Romeo and Juliet Introduction (Book)

House of Montague

Age: Mid to Late Teens

Main Characteristics: Thoughtful, Loyal, Sensible, Practical, Peace-maker

Associates: Romeo, Mercutio

Description: He is Montague's nephew and Romeo's cousin. He and Romeo are both friends of Mercutio, a kinsman to the Prince. Benvolio seems to have little sympathy with the feud, trying unsuccessfully to back down from a fight with Tybalt, and the duels that end in Mercutio and Tybalt's death. Benvolio spends most of Act I attempting to distract his cousin from his infatuation with Rosaline, but following the first appearance of Mercutio in Act I Scene iv, he and Mercutio become more closely aligned until Act III Scence i. In that scene, he drags the fatally wounded Mercutio offstage, before returning to inform Romeo of Mercutio's death and the Prince of the course of Mercutio's and Tybalt's deaths. Benvolio then disappears from the play (though, as a Montague, he may implicitly be included in the stage direction in the final scene "Enter Lord Montague and others", and he is sometimes doubled with Balthasar). Though he ultimately disappears from the play without much notice, he is a crucial character if only that he is the only child of the new generation from either family to survive the play (as Romeo, Juliet, Paris, Mercutio, and Tybalt are dead).