Romeo &Juliette in the play how old is Julliette and Romeo is older..??

Question

In the play Juliette is 12 and Romeo is 20-ish????.And what did you think about the morden movie with Claire danes and Leo???

Answer 1

Juliet is indeed not yet fourteen. Old Capulet says to Paris in Act I Scene II:
"But saying o'er what I have said before:
My child is yet a stranger in the world;
She hath not seen the change of fourteen years,
Let two more summers wither in their pride,
Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride."

She is not 14 yet. However, Capulet is wary of letting her marry so young...he suggests that Paris wait two years for her to mature. His concern stressed in the lines that follow this:

Paris: Younger than she are happy mothers made.

Capulet: And too soon marr'd are those so early made.

Paris says those younger than her have become happy wives, while Capulet suggests that those married so young are damaged by the experience.

Capulet's reluctance to marry Juliet off right away may also have something to do with the fact that Lady Capulet married him when she too was very young (which she alludes to in her talk with Juliet), and it may not have led to the happiest of marriages.

Romeo's age is not given, but we can assume he is in his mid teens--maybe 15 or 16? Not much older than Juliet.

While the modern version of Romeo and Juliet (Baz Luhrmann's) is criticized quite often, I happen to believe that it is quite a triumph, both in its adaptation to modern terms and in its visual representation and style.

What is most criticized is the change to the ending, in which Juliet wakes AS Romeo is dying. However, I would argue that what this does is emphasize the themes of fate vs. free will, destiny, star crossed lovers--look how close they were to having a totally different ending? All these tiny little circumstances and choices lead them to this fate--the irony of course being that Romeo returns to Verona to defy his destiny ("I defy you stars") by killing himself, while in reality he is fulfilling it. Back to the changed ending, what a lot of people do not realize is that this ending was done quite a few times in stage performances during the 17th century, to increase the dramatic nature of the scene and give the actor playing Romeo a chance to really amp up the melodrama by staggering around a lot before he died. this wasn't some new "modern" twist Luhrmann added to be "edgy." This movie deserves far more praise than it has been given, in my opinion.

Answer 2

Juliet is 13 I believe because there's a scene where her mother & the nurse are discussing her age & basically say that she's not yet 14 but the birthday is impending. Which is why they're trying to marry her off to Count Paris (so she won't be an old maid at puberty?!) They don't actually mention Romeo's age in the play but these characters were based on a real couple who were 13 & 15 yrs or thereabouts. So young & impetuous! I love the play & I've enjoyed every version I've seen. I love Franco Zefferelli's classic. I liked West Side Story. I loved the modern version with Danes & Di Caprio several years ago. I thought they did an excellent job of using the text but making it contemporary. It is a timeless tragic tale of love...

Answer 3

I thought it was 15 and 17