The Importance of Mercutio to the Plot and Action of Romeo and Juliet

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Romeo and Juliet is one of the most famous love stories ever told. Written by Shakespeare the story is all about Romeo and Juliet and their passionate love for each other. The death of the two lovers makes the story so tragic but well-known all around the world. Many over look some of the characters that make the story Romeo and Juliet so amazing. Apart from clashing with Tybalt,what role does Mercutio play in the story? Mercutio is a very important character with a fatal part in the play. Mercutio is not just a background character for the story but a colorful supporting character, brilliant source of comic relief, and he also serves as a more serious purpose.

Romeo’s lovesick moping for Rosaline sparks a need for a wild rant within Mercutio. Mercutio taunts and mocks Romeo, for his dream which tells him they should not crash the Capulet’s party. This, in the end, all falls back on the theme of fate. As a result, Mercutio’s rant persuades Romeo to attend the party because after all, dreams are ridiculous and not always truthful. Additionally, Mercutio is suggesting that, like Queen Mab, dreams (specifically Romeo’s) are petty and insignificant. All of this takes place in Act once Scene four. The purpose of this speech is to add comic relief amongst the tragic events, whilst foreshadowing what’s to come. Romeo is constructed as a juvenile character with a dreamy nature, who is romantic and lovesick , in comparison to his best friend, Mercutio, who takes on the role as a comedic, volatile, pessimistic and sharp-witted personality.

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.

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

Romeo and Mercutio have very opposite ideas about love. When Romeo is distraught over his unrequited love for Rosaline Mercutio goes on a long speech telling him of Queen Mab, a fairy who controls love. Mercutio says, “‘And in this state she gallops night by night Through lovers' brains, and then they dream of love;”(1.4.71-72). Romeo and Mercutio’s views of love contrast throughout their time together and Mercutio teases Romeo for his love sickened ways often. Romeo is always in love and jumping into into it headfirst eventually dying for love. Mercutio does not believe in the fickleness of love or dreams, shown here by him calling love simple as a fairy who rides by and fills dreams with whispers of love. Their opposing views give the audience insight into what motivates them, and how having different beliefs about what love is can affect decisions.The audience now feels that Romeo weeping is ridiculous, just like Mercutio’s story of Queen Mab. Romeo and Mercutio’s contrasting views on love allow for a better understanding of their character.

It’s a sad tale of two lovers who want nothing more than to be together: Romeo and Juliet. The two go on a treacherous journey to be together, but it all leads up to their last breath. Who is at fault for one of the despondent endings in theater? Mercutio is responsible for the death of Romeo and Juliet because he talked Romeo into going to the party, he started the fight with Tybalt, and he put a curse on Romeo.

He mopes, “Give me a torch. I am not for this ambling./ Being but heavy, I will bear the light” (I.iv.11-12), and, “I have a soul of lead./ So stakes me to the ground I cannot move” (I.iv.15-16). The first attempts to cheer him up weren’t successful at all, so Mercutio thought up of the tale of Queen Mab. He then turns it into a speech that didn’t seem like much at first, but it unraveled to showcase the fact that the dreams Romeo had were meaningless and that he needed to let himself be happy. When Mercutio’s monologue is abruptly cut off by Romeo telling him that he “talk’st of nothing” (I.iv.95-96), Mercutio replies in a predicted sardonic tone, “True. I talk of dreams” (I.iv.97). This refers back before the speech when Romeo announced he had a dream. Mercutio wants to try and let the dream pass by as if it were nothing and just enjoy the party. He taunts Romeo for not being able to choose whether he should be happy or depressed over something as meaningless as a

He is a player and has a different outlook on love. Primarily, in Act 1 Scene 4, Mercutio says “If love be rough with you, be rough with love; Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down.” (W. Shakespeare 829) He suggests that Romeo disregard love, and in addition, to have sex to get over it. Also, one possible reason that Mercutio despises love is that he’s possibly heartbroken. Secondly, in Act 1 Scene 4, he describes Queen Mab as one who gives people what they want, in her dreams. For example, “On courtiers' knees, that dream on curtsies straight; O’er lawyers’ fingers, who straight dream on fees; O’er ladies’ lips, who straight on kisses dream.” (W. Shakespeare 830) These dreams are insignificant, and as a result, Mercutio tells Romeo about Queen Mab; his dreams about Juliet are insignificant. Finally, Mercutio is apparently jealous of Romeo. Throughout Romeo and Juliet, his lines label him as a pessimistic non-lover. In Act 2 Scene 4, Mercutio says “Alas, poor Romeo! He is already dead, stabbed with a white wench’s black eye, shot through the ear with a love song, the very pin of his heart cleft with the blind bow-boy’s butt shaft. And is he a man to encounter Tybalt?” (W. Shakespeare 858) He says that of all Romeo has been through, he can’t even go up to Tybalt. So, Mercutio is possibly jealous of Romeo because he can’t

Mercutio affects Romeo’s life by persuading Romeo to attend the Capulet party. Mercutio says, “Nay, gentle Romeo, we must have you dance” and, “You are a lover, borrow Cupid’s wings,”(1.4.13-17). Mercutio persuades Romeo to attend the party where he meets Juliet, proving he has a grand effect on Romeo. This scene causes Mercutio to be unforgettable because he is always trying to give Romeo advice, and in this particular scenario without Mercutio, Romeo will not meet Juliet. Subsequently, Mercutio is always there to support Romeo whether he is feeling cheerful and in high spirits, or somber. When Romeo is depressed about Rosaline not loving him, Mercutio tries to lighten the mood by saying, “If love be rough with you, be rough with love:”(1.4.27). When Romeo is joyful, Mercutio says, “Why, is not this better now than groaning for love?” (2.4.80). Whenever Romeo is mourning and needs comfort, or is cheerful and wants to share his excitement, Mercutio is there to support him. The audience remembers Mercutio for the reason that whenever Romeo has important moments in the play, like problems or being excited, Mercutio is there with him. Overall, Mercutio is the most memorable because he plays such a large role in the life of

“A plague a’ both your houses!” (Shakespeare III, i. 102) Mercutio, on the brink of death at the hands of Tybalt, shouted this line to Romeo and Benvolio as he lay in his friends’ arms. His death acts as a turning point in the play, contrasting the previous humour of the first two acts with the tragedy of the last three. His death influences Romeo, causing him to kill Tybalt in revenge, sending Romeo down a winding path that led to his eventual downfall. Mercutio’s influence is seen often through the play, time and time again leading Romeo to make decisions that may not always be in his best interest. Mercutio acts as Romeo’s foil, using his quick wit and sexual interpretations of love to add humour to the play, but his actions that contribute to Romeo’s downfall are where his multi-faceted role is shown. Mercutio’s role in the play is very important to

Two important similarities are extremely loyal characters who are ready to fight and both die because of Romeo, Romeo doesn’t kill both, only Tybalt, and, Tybalt kills Mercutio because of Romeo’s immature acts.

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Romeo and Juliet's relationship was already doomed from the beginning but Mercutio helped the tragic events happen much faster. Mercutio showed us what was going on in the lives of the Capulet and Montague through humor and laughs. Mercutio's mood and behavior throughout the three acts that he is in reflects upon the relationship between Romeo and Juliet, and the two families as a whole. The more relaxed he was the better things were in the city of Verona but as soon as he started becoming more serious, so did Romeo and Juliet's relationship. Mercutio’s behavior and moods mirror the state of Romeo and Juliet’s relationship throughout the play.

Mercutio is a relative of the prince and friend to Romeo. He is an eloquent man and becomes the center of attention whenever he appears in the play. It seems like he dominates Romeo with his teasing and irony. He mocks Romeo as he thinks he is too sentimental and tells him how foolish he is; he turns all of Romeo’s thought about love into sexual metaphors.