Romeo Montague () is the male
protagonist
A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
of
William Shakespeare's
tragedy ''
Romeo and Juliet
''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Ham ...
''. The son of
Lord Montague
William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'' contains a relatively distinctive cast of characters. In addition to the play's eponymous protagonists, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, the play, which is set in Verona, Italy, contains roles ...
and his wife,
Lady Montague
William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'' contains a relatively distinctive cast of characters. In addition to the play's eponymous protagonists, Romeo, Romeo Montague and Juliet, Juliet Capulet, the play, which is set in Verona, Italy, co ...
, he secretly loves and marries
Juliet
Juliet Capulet () is the female protagonist in William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. A 13-year-old girl, Juliet is the only daughter of the patriarch of the House of Capulet. She falls in love with the male protagonist R ...
, a member of the rival House of Capulet, through a priest named
Friar Laurence
Friar Laurence or Friar Lawrence is a character in William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet''.
Role in the play
Friar Laurence is a friar who plays the part of a wise adviser to Romeo and Juliet, along with aiding in major plot development ...
. Juliet then becomes Juliet Montague.
Forced into exile after slaying Juliet's cousin,
Tybalt, in a
duel, Romeo commits
suicide upon hearing falsely of Juliet's death.
The character's origins can be traced as far back as
Pyramus, who appears in
Ovid's ''
Metamorphoses
The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the w ...
'', but the first modern incarnation of Romeo is Mariotto in the 33rd of
Masuccio Salernitano
Masuccio Salernitano (1410–1475), born Tommaso Guardati, was an Italian poet.
Born in Salerno or Sorrento, he is best known today for ''Il Novellino'', a collection of 50 "novelle" or short stories, each prefaced by a letter of dedication to ...
's ''Il Novellino'' (1476). This story was reworked in 1524 by
Luigi da Porto as ''Giulietta e Romeo'' (published posthumously in 1531). Da Porto named the character Romeo Montecchi and his storyline is near-identical to Shakespeare's adaptation. Since no 16th-century direct English translation of ''Giulietta e Romeo'' is known, Shakespeare's main source is thought to be
Arthur Brooke's
English verse translation of a French translation of a 1554 adaptation by
Matteo Bandello. Although both Salernitano and da Porto claimed that their stories had historical basis, there is little evidence that this is the case.
Romeo, an only child like Juliet, is one of the most important characters of the play, and has a consistent presence throughout it. His role as an
idealistic lover has led the word "Romeo" to become a synonym for a passionate male lover in various languages. Although often treated as such, it is not clear that "Montague" is a surname in the modern sense.
Origins
The earliest tale bearing a resemblance to
Shakespeare's ''Romeo and Juliet'' is
Xenophon of Ephesus' ''
Ephesiaca'', whose heroic figure is a Habrocomes. The character of Romeo is also similar to that of
Pyramus in
Ovid's ''
Metamorphoses
The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the w ...
'', a youth who is unable to meet the object of his affection due to an ancient family quarrel, and later kills himself due to mistakenly believing her to have been dead. Although it is unlikely that Shakespeare directly borrowed from Ovid while writing ''Romeo and Juliet'', the story was likely an influence on the Italian writers whom the playwright was greatly indebted to.
The two sources which Shakespeare most likely consulted are Brooke's translation of da Porto and
William Painter's ''The goodly historye of the true, and constant Love between Romeo and Juliet''.
[Hunter & Lichfield, p. 11]
Film portrayals
''Romeo and Juliet'' has been adapted into film several times, and the part of Romeo has been played by several actors, including
*
Leonard Whiting
Leonard Whiting (born 30 June 1950) is a British retired actor and singer widely known for his role as Romeo in the 1968 Zeffirelli film version of ''Romeo and Juliet'', a role which earned him the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year ...
in
Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 film,
''Romeo and Juliet'', opposite
Olivia Hussey as Juliet.
*
Leslie Howard
Leslie Howard Steiner (3 April 18931 June 1943) was an English actor, director and producer.Obituary ''Variety'', 9 June 1943. He wrote many stories and articles for ''The New York Times'', ''The New Yorker'', and '' Vanity Fair'' and was one ...
in
George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor (; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and film producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO when David O. Selznick, the studio's Head of ...
's 1936 film,
''Romeo and Juliet'', opposite
Norma Shearer
Edith Norma Shearer (August 11, 1902June 12, 1983) was a Canadian-American actress who was active on film from 1919 through 1942. Shearer often played spunky, sexually liberated ingénues. She appeared in adaptations of Noël Coward, Eugene O'N ...
as Juliet.
*
Laurence Harvey
*
Leonardo DiCaprio in
Baz Luhrmann
Mark Anthony Luhrmann (born 17 September 1962), known professionally as Baz Luhrmann, is an Australian film director, producer, writer and actor. With projects spanning film, television, opera, theatre, music and recording industries, he is re ...
's modernized 1996 version, ''
Romeo + Juliet
Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Lord Montague and his wife, Lady Montague, he secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet, through a pries ...
'', alongside
Claire Danes
Claire Catherine Danes (born April 12, 1979) is an American actress. She is the recipient of three Primetime Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2012, '' Time'' named her one of the 100 most influenti ...
as Juliet.
*
Douglas Booth in
Carlo Carlei
Carlo Carlei (born 16 April 1960 in Nicastro) is an Italian film director
A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilme ...
's 2013
''Romeo and Juliet'' film adaptation, opposite
Hailee Steinfeld as Juliet.
*
Orlando Bloom in a
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
adaption in 2013.
*
Jordan Luke Gage
Jordan Luke Gage (born 8 April 1992) is a British actor. Though he has appeared in several television shows, Gage is best known as a musical theatre performer, most notably originating the roles of Romeo in the 2019 jukebox musical '' & Juliet'' ...
in the
West End musical ''
& Juliet''.
Other portrayals
*
Nice Peter
Peter Alexis Shukoff (born August 15, 1979), best known as his stage name Nice Peter or Bluesocks, is an American musician and Internet personality. A self-described "Comic/Guitar Hero", he is best known for the comedy on his YouTube channel, Ni ...
in an episode of the Youtube comedy series
Epic Rap Battles of History
''Epic Rap Battles of History'' (ERB) is a YouTube web series and music project created by Peter "Nice Peter" Shukoff and Lloyd "EpicLLOYD" Ahlquist. The series pits historical and pop culture figures against one another in a rap battle format ...
.
References
Bibliography
*
External links
Complete listing of all of Romeo's lines
{{Authority control
Literary characters introduced in 1597
Fictional Italian people in literature
Fictional exiles
Fictional princes
Fictional murderers
Male Shakespearean characters
Male characters in literature
Male characters in film
Characters in Romeo and Juliet
Fictional suicides
Teenage characters in film