Romeo Character Analysis in Romeo and Juliet | LitCharts
Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet

by

William Shakespeare

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Romeo Character Analysis

Read our modern English translation.
One of the protagonists of the play, along with Juliet. He is the male heir to the dynasty of House Montague, which is in a long-standing feud with House Capulet. At the start of the play, Romeo is too busy pining over his unrequited love for a young woman named Rosaline to join his kinsman in the many petty fights and brawls they engage in with members of House Capulet—Romeo would rather chase down love (or stand around sighing about how he’s failing to do so) than raise his sword against his family’s enemies. After Romeo is dragged to a masquerade at the Capulet house by Mercutio, his wild, fun-loving friend, and Benvolio, his cousin, Romeo falls in love with the beautiful Juliet—not realizing that she is a Capulet, and therefore his sworn enemy due to the feud between their families. Romeo quickly abandons his feelings for Rosaline and swears his eternal, undying love for Juliet, revealing his melodramatic and quickly changeable nature. After secretly marrying Juliet with the help of Friar Laurence, Romeo is even more resistant to being drawn into his kinsmen’s brawls. But after the hotheaded Tybalt, furious at the Montagues for crashing the Capulets’ party, kills Mercutio, Romeo takes a stand and kills Tybalt. This further confirms Romeo’s inconsistent and reactionary tendencies, and he is exiled to Mantua by Prince Escalus, where he pines for Juliet while awaiting news from Friar Laurence. Unbeknownst to Romeo, the friar helps Juliet avoid a forced marriage to the count Paris by devising a plan that will make her appear dead after she drinks a special potion. This way, she can be put to rest in her family tomb, excavated, and reunited with Romeo outside the walls of Verona. Romeo is unaware of this plan, however, and when his servant, Balthasar, brings him news that Juliet is dead, Romeo once again flies into a melodramatic rage, procuring poison from a local apothecary and rushing back to Verona—against the order of his exile—to kill himself inside Juliet’s tomb. Upon waking up from her staged death, Juliet is distraught over Romeo’s death and uses his dagger to commit suicide herself. Impulsive, dramatic, and obsessed with the pursuit of love, Romeo’s changeable, impulsive, childish personality has fascinated audiences for centuries. In popular culture, a “Romeo” is a young man so swept up in the grips of love he can focus on nothing else—in the play, Romeo’s emotions so obscure his sense of reason and calm that he takes his own life in the name of following his love interest into death.

Romeo Quotes in Romeo and Juliet

The Romeo and Juliet quotes below are all either spoken by Romeo or refer to Romeo. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Love and Violence Theme Icon
).
Prologue Quotes

Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes,
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows,
Doth with their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

Related Characters: The Chorus (speaker), Romeo, Juliet
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: Prologue, Lines 1-14
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 1, Scene 1 Quotes

Why then, O brawling love! O loving hate!
O any thing, of nothing first created;
O heavy lightness! serious vanity!
Mis-shapen chaos of well-seeming forms!

Related Characters: Romeo (speaker), Juliet, Benvolio, Rosaline
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 1.1.181-184
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 1, Scene 4 Quotes

Romeo: I dream'd a dream to-night.
Mercutio: And so did I.
Romeo: Well, what was yours?
Mercutio: That dreamers often lie.

Related Characters: Romeo (speaker), Mercutio (speaker)
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 1.4.53-56
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 1, Scene 5 Quotes

Oh, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear,
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear.
So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows
As yonder lady o'er her fellows shows.
The measure done, I'll watch her place of stand,
And, touching hers, make blessèd my rude hand.
Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!
For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.

Related Characters: Romeo (speaker), Juliet, Rosaline
Related Symbols: Light/Dark and Day/Night
Page Number: 1.5.51-60
Explanation and Analysis:

You kiss by th’ book.

Related Characters: Juliet (speaker), Romeo
Page Number: 1.5.122
Explanation and Analysis:

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

Related Characters: Juliet (speaker), Romeo
Page Number: 1.5.152-153
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 2, Scene 2 Quotes

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

Related Characters: Romeo (speaker), Juliet
Related Symbols: Light/Dark and Day/Night
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 2.2.2-3
Explanation and Analysis:

O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.

Related Characters: Juliet (speaker), Romeo
Page Number: 2.2.36-39
Explanation and Analysis:

'Tis but thy name that is my enemy; —
Thou art thyself though, not a Montague.
What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? That which we call a rose,
By any other word would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title: — Romeo, doff thy name;
And for thy name, which is no part of thee,
Take all myself.

Related Characters: Juliet (speaker), Romeo
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 2.2.41-52
Explanation and Analysis:

I take thee at thy word:
Call me but love, and I'll be new baptis'd;
Henceforth I never will be Romeo.

Related Characters: Romeo (speaker), Juliet
Page Number: 2.2.53-55
Explanation and Analysis:

O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon,
That monthly changes in her circled orb,
Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.

Related Characters: Juliet (speaker), Romeo
Related Symbols: Light/Dark and Day/Night
Page Number: 2.2.114-116
Explanation and Analysis:

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

Related Characters: Juliet (speaker), Romeo
Related Symbols: Light/Dark and Day/Night
Page Number: 2.2.199-201
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 3, Scene 1 Quotes

Romeo, the hate I bear thee can afford
No better term than this: thou art a villain.

Related Characters: Tybalt (speaker), Romeo
Page Number: 3.1.61-62
Explanation and Analysis:

Romeo: Courage, man; the hurt cannot be much.
Mercutio: No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church-door; but 'tis enough, 'twill serve: ask for me to-morrow, and you shall find me a grave man.

Related Characters: Romeo (speaker), Mercutio (speaker)
Page Number: 3.1.99-102
Explanation and Analysis:

O, I am fortune's fool!

Related Characters: Romeo (speaker), Tybalt
Page Number: 3.1.142
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 3, Scene 2 Quotes

Come, gentle night, — come, loving black brow'd night,
Give me my Romeo; and when he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of Heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night,
And pay no worship to the garish sun.

Related Characters: Juliet (speaker), Romeo
Related Symbols: Light/Dark and Day/Night
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 3.2.21-27
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 3, Scene 5 Quotes

Wilt thou be gone? it is not yet near day.
It was the nightingale, and not the lark,
That pierc'd the fearful hollow of thine ear;
Nightly she sings on yond pomegranate tree.
Believe me love, it was the nightingale.

Related Characters: Juliet (speaker), Romeo
Related Symbols: Light/Dark and Day/Night
Page Number: 3.5.1-5
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 5, Scene 1 Quotes

Then I defy you, stars!

Related Characters: Romeo (speaker), Juliet
Related Symbols: Light/Dark and Day/Night
Page Number: 5.1.25
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 5, Scene 3 Quotes

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

Related Characters: Romeo (speaker), The Apothecary
Related Symbols: Potions and Poisons
Page Number: 5.3.119-120
Explanation and Analysis:

Yea, noise, then I'll be brief;
O, happy dagger!
This is thy sheath; there rest, and let me die.

Related Characters: Juliet (speaker), Romeo
Page Number: 5.3.174-175
Explanation and Analysis:

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

Related Characters: Prince Escalus (speaker), Romeo, Juliet
Page Number: 5.3.119-120
Explanation and Analysis:
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Romeo Quotes in Romeo and Juliet

The Romeo and Juliet quotes below are all either spoken by Romeo or refer to Romeo. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Love and Violence Theme Icon
).
Prologue Quotes

Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes,
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows,
Doth with their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

Related Characters: The Chorus (speaker), Romeo, Juliet
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: Prologue, Lines 1-14
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 1, Scene 1 Quotes

Why then, O brawling love! O loving hate!
O any thing, of nothing first created;
O heavy lightness! serious vanity!
Mis-shapen chaos of well-seeming forms!

Related Characters: Romeo (speaker), Juliet, Benvolio, Rosaline
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 1.1.181-184
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 1, Scene 4 Quotes

Romeo: I dream'd a dream to-night.
Mercutio: And so did I.
Romeo: Well, what was yours?
Mercutio: That dreamers often lie.

Related Characters: Romeo (speaker), Mercutio (speaker)
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 1.4.53-56
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 1, Scene 5 Quotes

Oh, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear,
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear.
So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows
As yonder lady o'er her fellows shows.
The measure done, I'll watch her place of stand,
And, touching hers, make blessèd my rude hand.
Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!
For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.

Related Characters: Romeo (speaker), Juliet, Rosaline
Related Symbols: Light/Dark and Day/Night
Page Number: 1.5.51-60
Explanation and Analysis:

You kiss by th’ book.

Related Characters: Juliet (speaker), Romeo
Page Number: 1.5.122
Explanation and Analysis:

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

Related Characters: Juliet (speaker), Romeo
Page Number: 1.5.152-153
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 2, Scene 2 Quotes

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

Related Characters: Romeo (speaker), Juliet
Related Symbols: Light/Dark and Day/Night
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 2.2.2-3
Explanation and Analysis:

O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.

Related Characters: Juliet (speaker), Romeo
Page Number: 2.2.36-39
Explanation and Analysis:

'Tis but thy name that is my enemy; —
Thou art thyself though, not a Montague.
What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? That which we call a rose,
By any other word would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title: — Romeo, doff thy name;
And for thy name, which is no part of thee,
Take all myself.

Related Characters: Juliet (speaker), Romeo
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 2.2.41-52
Explanation and Analysis:

I take thee at thy word:
Call me but love, and I'll be new baptis'd;
Henceforth I never will be Romeo.

Related Characters: Romeo (speaker), Juliet
Page Number: 2.2.53-55
Explanation and Analysis:

O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon,
That monthly changes in her circled orb,
Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.

Related Characters: Juliet (speaker), Romeo
Related Symbols: Light/Dark and Day/Night
Page Number: 2.2.114-116
Explanation and Analysis:

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

Related Characters: Juliet (speaker), Romeo
Related Symbols: Light/Dark and Day/Night
Page Number: 2.2.199-201
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 3, Scene 1 Quotes

Romeo, the hate I bear thee can afford
No better term than this: thou art a villain.

Related Characters: Tybalt (speaker), Romeo
Page Number: 3.1.61-62
Explanation and Analysis:

Romeo: Courage, man; the hurt cannot be much.
Mercutio: No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church-door; but 'tis enough, 'twill serve: ask for me to-morrow, and you shall find me a grave man.

Related Characters: Romeo (speaker), Mercutio (speaker)
Page Number: 3.1.99-102
Explanation and Analysis:

O, I am fortune's fool!

Related Characters: Romeo (speaker), Tybalt
Page Number: 3.1.142
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 3, Scene 2 Quotes

Come, gentle night, — come, loving black brow'd night,
Give me my Romeo; and when he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of Heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night,
And pay no worship to the garish sun.

Related Characters: Juliet (speaker), Romeo
Related Symbols: Light/Dark and Day/Night
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 3.2.21-27
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 3, Scene 5 Quotes

Wilt thou be gone? it is not yet near day.
It was the nightingale, and not the lark,
That pierc'd the fearful hollow of thine ear;
Nightly she sings on yond pomegranate tree.
Believe me love, it was the nightingale.

Related Characters: Juliet (speaker), Romeo
Related Symbols: Light/Dark and Day/Night
Page Number: 3.5.1-5
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 5, Scene 1 Quotes

Then I defy you, stars!

Related Characters: Romeo (speaker), Juliet
Related Symbols: Light/Dark and Day/Night
Page Number: 5.1.25
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 5, Scene 3 Quotes

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

Related Characters: Romeo (speaker), The Apothecary
Related Symbols: Potions and Poisons
Page Number: 5.3.119-120
Explanation and Analysis:

Yea, noise, then I'll be brief;
O, happy dagger!
This is thy sheath; there rest, and let me die.

Related Characters: Juliet (speaker), Romeo
Page Number: 5.3.174-175
Explanation and Analysis:

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

Related Characters: Prince Escalus (speaker), Romeo, Juliet
Page Number: 5.3.119-120
Explanation and Analysis: