Analyse the Role of Key Characters and Their Development in 'Romeo and Juliet'

How does Shakespeare present the characters in 'Romeo and Juliet'?

In the Literature exam, you may be asked to write about how a particular character is presented in an extract from 'Romeo and Juliet'.

You will also need to know the play well enough to write about how a character is presented in the play as a whole.

To achieve a higher mark in the exam, you need to show that you are analysing a character.

To do this try to:

- pick out some of the language/structure/dramatic devices used to present the character and consider their effects

- consider how the character reflects something about the context in which Shakespeare was writing.

In this activity, we will practise analysing the characters in 'Romeo and Juliet'.

You should always refer to your own text when working through these examples. These quotations are for reference only.