Carson Hamman Mr. Drayer English 9B 21 March 2023 Title People say there is love at first sight. I do not think they mean you should get married at 13 only twenty four hours after meeting each other, this occurs in the world-famous play Romeo and Juliet, where William Shakespeare uses figurative language to develop the characters of Romeo, and Mercutio. He uses figurative language to make the reader feel as if they are in the story rather than reading it. The use of figurative language allows a deeper dive into the emotional thinking of the characters in this story. Shakespeare furthers the development of the characters in the story creatively and realistically rather than using bland and strict direct characterization. Figurative language …show more content…
While speaking with Romeo and Bonvolio the Nurse of Juliet walks into the room of the 3 men attending to give the news to Romeo. After the Nurse asks her servant Peter for a fan Mercutio decides to make a snarky comment by saying, “Good Peter, to hide her face, for her fan’s the fairer face” (2.4.109-110). This comment is a metaphor that compares the fan’s beauty to the Nurse’s, he attempts to state that the fan has more beauty on it than the Nurse so she needs to hide her face beneath the fan. Although a heavily disrespectful comment it has a serious first impression and impact on the Nurse. Mercutio is an impactful character, especially with comments such as that which give him the impression that he is disrespectful and sets an impact on the person he is speaking to. Also, after Mercutio gets into a fight with Tybalt and takes a deathly blow to the heart he lies in pain in the streets of Verona where he announces to everyone, “I am hurt. A plague o’ both houses! I am sped” (3.1.93-94). This is an idiom meaning that his death is both the fault of Romeo and Tybalt and that Mercutio will not take any sides. The words of this idiom may seem as if Mercutio’s death is going to cause a plague among the family when it is referring to how his death is caused by a worthless feud between the Montagues and the Capulets. This reveals the characteristic trait of being impactful as even in his death he is attempting to show the people of Verona that this feud will cause nothing but death and more death and the need to work their differences and come together or else more innocent lives will perish. By showing both the negative and positive influences that Mercutio has on the people he is around and that he is a very impactful human being Shakespeare is showing to the audience that
To start things off, let us look at how Mercutio’s actions and advice led Romeo to be abhorred by almost everyone in Verona. At the Capulets’ party, Romeo infuriates Tybalt, after Tybalt discovers that a Montague (Romeo) is at the Capulet’s feast. Mercutio was there, and in fact, he led Romeo to be disliked by Tybalt. Mercutio told Romeo he should find love and pursue it even if it does not work out for him.
Mercutio the Murderer “Search, seek, and know how this foul murder comes” (5.3, 204 Prince). In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, many quarrels occur over who is to blame for innocent deaths. Mercutio is a humorous character who provides comic relief throughout the play. He is accepted by both the Capulet and Montague families. However, he despises Tybalt Capulet.
In the play Romeo & Juliet by Shakespeare, the character Mercutio is portrayed as playful and witty, yet still considerate of his friends; His personality is shown through both the words of Shakespeare and the actions of his actor Alex Peng. Just prior to the end of Act 2 Scene 4, Mercutio tells the Nurse “Farewell, ancient lady. Farewell, lady, lady, lady” (2.4.72). Mercutio feigns respect to the Nurse, who had just previously demanded to be treated as nobility. He refers to her as a lady, yet adds in that she is an “ancient” lady — alluding to the fact that the Nurse is old.
Mercutio had a way of affecting the characters and showing a new or more detailed side to them. Especially during the climax, his death is significant because it was his choice/or Romeo’s submission that eventually led to their downfalls. As stated in the previous paragraphs, Mercutio had the role of a tragic comedian and he has an emotional impact on the audience. Shakespeare is known to write tragedies, comedies as well as historicals. But Shakespeare's most well-known play Romeo and Juliet has a variety of feelings.
Mercutio knows Romeo better than any other characters and because Mercutio and Romeo are foils, it is easy for Mercutio to tell that Romeo is in love. Mercutio also is able to tell who Romeo’s new found love and is quick to tell him that Romeo and Juliet getting married will cause more problems between their families.(Padgett Mercutio) Mercutio foreshadows the fate and tragic end to the story while he is dying he says “ A plague o’ both your houses!” (A3si) he states this at Romeo and Tybalt and at the Montagues and the Capulets, telling them that their family feud will not end until “a plague” has destroyed each house. Knowing the ending of the story, readers know that he is referring to the death of the child from each house.
A domino effect of tragic fate will take place, resulting in the deaths of many key characters. After Mercutio is slain by Tybalt, a member of the Capulets, Romeo takes revenge and kills him. As a result Romeo is banished, and the deaths of Paris, Lady Montague, Juliet and Romeo follow suit. Romeo and Juliet could have been a comedy, but nonetheless, Mercutio’s death causes the story to take the form of a tragedy. That being said, Mercutio is the star of comedy in the
Romeo and Juliet timed writing While there are many characters in the play Romeo and Juliet who could be labeled as the person at fault for multiple deaths the character who stands out the most is Mercutio. Mercutio is friends with Romeo and is a cousin of the prince. Mercutio has two fatal flaws one being that he is rash and the other being to carefree and challenging people. Mercutio is invited to a party at the Capulets manor however he invites Romeo to the party without thinking of the consequences if a fight breaks out. Earlier in the story the Capulets and the Montagues enter a short conflict of fisticuffs and the Prince says that if one more disturbance of peace is created between the Montagues and the Capulets he will have them killed.
In the play, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare one of the most beloved characters is Mercutio. He is best known for his “Queen Mab” speech and his dying words: “I am hurt. A plague o' both your houses! I am sped. Is he gone, and hath nothing?”
His aggressive and somewhat petty behavior leads to Romeo killing him. The center of the conflict in this scene is Mercutio. He is the closest friend of Romeo and is on the side of Montague. The quote showing Mercutio’s impact is, "Either thou, or I, or both must go with him" (Act 3, Scene 1). Since This line is delivered by Romeo, it explains how once Mercutio is killed by Tybalt, Romeo is full of rage and grief over his death.
Mercutio also protects Romeo against Tybalt showing love towards Romeo by risking his own life but also hating Tybalt at the same time. Mercutio also hates the arguments and disagreements between the families which even leads to his death we can see this when Mercutio says” A plague a’both houses I am sped.” This tells us that Mercutio is angry and hurt from the family rivalry and wants is to end but he also loves his cousin/best friend Romeo so he will risk his life to fight for
Meaning, he’s also cursing Romeo because he’s from the Montague family, even though Romeo and Mercutio are good friends. Before Mercutio shows his disloyalty, Mercutio was loyal to Romeo by defending him as a friend, but right after fighting Tybalt for Romeo and had been badly wounded, he shows his disloyalty.
Some people may think that Mercutio is to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. They think this because he encouraged Romeo to go to the Capulet party, wanted Romeo to move on, and is the reason Romeo murdered Tybalt and got banished. However, these claims are invalid for countless reasons. All Mercutio was trying to do was uplift his friend and encourage him to stop being sad about Rosaline. It was fate’s fault that Rosaline didn’t love Romeo back and that he met Juliet at the party.
Death finally crept into him as he lay motionless on the ground and at that moment the cheerful and comedic mood that Mercutio created disappeared into thin air. Although Mercutio was used to create a comedic mood, he also indirectly impacted both Romeo and the feud itself. Mercutio’s loyalty towards his friends plays an especially crucial role in revealing new sides of Romeo and impacting the feud. As demonstrated in act 3, scene 1, where Mercutio got agitated by Romeo’s lack of response to Tybalt insulting him. Which resulted in Mercutio and Tybalt to fight, eventually leading to his death.
Just moments before the fight Mercutio was joking and having fun, yet in almost a second he becomes a vengeful being. Even though Romeo is trying to calm Mercutio, Mercutio still holds onto the insults Tybalt said to Romeo. Mercutio is unable to hold back his anger toward Tybalt as well as his deadly loyalty and pride for Romeo. Mercutio’s wavering emotions are not only a threat to himself but also a threat to the safety and well-being of others around him. He is not able to control his emotions and the state of his happiness, and thus he leaves a path of destruction and chaos behind.
Does anyone believe in love at first sight? Is it possible to identify your significant other based upon one meeting with them? Can a couple last if they have not built a secure foundation? William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a story of star-crossed lovers that highlights the answers to all these questions through the use of humour and tragedy. Most tragedies have characters in the story who comfort the main characters as they are going through a negative experience.