in order of appearance
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Lady Capulet ………………………………………………………………………… 10 scenes (76 / 5 lines)
……………………………………………………………………………… Robert Pallant (*unknown ; ca. 15)
A principal part, but not a leading lady. Being larger than her teenage daughter may involve some balancing on thick soles, but a boy of Pallant’s age has no problems with that.
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Nurse ………………………………………………………………………………….. 11 scenes (159 / 9 lines)
………………………………………………………………………………………… Gabriel Spenser (*ca. 1578)
No need for a nurse to be senior to the mother, but Brookes describes her as ‘ancient’, which can be interpreted to that effect. In consequence Shakespeare wrote the part for a senior boy ; among the women only Juliet has more lines. But at this introduction to the audience, Juliet’s requirements are an insult to both Spenser and Condell. Shakespeare therefore did not write Juliet for either of them. Which leaves the Nurse as the remaining option.
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Juliet ………………………………………………. 13 scenes ; 383 lines in Q1 / 528 in Q2 = (still 13)
…………………………………………………………………………………….. Not Christopher Beeston (14)
Juliet depends for her credibility on a boy actor who can pass for a girl of fourteen. Her part, on the other hand, is written on a rather mature performer. Especially the great balcony scenes indicate a boy of seventeen at least. These conflicting observations add up to a belated confirmation of the ‘late puberty’-theory. Brooke, however, describes her as being sixteen. And if Shakespeare takes the trouble to emphasize that she is not fourteen yet, she can’t have been written for a grown-up youth. Examining the great balcony scene with this notion in mind indeed reveals that Shakespeare has ruled out both a senior treble and a head voice. Her first introduction to the audience therefore features a Juliet of pretty little stage experience.
And for the record ; Juliet is in this scene the centre of attention at the centre of July. Judged by the Monday of the third act, this is a Sunday. In 1594 it would have been the fourteenth. That is not exactly ‘a fortnight and odd days’ to Lammas tide, but close enough when – ‘even or odd’ – Lammas comes with Lammas Eve on the preceding night.