Part of what allows the events in the play to unfold as they do is that the characters of Romeo and Juliet are teenagers, and their experiences as such are a very important part of the play.

While the idea of a "teenager" is a fairly modern construct, being a young adult is important in the characterisation of Romeo. While teenage stereotypes didn't exist until as late as the 1950s, Romeo has quite typically adolescent traits of being depressed and experiencing mood swings. The audience gains this impression during the first act of the first scene, where Romeo declares "sad hours seem long," and "griefs on mine own lie heavy in my breast." In this same scene, an impression of Romeo's attitude towards love is also cast. At this point in the play, it seems he has a very intense, albeit superficial, view on romance. He describes it as "a choking gall, and a preserving sweet," the kind of oxymoron the audience becomes accustomed to as the play progresses. In his expression of love for a woman named Rosaline in the first act of the play, he makes it apparent that his idea of love is very much based on attraction - "she is rich in beauty" he says of Rosaline.

Juliet is cast as a teenager in a different sense to Romeo. She is not portrayed so much as someone experiencing stereotypical "teenage angst", at least not during the earlier scenes of the play. This is perhaps because she is so young - not even fourteen, she is of an age that lies between naivity and maturity. Her experiences with being adolescent relate more to elements of social pressure. This is evident in the third act of scene one, where her mother is first approaching the topic of Juliet marrying Paris. "How stands your dispositions to be married?" she pries, met by Juliet stating "it is an honour that I dream not of." While she remains obedient to her parents for the most part, she maintains the capacity to rebel. She continues to be implicit in the discussion of her marriage, "I'll look to like, if looking liking move; / But no more deep will I endart mine eye / Than your consent gives strength to make it fly" by which she means she shall consider Paris if she likes him, but will only marry him if her family approves.

Another aspect of Shakespeare's presentation of teenage experience in the play relates to the rolemodels and influences of the characters of Romeo and Juliet. Both characters are somewhat distanced from their parents, preferring to seek advice from the kindhearted cleric, Friar Lawrence. In Juliet's case, guidance also comes from her nurse, who is an almost surrogate mother to her, given the distance from her actual mother. Shakepeare has, maybe unintentionally so, debased the importance of the nurse by referring to her simply as "Nurse" throughout the play, not giving her a name. This suggests that the character's only importance in the play is to serve Juliet, and so it is something of a surprise to realize her true importance as a rolemodel for Juliet. A true suggestion that the Nurse is a substitue mother lies in act 1, scene 3 - "Well, Susan is with God; she was too good for me." She is stating that her own child died, and continues to fondly reminisc about Juliet's childhood.

While advice given to them is generally good, it could be said that they are at times misguided. Friar Lawrence agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet in the third act of scene 2, but chides Romeo for his fickle attitude towards love - "Is Rosaline that thou didst love so dear / So soon forsaken?" and continues to enforce the idea that Romeo's idea of love is greatly based upon attraction - "Young men's love then lies / Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes." This is where Friar Lawrence's motives are questionable - while never selfish, he marries the two in the hope of resolving the Montague/Capulet family feud. This could be considered imature of him, and could even be said to majorly influence the disastrous ending to the play.

Something which reflects the significance of adolescence in the play is Shakespeare's choice to include greatly unsubtle language. The most notable perpetrators are Mercutio (in Romeo's instance), and the Nurse (in Juliet's instance.) A prime example of bawdy language is seen in act 2, scene 4, where Romeo and Mercutio are engaging in a battle of wits, and Nurse enters. "'T is no less, I tell ye, for the bawdy hand of the dial is now upon the prick of noon." Mercutio says to Nurse, the double meaning very obvious. One scene later, during a discussion between Juliet and Nurse about Romeo, she says to Juliet, "Now comes the wanton blood up in your cheeks," the word "wanton" often being associated with sex. These are amongst the many bawdy jokes made during these few scenes.