Role Of Minor Characters In Romeo And Juliet

In many stories, plays, and literature, some characters are considered minor, or characters that do not have much of a role. Sometimes, minor characters have a very significant impact on the main character and other protagonists without the audience noticing. These characters can have an incredible impact, but mostly go unnoticed, unless the audience pays attention. In Shakespeare’s famous play, Romeo and Juliet, the Prince’s significant presence as an authority figure pushes him to express functions such as being realistic and having a tremendous effect on the plot.

In Romeo and Juliet, the Prince represents authority and distills fear in Verona. He is neutral about the feud between the Capulets and Montagues and only wants peace between

This function of the prince truly significantly impacts the play by changing the plot almost completely. In response to that, Romeo stabs Tybalt and kills him. When the Prince hears that Tybalt and Mercutio were killed in a fight with Romeo, he first decides that Romeo will be sentenced to death but softens the sentence to banishment after being convinced by Benvolio that Tybalt was the primary aggressor: “And for that offense immediately we do exile him hence” (3.1.193-194). Acting in a fair manner, he also fines both Capulet and Montague. If Romeo’s banishment had not been fulfilled or hadn’t been done strictly by The Prince, Romeo would have stayed with Juliet and never gone to Mantua. Furthermore, Romeo would have never received the letter from Friar Lawrence anyway, leading to him not committing suicide. Knowing this, Juliet would have never stabbed herself, knowing that her husband was dead, and The Prince’s kinsman, Paris, would have never been killed by Romeo. However, despite having much to be angry for, the murder of Mercutio, his kinsman, due to the prince’s disciplined fairness and the rule of law, all these critical events did take place, which led to a completely different ending to the