Mercutio In Romeo And Juliet

One of the reasons Mercutio is most responsible for the tragedies in this play is that he is the one who convinces Romeo to go to the party at the Capulets. This is what started the chain of events that led up to the deaths of himself, Romeo, Juliet, Tybalt and Mrs. Montague. Mercutio tells Romeo that he is a lover. Borrow Cupids wings and soar with them above a common bound”

Tybalt intended to fight Romeo because he disliked his presence at the Capulet’s party but after Romeo refuses to fight Mercutio feels the need to fight for him instead. This is not the only time Mercutio is a display of masculinity in the play. As Romeo’s friend he likes to mock him, calling him an petrarchan lover and joking about his version of love. The difference to Romeo is also found when juxtaposing how Romeo and Mercutio speak. For instance, when Romeo talks about the girls he is in love with or has a crush on he talks in poetic sentences. In comparision, Mercutios:” Laura was a kitchen slave. Surely she has a better love to make rhymes for her. Dido was shabbily dressed. Cleopatra was a gypsy girl. Helen and Hero were sluts and harlots.

To begin with, Mercutio is a good friend to Romeo in that he stands up for Romeo when in need. In Act III, Scene I, there is a scene in which Tybalt, Mercutio, and Romeo are conversing. In lines 59-60, Tybalt says, “Romeo, the love I bear thee can afford no better term than this: thou art a villain.” This

The relationship that Mercutio has with Romeo is sturdy in all areas except love. This opposition can clearly be seen when Montague talks about Romeo’s depression over Roseline. “And private in his chamber pens himself, shuts up his windows,

As one of the most complex characters in the play, Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio’s purpose is to act as a static catalyst for the death of most of the characters. Shakespeare uses Mercutio’s character cleverly as the kind of character that stays in the background, but influences the rest of the cast in the utmost amount. Mercutio’s light and occasionally sardonic humor at inapt times relieves the play from being a complete tragedy and allows the audience a false sense of security before calamity strikes, such as the death of his character. Mercutio also stands as a consistent character to prove that despite the fact that the majority of Shakespeare’s characters are unpredictable and impulsive, there has to be at least one character to steady

Throughout the works of William Shakespeare, the main character is complemented with another character that acts or serves as the protagonist's foil. In Romeo & Juliet, the protagonist, Romeo, is fickle, idealistic, impractical and naïve. To balance Romeo as a character, Shakespeare creates Mercutio; a good friend of Romeo's who acts as his conscience. While Romeo has an idealistic perspective of the world and more specifically of love, Mercutio balances Romeo's weak points as a dreamer. Mercutio is pragmatic, sensible, and clever and a master on word play. Throughout the play, Mercutio mocks Romeo's naïve and ridiculous fascination with love. Early in the play, Romeo goes on and on about his deep infatuation with the beautiful Rosaline.

This results in Romeo’s fate to be darkened. Second, Mercutio shows how Romeo is constantly dreaming. Mercutio’s realism contrasts Romeo’s head in the clouds. This is revealed when Mercutio says “True, I talk of dreams, which [is] the [child] of an [inactive] brain,” (1.4, 96-97). This quote exemplifies that dreaming cannot be a portent, and that it can change just like the wind. This also shows that Mercutio has a flamboyant imagination, while demonstrating his mocking side. This quote also acts as foreshadowing in which shows that if Romeo keeps his head in the clouds he will make mistakes in life, such as him quickly marring Juliet. Moreover, this quote reveals that Mercutio is an important foil character because his view on love contrasts that of Romeo. Mercutio’s view on love is that it is futile, however Romeo thinks of it as a key component to life. Mercutio’s mocking of the hopeless love, makes Romeo’s view look stronger and more passionate. Third, Mercutio shows how serious Romeo is. Mercutio always talks in a witting and light-hearted way, in which contrasts to Romeo’s seriousness. Mercutio always uses clever wordplay and puns to mock people and bring comic relief into the play. This is emphasized when Mercutio says “And but one word with one of us? ... Make it a word and a blow,” (3.1, 40-41). This quote illustrates the comedy that Mercutio brings. At the edgy moment when Tybalt was about to fight, Mercutio still made a mockery of him.

To start with, Mercutio brought Romeo to the dance where he met and fell in love with Juliet. A quote said by Mercutio Romeo and Juliet states, "If love be rough with you, be rough with love/Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down," (Shakespeare I.iv 27-28). This quote reveals that Mercutio is encouraging Romeo to get

Mercutio’s role to Romeo and Juliet takes many shapes and forms. Mercutio is the opposite of Romeo when it comes to love, as he says “If love be rough with you, be rough with love. Prick love for pricking and you beat love down. (1.4.27-28)” While Romeo believes in love both ways in a relationship, Mercutio believes that long-standing love isn’t real. Also, Mercutio isn’t technically a Montague or a Capulet, so he doesn’t really take the feud or love very seriously. Mercutio is also quick tempered, and even though he isn’t truly a Montague he is shown like a counterpart to Tybalt because he likes to side with the Montagues. Like Tybalt, Mercutio is quick to go to his sword, “O calm, dishonourable, vile submission. Alla staccato carries it away. Tybalt you rat catcher, will you walk?(3.1.74-76)” When Romeo rejects Tybalt’s offer to fight, Mercutio draws his sword to save Romeo’s name, but also because his love to fight. Mercutio offers as a contrast between houses, sort of like the man in the middle in Romeo and

He is quick to act before he thinks in Act III, Scene I when he announces “I will not budge for no man’s pleasure, I,” (Shakespeare 426). Unlike Benvolio, Mercutio does not back down when Tybalt challenges him to fight. Mercutio has a sense of humor and often makes fun of Romeo when he is in love and heartbroken. He shows his comedic side when he jokes about Romeo being a mad lover, and teases him about not being over Rosaline (Shakespeare

When Romeo is moping over his lover Rosaline, Mercutio and the boys persuade him to crash the Capulet party. “MERCUTIO. Nay, gentle Romeo, we must have you dance. ROMEO. Not I, believe me: you have dancing shoes with nimble soles: I have a soul of lead so stakes me to the ground I cannot move. MERCUTIO. You are a lover; borrow Cupid's wings, and soar with them above a common bound. ROMEO. I am too sore enpierced with his shaft to soar with his light feathers, and so bound, I cannot bound a pitch above dull woe: under love's heavy burden do I sink. MERCUTIO. And, to sink in it, should you burden love; too great oppression for a tender thing. ROMEO. Is love a tender thing? it is too rough, too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like thorn. MERCUTIO. If love be rough with you, be rough with love; prick love for pricking, and you beat love down. Give me a case to put my visage in: a visor for a visor! what care I what curious eye doth quote deformities? Here are the beetle brows shall blush for me” (Ⅰ, 4 , 13-32 ). Here we see Mercutio trying to cheer up Romeo by crashing the Capulet party. This is an example of Mercutio not thinking of what could happen and acting out by crashing the party. After Tybalt finds Romeo and Juliet dancing, Tybalt is infuriated by this and is on the manhunt for Romeo. “MERCUTIO. O calm, dishonourable, vile

In the play Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio serves as a foil to Romeo. When discussing love, we can see how Mercutio's lighthearted and silly comments emphasize Romeo's melancholy personality and serious opinions on love. Romeo tells Mercutio he “[has] a soul of lead [that] stakes [him] to the ground [so he] cannot move”. Clearly, Romeo is being a bit dramatic when describing how sad he feels, such as when he says “Under love's heavy burden do I sink”. Mercutio’s response is almost like a joke, as he tells Romeo to “borrow Cupid's wings, and soar with them above a common bound”, basically telling Romeo to find love elsewhere and be happy.

Mercutio mocks him for being in love with Juliet, which shows he is unromantic. Romeo on the other hand, likes to express his love for Juliet, when he says “Since she has vowed to remain chaste, she will die, without children, and her beauty will not be passed onto future generations” (I.i.231-235). Romeo thinks she is absolutely stunning and does not like the fact that she does not want children because then her beauty will not be inherited by other generations. These two characters represented foil because Mercutio treated love as a joke while Romeo treated it as a never ending love

(I:IV:99) Someone else could claim that Mercutio is just trying to annoy Romeo but I don’t believe that is true because if it were, he could have ranted forever, but he didn't. The speech is implying Mercutio has a big imagination and is very boastful. Section

Mercutio tries to get Romeo's mind on something else. He also describes imagination in a powerful, memorable way in his "Queen Mab" speech (Act 1, scene 4). The speech shows Mercutio's eloquence and it describes dreams as coming from a fairy creature. He is clever man.