| “ | Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? | „ |
| ~ Juliet's most famous line |
| “ | My only love, sprung from my only hate. | „ |
| ~ Juliet lamenting the irony of falling in love with an enemy |
Juliet Capulet is one of the two protagonists and title characters of William Shakespeare's tragic love story, Romeo and Juliet. She is a young noblewoman who falls in love with Romeo Montague, a man whose family has been at war with hers for generations; that familial hatred, coupled with unfortunate twists of fate, result in their love ending tragically.
In the play[]
Juliet is the daughter of Lord and Lady Capulet, two powerful aristocrats in Verona, Italy. Her parents are planning to marry her off to a wealthy nobleman named Paris, even though she is only 13. She agrees to the union out of a sense of obligation to her family, but is uneasy about marrying a much older man whom she barely knows.
One night, she attends her parents' costume party and meets Romeo, the son of her family's bitter enemies, the Montagues, who had sneaked in with his friend Mercutio. They fall in love at first sight, even knowing that relationship is dangerous for both of them. That night, Romeo sneaks into the Capulets' courtyard and woos Juliet, who is standing on the balcony. They meet the following day and marry in secret, witnessed only by Juliet's childhood nurse and Romeo's friend Friar Laurence.
Later that day, however, Juliet's cousin Tybalt confronts Romeo for crashing the Capulets' ball, and kills Mercutio when the young nobleman defends his friend. Romeo kills him in a blind rage, and flees, as the punishment for fighting in the streets is death. The Prince of Verona spares Romeo's life, but banishes him from the city. Heartbroken, Juliet shuts herself away in her bedroom, and refuses to see Paris when he asks for her. She pleads with her parents to cancel the marriage, but they threaten to disown her if she does not go through with it.
Panicked and miserable, Juliet goes to Friar Laurence for help, threatening to commit suicide if she cannot be with Romeo. Friar Laurence devises a plan in which she will take a potion that will put her in a death-like sleep, be buried in her family's crypt, and wake in three days, by which time Romeo will come and take her away. She agrees, and puts herself in a coma with the potion that her parents mistake for death.
While she is asleep, however, Romeo hears of her supposed death before Friar Laurence can tell him of the plan, and resolves to kill himself at her side. He buys a vial of poison and sneaks into the crypt, where he runs into a mourning Paris and gets into a duel with him that results in Paris' death. He drinks the poison and dies, just as Juliet wakes up. With nothing left to live for, Juliet commits suicide by stabbing herself in the heart with Romeo's dagger.
Portrayals[]
Juliet has been played by several actresses over the years, including:
- Judi Dench, who also portrayed M in the James Bond franchise.
- Olivia Hussey, who also portrayed the Virgin Mary in Jesus of Nazareth.
- Claire Danes, who also portrayed Katherine Brewster in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Yvaine in Stardust.
- Hailee Steinfeld, who also portrayed Mattie Ross in True Grit, Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse, and Charlie Watson in Bumblebee.
- Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who also played Ophelia in a West End production of another Shakespeare play, Hamlet.
- In the 2011 film Gnomeo and Juliet, Juliet is voiced by Emily Blunt, who also portrayed Mary Poppins in Mary Poppins Returns and Rita Vrataski in Edge of Tomorrow.
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