Key Characters GapFill

Romeo

Romeo is the son of Montague, patriarch of the Montague family. In the opening of the play, Romeo is  guiltyangryheartbrokenindifferent over his unrequited love for Rosaline. Romeo’s love for Rosaline seems   maturechildishnewa pretence, and he seems more enamoured with the concept of being in love than with Rosaline. As soon as Romeo meets Juliet, he falls instantly in love with her, and Rosaline is entirely forgotten.   

Romeo has a very passionate and  steadycalmimpulsivepatient nature, demonstrated by his sudden and strong love for Juliet and his decision to marry her the very next day. He knows that such love could be catastrophic, as Juliet is the  cousinauntsisterdaughter of Romeo's father’s sworn enemy, and yet he cannot restrain his feelings for her. 

Romeo's passionate nature is a double-edged sword. Without being a passionate, he could not have loved Juliet the way he did. However, if he had not had a passionate nature, he might not have killed  PeterCapuletTybaltMercutio in a fury after the death of   PeterMercutioCapuletTybalt. This murder caused him to be   stabbedbanishedattackedkilled.  If he had not been so passionate, he might not have returned to Verona so hastily. If he had stayed in Mantua, he might have received the letter from Friar Lawrence and known that  MercutioMontagueJulietthe Nurse was alive. Ultimately, his passionate nature causes his own destruction.

Juliet

One of Juliet’s most prominent characteristics is her intelligence as she frequently uses wordplay and clever uses of language that  make obviousdemonstrateobscurelie about her true meaning while remaining honest. In contrast to Romeo, Juliet’s nature is more reflective and  maturejealoussorrowfulimmature.  At the beginning of the play she is meek and obedient, happy to try to love Paris if her parents want the match to go ahead.   However, her attitude changes once she meets  ParisLady MontagueRomeoFriar Lawrence. Previously, she has had very little contact with the outside world and very little scope to make her own decisions. Once she has something that she cares about more than obeying her parents, she demonstrates her strength of character and confidence in defying her parents' will. In her relationship with Romeo, Juliet is the more level-headed party and, again, after Romeo kills  BenvolioParisFriar LawrenceTybalt, she demonstrates a mature attitude when she explores the complexities of the issue before deciding to remain loyal to Romeo. It also takes great strength for her to follow through on Friar Lawrence’s plan to fake her own death and to kill herself with  Friar Lawrence's poisona ropeRomeo's poisona dagger upon finding Romeo dead.