Today's topic - Romeo & Juliet. Yes, THAT R&J.
My sisters kids are auditioning for their high school production of R&J, so the play came under a lot of discussion this weekend as the kids (Molly & Patrick - M&P) started taking the play seriously and started looking at characters they wanted to audition for. So, using the text and MBTI we profiled the main characters, looking for characteristics that would make a reachable role for each.
Let's define what makes a good role to select for a high school play.
1. Not the lead - an awful lot of work
2. A character role, one where you can really go for it - mugging, have just one great song, etc.
3. One that fits their physical type (Patrick is pretty tall and mature looking - he gets 'father' roles; Molly is also mature looking and gets 'mother' or 'friend' roles)
That said, let's analyze the characters in R&J, a la MBTI
- Juliet (ISTJ)
Where do I start? She isn't shown with any friends or peers, having the most interaction with Nurse and her mother. I believe she is mature for her age, and practical. Her mother brings up the topic of marriage to this 13-year-old and she doesn't bat an eye - she agrees to look over the proposed suitor at the family party. It's as if she's accepted that this is the next stage of her life and she's ready to go there. Once marriage has been mentioned, she has it on her mind. She goes to the party to check out Paris, almost like she's attending high school open houses, ready to check it out and put him on a list. She's thinking along these lines when she meets Romeo. He goes on the list, too. Let's see - can she add him to the list, too? Why not?
On to the balcony scene 'what's in a name? a rose by any other name would smell as sweet' (my paraphrase). So, she has one guy on the list and she's considering another. I will grant her some instant chemistry with Romeo, like she didn't have with the older Paris (probably only twenty-five or so!) but, still, she's checking her list and finds the only objection is his name. He shows up (getting points for persistence) and she finds that he's a sweet guy (more on R's section). Some quick banter and they're about to break it off for the night when he asks her for some follow-up. Her mind immediately goes to marriage. Yikes! But it is on her mind, and she has apparently made up her mind that, if she wants to get her way, she'd better act now. I bet she's a bit self-centered (more later) and gets whatever she wants. I wouldn't have pegged her as impulsive - maybe more goal-driven than impulsive? She's got one thing on her mind - moving on to the married phase of her life - and she's going to go for it.
So, this alone pegs her for an SJ. Time for her to get married. Find a suitable candidate and just do it! It doesn't hurt that he's rich, a hottie, and sweet.
(an aside - people didn't need parental consent for marriage at that time, which is why girls were married off before they got any ideas in their head).
I can't tell whether she's an introvert or extrovert. She's kept so confined that it's hard to tell. If anything, I'd swing toward introvert, as she didn't appear eager to mix at the party.
As to Feeling/Thinking - a T, definitely. More on that later. - Romeo (INFP)
Here's a real sweetie. He's cute, heir to a fortune and surrounded by friends and/or family. I think he's a year older than Juliet, which makes him 14 or 15. He hangs out with a group of guys that are older than he, well versed in sword play. Given Mercutio's wit, they may be college age, with all of the confidence that comes with coming into your own, and eager to show it off. As the play begins, the guys are twitting him for his crush on Rosaline, a woman grown, presumably, because the younger girls (i.e. Juliet) are not yet 'out'; how else would Romeo see a woman if he is not invited to her family's parties? Yet somehow he has seen her and fell for her. It is probably his first crush, given the way the guys are teasing him about it, and his habit of sometimes ditching the guys to walk through the woods alone. Nonetheless, they sympathize with him enough that they contrive a way to attend a (Capulet) family party where Rosaline will be present. It's a festive event, one where they can wear masks. I'd equate this to a summer barbeque, where people come and go freely. Being gentlemen, they feel suited to this event and not at all abashed at crashing the party.
Romeo sees Juliet and, like her, conditioned to an idea, follows up on it. He's a feeler and, in a different age, would have written a sonnet to her eyes. He's suggestible to the idea of being in love. He sees an elusive figure skirting the edges of the party (how many teenagers want to be talking to the grown-ups, anyway?) and is drawn to her (today she'd be in a corner with a DS in her hand). She actually responds to him, unlike Rosaline, and shares one simple sonnet that lets him know that she's well brought up, respectful of convention (all that talk of pilgrims and saints), quick-witted, yet not too sky to speak of kisses (pilgrims' kisses). Someone who takes him seriously! He's smitten.
Leaving the party, he now can't get her out of his mind. He's initially content to watch her catching a breeze on her balcony at the back of the house, but then finds that she's thinking of him too. One thing leads to another and he asks 'what next'? She answers 'marriage'. He's totally under her spell, so he says 'Done!' like any knight accepting a quest from a damsel, and pledges to make all the arrangements.
From this much of the play, he's clearly a romantic (F), dreamer (N), likely an introvert (goes off on his own) and probably a P - not driven to action, necessarily, but would have been content in his vision of her - that is, until he is given a task that is technically simple to accomplish, after which he will have his Juliet. So, I make him an INFP.
That's enough for now. There's more evidence that Juliet is running things and Romeo just reacts to her direction. Next time.
