Who am I? 1
The heir of Montague and Lady Montague. A young man of about sixteen, he is handsome, intelligent, and sensitive. Though impulsive and immature, his idealism and passion make him an extremely likable character. He lives in the middle of a violent feud between his family and the Capulets, but he is not at all interested in violence. His only interest is love.
Romeo
The patriarch of the Capulet family, father of Juliet.
Capulet
A kinsman of the Prince, and the suitor of Juliet most preferred by Capulet.
Paris
Thirteen-year-old farm girl in danger, is the narrator and protagonist of the novel Sold.
Lakshmi
Lakshmi's goat.
Tali
The daughter of Capulet and Lady Capulet. A beautiful thirteen-year-old girl, she begins the play as a naïve child who has thought little about love and marriage, but she grows up quickly upon falling in love with, the son of her family’s great enemy. Because she is a girl in an aristocratic family, she has no freedoms.
Juliet
The woman who breast-fed Juliet when she was a baby and has cared for Juliet her entire life. A vulgar, long-winded, and sentimental character.
Nurse
The woman with whom Romeo is infatuated at the beginning of the play.
Rosaline
Lakshmi's mother, is described as a typical village wife.
Ama
described as a “slapping man”, takes Lakshmi across the border to the place where she is to work. While on their journey, he orders her to call him husband, probably because he didn’t want to attract any negative attention towards them. After he drops Lakshmi off at her destination,the Happiness House, she never sees him again.
Uncle Husband
A Franciscan friar, friend to both Romeo and Juliet. Secretly marries the impassioned lovers in hopes that the union might eventually bring peace to Verona.
Friar Lawrence
Juliet’s mother, Capulet’s wife. A woman who herself married young, she is eager to see her daughter marry Paris.
Lady Capulet
A Franciscan friar charged by Friar Lawrence with taking the news of Juliet’s false death to Romeo in Mantua. He is held up in a quarantined house, and the message never reaches Romeo.
Friar John
a lazy gambler, is Ama's second husband.
Step-father
the “Aging Bird Girl”, is Mumtaz’s spy.
Shilpa
A kinsman to the Prince, and Romeo’s close friend. One of the most extraordinary characters in all of Shakespeare’s plays, he overflows with imagination, wit, and, at times, a strange, biting satire. He loves wordplay.
Mercutio
Romeo’s father, the patriarch of the Montague clan and bitter enemy of Capulet.
Montague
The Prince of Verona. A kinsman of Mercutio and Paris.
Prince Escalus
Was Laksmi's best friend. She left the village to become a maid.
Gita
Lakshmi’s first friend at the Happiness House, is a girl with “teardrop eyes and deep brown skin, like the hide of a nut”
Shahanna
A Capulet, Juliet’s cousin on her mother’s side. Vain, fashionable, supremely aware of courtesy and the lack of it, he becomes aggressive, violent, and quick to draw his sword when he feels his pride has been injured.
Tybalt
Romeo’s mother, Montague’s wife. She dies of grief after Romeo is exiled from Verona.
Lady Montague
Montague’s nephew, Romeo’s cousin and thoughtful friend, he makes a genuine effort to defuse violent scenes in public places.
Benvolio
The owner of the Happiness House, is portrayed as a cruel and selfish woman.
Mumtaz
a “coughing woman”, is one of Lakshmi’s roommates in the novel. She came to work for Mumtaz when her husband died. She has a baby girl and an eight-year-old son
Pushpa