Montague (The True and Most Excellent Comedie of Romeo and Juliet)

Montague was a character in William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet.

He was the father of Romeo Montague and a key player in the ongoing feud between his family and the house of Capulet, a quarrel which ultimately resulted in the suicides of both Romeo and Capulet's daughter Juliet at the play's end. In Act V Scene III, Montague and his wife saw their corpses in the Capulet tomb after the scene had been discovered by Verona's watchmen. He reacted with shock, exclaiming "O Romeo" and rhetorically asking him "What a sight is this, to press before thy father to a grave?". Capulet, who had already been through a brief period of mourning, then addressed his "brother Montague" and asked for him to "give me thy hand", explaining "this is my daughter's jointure, for no more can I demand". Montague agreed with this sentiment and they shook hands and hugged, their rift healed. Montague also vowed to raise a statue of Juliet in pure gold.

In an alternative version of the play conceived to "make dark tragedie light", Romeo and Juliet had not killed themselves and were hiding out of sight in the tomb, being replaced on the altar by a Sontaran clone and a Teselecta so that their parents would still resolve to end their conflict. When the Doctor emerged from the TARDIS and declared that it was not Romeo and Juliet on the altar, Montague immediately accused him of slaying his and Capulet's offspring and ordered the guards to seize him. However, the Doctor's words were quickly proven accurate when the real Romeo and Juliet followed him out of the TARDIS and reunited with their parents. Montague commented "If there be truth in sight, you're Romeo" and embraced him. Montague was also excited that Romeo and Juliet had wed, telling them "in thy example see our houses restor'd love and amity". (PROSE: The True and Most Excellent Comedie of Romeo and Juliet)