about sixteen, Romeo is handsome, intelligent, and sensitive. Romeo-The son and heir of Montague and Lady Montague. When Shakespeare's words make your head spin, our translation will help you sort out what's happening, who's saying what, and why.ĪCT ONE Scene 1. No Fear hakespeclre Pllts Shakespeare's language side-by -side with a facing-page translation into modern English-the kind of Englisb people actually speak today. Soon you'll be reading Shakespeare's own words fearlessly-and actually enjoying it. Put the pieces together with our easy-to-read translations. SparkNotes' No Fear Shakes-pea.re will help you break through all that. Have you ever found yourselflooking at a Shakespeare play, then down at the footnotes, then back at the play, and still not understanding? You know what the individual words mean, but they don't add up. You must translate: 'tis fit we understand them. There's matter in these sighs, these profound heaves.
Version, with marginal notes and explanations and full descriptions of each character. Summary: Presents the original text of Shakespeare's play side by side with a modern Romeo and Juliet I edited by John Crowther. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Please submit all comments and questions or report errors to ISBN-13: 978-1-5866-3845-0 SPARKNOTES is a registered trademark of SparkNotes LLC.Ī Division of Barnes & Noble 120 Fifth Avenue Ing, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy.