“Thou art like one of those fellows that when he
enters the confines of a tavern claps me his sword
upon the table and says 'God send me no need of
thee!' and by the operation of the second cup draws
it on the drawer, when indeed there is no need.”
-Mercutio, Act III, Scene 1,
Romeo and Juliet
OriginRomeo and Juliet
NameBenvolio Montague
Age20
GenderMale
Personality— SYMPATHETIC —
Many find sympathy a weakness. To put a man upon one's shoulders acts only to weigh that person down. However, Benvolio knows only understanding in response to a troubled soul and Benvolio knows many a troubled soul within the Montague family. Willing himself the therapist, he frees his shoulder for those who need something to lean on and acts as an ear to those needing to vent their problems. With a friend like his cousin, no doubt does Benvolio find himself a voluntary shoulder for Romeo to wail his romantic woes away. Likely, this is a response for Benvolio desire to be needed and to color himself useful, though he knows he is not.
— MEDIATOR —
Driven by a desire for peace in the midst of, likely, centuries of strife and conflict, Benvolio's nature strives to conserve what never truly was. In doing so, Benvolio finds himself the agitator in situations he desired cease and the instigator in problems that he took to prevent from arising. Failings or no, nothing stops the young Montague from attempting to reach for something far gone and withheld from his reach. And his close friends and kinsmen bear witness to a man blind to the mistake of his own ideals.
— IDEALISTIC —
Ignorance comes in many forms, often stretching the entire spectrum of thought; Benvolio displays such ignorance in impossibilities. Naivete in a young mind means no difference to a parent and many assume ignorance as an inevitability for a growing child. Benvolio never grew out of the stage of imagination that plagues children. Thoughts of a nicer world, a kinder one, grace his mind daily and solutions that, in reality, reach a complexity rendered unfeasible, seem simple in the light of his mind. Thus, misfortune often follows Benvolio as if a cloud deferred, waiting for the moment to sink him in rain.
— ALTRUISTIC —
No kinder a man than Benvolio, with an arm and a leg at the ready to spare. Selfless in nature, Benvolio finds purpose in aiding those in need with whatever he has to give: a kind smile or a hand to help lift someone to their feet. Benvolio seeks only to help for the sake of helping—to pay it forward. But one as selfless and sure as Benvolio, of course, has no need for introspection; the ruin of a man who does not take it upon himself to aid himself. Ignorance runs deeper than ideals: it runs a man in with a blind eye to his own pain.
— SUPERCILIOUS —
Someone who finds themselves the aiding hand in almost every situation they put themselves in likely tends to look upon themselves in superiority. For Benvolio, this is no different and his mind wires itself to look upon what he does as acts of a man higher than others. Of course, that could also be attributed to the coddling of a father without a wife that stays long enough to attend to. As the only prized possession to a Montague ranked so high above the common folk, Benvolio garnered as much attention from his father as his father could give. In such, Benvolio never knew the meaning of humbleness, placing himself as a kind man looking to raise the poor folk up from attrition. The road to hell is paved in good intentions.
— PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE —
Mercutio feigns from telling a lie and, though he jests, it is not untrue that Benvolio's character sinks to the pettiness of a man who wishes no conflict, but to gain his way. Though straying from the title of a snake and manipulator, Benvolio does find himself at the behest of his own yearning and the need to accomplish such without arising conflict. A man such as he in a family like his, being a pacifist often means not getting what one wants. However, being born to a father with a penchant for spoiling his children, Benvolio grew up with the guile and wit to achieve something without the need to dip into assertive strife.
BiographyA child of the esteemed Montague family lead to more than just the wealth that accompanied the family name; it gave way to a common enemy at the moment of conception. Unlike his brother, however, Cecilio Montague, a president to the crime division of Italy's Supreme Court of Cassation, took to his children in desperation. Due to the seedy nature of his father's dealings, Benvolio grew within a sheltered childhood and often staid hidden beneath the large shadow of his very own father. For Benvolio, life meant only his father and he and whatever mistress he held at arms length. With a mother that left them in the dust of her own frustrations, Benvolio had yet to know the touch of a mother—never the spoils of a wealthy father, though. Due to Cecilio's lack of commitment, for reasons unbeknownst to his son, Benvolio was showered in atention and affection unceasingly for his father knew only how to buy the love of another.
Swept away from Italy at a young age, Cecilio brought his child to the care of his brother. For what reason, his father had no mind to tell him and young Benvolio took to little Romeo for the attention he now lacked. A whirlwind of political coups and the shambles of two families ravaged by an endless, secret war took Benvolio by surprise in the sweep of its storm. The young Montague knew only spoils and wealth, not of the games his father and uncle played—fearful of the inevitable day he and his cousin get caught in the same mess.
Of course, Benvolio had no sense to observe what Romeo's father held in secret, nor of his own—not until he grew old enough himself. With frequent visits from his own parent, a broad on his hip for the day of the week, no alarms struck the boy himself and his innocent, blue eyes kept their virtuous hue. His father kept him preoccupied and, thus, withheld any horrors of the Montague crimes from reaching the boy's attentive ears. Romeo at his side and the Capulets a distant horror story, Benvolio saw the world in a light only his father allowed him to. Not knowing any better, Benvolio grew up with that same light and the same blinders tight in place.
Eventually, Benvolio broke free of his father's grip and found his own footing in the small town of Stratford. With his father in a distant home in Vienna, taking sanctuary from his own mistakes within Italy, Benvolio had free reign over his own devices. Unfortunately for him, Cecilio neglected to teach his son the actuality of the real world for fear of corrupting his own child and heir. That fear stretched in so far that Benvolio knew nothing outside of the extravagant homes of the Montagues. However, that didn't account for Benvolio's own intelligence and the boy no sooner took to the world than he did walking, without the support of a father too afraid of his past and a mother that refused to be there.
Growing up with ideals instilled into his head took Benvolio down a darker path, unfortunately. The world isn't necessarily a bad place, but it isn't happy either. Stricken by the hopelessness of his situation and the discovery of what the Montague name instilled, Benvolio's idealism took a turn for the worst. Willingly blind to the horrors of either family, Benvolio took to using Romeo and Mercutio as a crutch, though unknowing to it, at first. Pride willed Benvolio to stand upon his own two feet, but reality took that hope away from him and thus denial burdens him and his friends deeply.
Stratford carries the heavy burden of troubled souls and Benvolio among them lives within his own contradiction.
Other-Benvolio has a knack for writing poetry
-Unlike Romeo's perpetual need for being smitten, there's only one individual that catches Benvolio's eye.
I'm more than willing to change the above biography should someone have anything that conflicts with it. I'd assumed the Montague and Capulet family were dipped into seedy crime and politics, but I attempted to keep that bit as vague as possible. I also gave Benvolio's father a name, since they didn't give him one and the guy wasn't seen in the play. Not entirely sure if his Montague is related to Romeo's Lord Montague in the way I implied, but I implied it and if that's not cool, then I'll likely change it. D;
