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Romeo Montague is one of the fictional protagonists in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. He is the heir of the Montague family of Verona, and falls in love and dies with Juliet Capulet, the daughter of the Capulet house.
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Name and Origins
Distinguishing Characteristics / Character Analysis
Romeo is born into the Italian nobility - specifically, the eminent Montague clan. He has a personal servant, Balthasar, and is notably skilled with a sword and dagger.
Role in the Play
In the beginning of the play, Romeo pines for an unrequited love, Rosaline. To cheer him up, his friends Benvolio and Mercutio take him to the Capulets' celebration — in disguise — where he meets and falls in love with the Capulets' only daughter, Juliet. Later that night, he and Juliet meet secretly and pledge to marry, despite their families' long-standing feud. They marry the following day, but their union is soon thrown into chaos by their families; Juliet's cousin Tybalt duels and kills Romeo's friend Mercutio, throwing Romeo into such a rage that he kills Tybalt, and the Prince of Verona subsequently banishes him. Meanwhile, Juliet's father plans to marry her off to Paris, a local aristocrat, within the next few days, threatening to turn her out on the streets if she doesn't follow through. Desperate, Juliet begs Romeo's confidant, Friar Laurence, to help her to escape the forced marriage. Laurence does so by giving her a potion that puts her in a death-like coma. The plan works, but too soon for Romeo to learn of it; He genuinely believes Juliet to be dead, and so resolves to commit suicide. Romeo's final words were "Thus with a kiss I die".[1] He kills himself at Juliet's grave, moments before she awakes; she kills herself in turn shortly thereafter.
Performers
A number of famous actors have portrayed the role of Romeo.
- Stage
- Master Betty played Romeo at the height of his popularity as a child actor in the early 1800s.
- Johnston Forbes-Robertson had one of his greatest successes as Romeo at the Lyceum Theatre in London in the 1880s.
- Basil Rathbone played Romeo opposite Katharine Cornell on Broadway in 1934.
- Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud alternated the roles of Romeo and Mercutio in a 1935 stage version.
- John Stride had a notable success as Romeo in Franco Zeffirelli's 1960 stage production.
- Timothy Dalton played Romeo in Terry Hand's 1973 stage production for Royal Shakespeare Company.
- Sir Ian McKellen portrayed Romeo in 1976 with The Royal Shakespeare Company, although at 36 he concluded that he was too old for the part[2].
- Sean Bean portrayed Romeo in 1986 with The Royal Shakespeare Company. Niamh Cusack was his Juliet.
- David Tennant Romeo in 2000 with the The Royal Shakespeare Company.
- Film
- Godfrey Tearle portrayed Romeo in a 1908 British black and white film, alongside his wife, Mary Malone, who played Juliet.
- Paul Panzer portrayed Romeo in J. Stuart Blackton's 1908 silent film short, Romeo and Juliet, alongside Florence Lawrence as Juliet.;
- Leslie Howard portrayed Romeo in George Cukor's 1936 Romeo and Juliet (1936 film), alongside Norma Shearer as Juliet.
- Leonard Whiting portrayed Romeo in Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet (1968 film) with Olivia Hussey as Juliet.
- Leonardo DiCaprio portrayed Romeo in Baz Luhrmann's modernized 1996 version, Romeo + Juliet.
- Television
- Takahiro Mizushima voices Romeo in the animated series Romeo x Juliet by the Japanese animation studio GONZO, with Fumie Mizusawa voicing Juliet.
References
- ^ "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare - The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet", Project Gutenberg
- ^ Sheridan Morely, The Great Stage Stars, Facts on File, 1986.
External links
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