ipl-logo

Mercutio's Role In Romeo And Juliet

386 Words2 Pages

In the novel Romeo and Juliet, there are characters that have structural roles to play. These characters have a deeper and more significant meaning to the story than how they are literally interpreted by the reader. One of these character is Mercutio, a blood relative of the Prince and a close friend of Romeo. Mercutio's role in Romeo and Juliet is to provide the masculine comic potential through the action of degrading love in a joking fashion as observed in the Queen Mab speech, the taunting of the Nurse, and the taunting of Romeo through Rosaline.
One example of how Mercutio is the masculine comic potential is through the Queen Mab speech. “This is the hag, when maids lie on their backs,/ That presses them and learns them first to bear,/ Making them women of good carriage./ This is she—”(Shakespeare, 1.4.92-95.)
Another instance in which Mercutio is the masculine comic potential is through the taunting of the Nurse. When the Nurse is trying to relay a message to Romeo, Mercutio steps in to talk to her. “'No hare, sir, unless a hare, sir, in a Lenten pie—that is, …show more content…

When Mercutio and Benvolio are trying to find Romeo, Mercutio attempts to provoke him into coming back by stating, “I conjure thee by Rosaline’s bright eyes,/ By her high forehead and her scarlet lip,/ By her fine foot, straight leg and quivering thigh/ And the demesnes that there adjacent lie,”(Shakespeare, 2.1._-_.) The use of sexual implications give the scene more comic potential as it makes a nice contrast to the rapidly moving tragic potential of Romeo’s love. Mercutio attempts to goad Romeo by using images of Rosaline’s body. Mercutio is the a person that is able to prevent Romeo from tragic love as he has a different viewpoint on love and is the masculine comic potential. Knowing this, if Mercutio is able to stay by Romeo’s side, the potential of tragic love could be

Show More
Related

  • Compare Mercutio To Blame For The Death Of Romeo And Juliet

    447 Words  | 2 Pages

    From the very start Romeo and Mercutio were side by side, this means that Mercutio had a great effect on Romeo's decisions, starting with the night Romeo met Juliet, which in the end leads to his unforgettable death. The night of the Capulets ball Mercutio convinces Romeo to go, to help with the grieving of his loss of love over Rosalie. “Nay, gentle Romeo, we must have you dance”(shakespeare, pg 389) This line in turn leads to what eventually becomes the Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Romeo then meets, and falls in love with the Capulet daughter, Juliet.

    Read More

  • Mercutio Is To Blame For The Deaths Of Romeo And Juliet

    381 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are many to blame in William Shakespeare’s writing of Romeo and Juliet; however, Mercutio is the most to blame. There are many to blame in the story Romeo and Juliet, but if Romeo never met Juliet maybe the domino effect of bad events to take their lives wouldn't have happened. Mercutio, Romeo’s hot headed friend convinces him to go the the party, after he has doubts. He tells him to find a new lady to replace his heartbreak Rosealine. The two “Star Struck Lovers” (pg 1), Romeo and Juliet, started their tragedy that night.

    Read More

  • Why Mercutio Died Essay

    597 Words  | 3 Pages

    Why Mercutio Died For many, the death of Mercutio came as a shock while reading Romeo and Juliet. As royalty, Mercutio is one of the only characters that can roam freely between the houses without wreaking havoc and offending either rivaling family. Mercutio’s role in the play is described as comedic relief. He has a way of distracting the audience from the impending tragedies.

    Read More

  • Romeo And Juliet Vs Mercutio Essay

    586 Words  | 3 Pages

    Quotes and rhetorical devices help to establish the fact that whenever Romeo is around Mercutio, they are pretty much always

    Read More

  • Mercutio Brave Quotes

    553 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mercutio is one of the most intelligent characters is this play. In this quote Mercutio is telling Romeo that he shouldn't let a dream he had keep him from doing what he wants. "True I talk of dreams which are children of an idle brain. Begot from nothing but vain fantasy; Which is thin of substance as the air, and more inconsistent than the air. Who woos even now the frozen bosom of the north and being angered puffs away from thence turning his face to the dew dropping south.

    Read More

  • Romeo And Mercutio Foil

    178 Words  | 1 Pages

    Mercutios relationship with Romeo is a foil because their beliefs are extremely controversial with each other's. Fates, dreams and love are few of the thoughts where they disagree, and there opinions on each matter were shown a myriad throughout the play , this is shown to be true when Romeo states, "In bed asleep, while they do dreams come true" (1.4, lns 52). This quote supports my answer because Romeo is stating that your dream are prophecies where Mercutio, "...nothing but fantasy" (1.4, lns 98) believes that they mean nothing and are just childish thought. Another quote from the text that supports my answer is between Romeo and Mercutio, "And, to sink in it, should you burden love- too great oppression for a tender thing" (1.4, lns 23-24)

    Read More

  • Who Is Mercutio A Foil In Romeo And Juliet

    513 Words  | 3 Pages

    Because of Mercutio’s opposing traits to Romeo, he is Romeo’s foil to show Romeo’s significant

    Read More

  • Romeo Is To Blame For Mercutio's Death In Romeo And Juliet

    263 Words  | 2 Pages

    Romeo is to blame for Mercutio’s death in Act III of Romeo and Juliet. First of all, Romeo did not fight back when Tybalt insulted him. Tybalt calls Romeo a villain and other various names, but Romeo responds by saying (paraphrase), “I love you more than you believe for we are family, even if you are oblivious to this fact. I love the name Capulet as much as I love my own name”(3.1.72-75). When Romeo says this, Tybalt becomes confused and enraged.

    Read More

  • Character Defense In Romeo And Juliet

    741 Words  | 3 Pages

    Romeo acts as an arbitrator between Tybalt and Mercutio because he understands the repercussions of the impending clash. He tries his best to reason with Tybalt by saying “I do protest, I never injured thee, But love thee better than thou canst devise.” Meaning that he won 't fight because he is related to him through marriage. Tybalt, not knowing of their secret wedding ignores Romeo’s comment, continuing his goading of Mercutio.

    Read More

  • Foils In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

    623 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mercutio is different from Romeo because he does not believe in love and makes fun of Romeo and falling in love so heavily all the time. When Romeo describes his love for Rosaline using a rose with thorns as a metaphor. Mercutio laughs and says ”If love be rough with you, be rough with love; Prick love for pricking and you beat love down”(I.4.27-28). In another scenario of Romeo and Mercutio’s foils is when Romeo tells his friends about a dream he had about the party and is expecting a disastrous outcome of the party. Mercutio makes fun of Romeo because he does not believe that dreams can become visions of impending danger.

    Read More

  • Essay On Foils In Romeo And Juliet

    848 Words  | 4 Pages

    Mercutio is making light of Romeo’s deep depressing love for Rosaline, he’s mocking love and making it a joke. This creates an emphasis on Romeo’s utter affixation with love. Mercutio’s playfulness and ability to make a serious subject humorous and reasonable bring out the deep, dark, and depressing side of Romeo, who is completely the opposite when it comes to love. Romeo does not see love as a joke and we see him fall into a depression, Mercutio only makes this sadness more apparent as he talks so jokingly of love. Shakespeare uses Mercutio to lighten Romeo’s depression and make it more

    Read More

  • Parents To Blame In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

    890 Words  | 4 Pages

    This meant that Juliet could not admit she was already married to Romeo her “enemy”. “He’s alive and victorious, and Mercutio’s dead . Enough time with mercy and consideration”act 3 scene 1 line 1. This shows that Tybalt had killed Mercutio because Mercutio hung with Romeo and hated Montagues. This lead to the death of Mercutio.

    Read More

  • Mercutio Is To Blame For The Deaths Of Romeo And Juliet

    612 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Romeo And Juliet And Mercutio

    914 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout the whole play both Romeo and Mercutio were there for each other when in need of a friend or even just some comforting words. Mercutio always seems to say the right things to put Romeo back on track and in focus. While Romeo was relentlessly weeping over his unrequited love for Rosaline, Mercutio, with his wise and caring words said, “‘Why is not this not better than groaning for love? Now art thou sociable.

    Read More

  • Essay On Foreshadowing In Romeo And Juliet

    782 Words  | 4 Pages

    Mercutio says that dreams mean nothing, and pressures him into going to the party anyways. Romeo agrees, and begins the chain of events that lead to his and Juliet’s deaths. He shows how reluctant he is to go by stating,

    Read More

More about Mercutio's Role In Romeo And Juliet

Open Document