A foil is a character who contradicts and contrasts another character. A foil is used in literature to emphasize or accentuate certain qualities of a character. Shakespeare uses foils in most of his famous works such as Romeo and Juliet where Mercutio, kinsman to the prince, is a foil to Romeo, Lord Montague’s son. Mercutio is the direct opposite of Romeo. Romeo is a romantic, serious teen who falls recklessly and easily in love. On the other hand, Mercutio is an humorous, lighthearted joker that mocks love. Romeo is a very moody, melancholy character that people do not expect him to be. When Romeo is first introduced in the play, he is depressed, cries, stays in his room, and even wanders in the dark after his relationship with Rosaline …show more content…
Because of his disregard to romance, he always finds a way to poke fun at Romeo’s romance with Rosaline and Juliet. Mercutio’s humor can not only be frivolous and jocular, but can also be harsh and crude. His humor is a lot of the time bothersome to Romeo. Mercutio is also quick-tempered as he is always ready to draw his sword at any provocation like when he fights Tybalt (Act 3, Scene 1, Line 83). This shows his loyalty and courage. Mercutio stands his ground and has a very strong sense of honor in his vision or beliefs. He calls Romeo “O calm, dishonorable, vile submission” (Act 3, Scene 1, Line 71) after Romeo wants to step back from facing Tybalt. Even when Mercutio dies, he is making jokes, “No, ‘tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door; but ‘tis enough” (Act 3, Scene 1, Line …show more content…
Mercutio tries to persuade Romeo to join them in going to the Capulet's feast. Romeo takes love very seriously and yearning for Rosaline, while Mercutio treats love as a joke. He makes fun of Romeo when he talks about Queen Mab (Act 1, Scene 4, Line 53). When Romeo says he cannot join them because he feels too forlorn and disheartened, Mercutio tells Romeo to “Borrow Cupid's wings and soar with them above a common bound” (Act 1, Scene 4, Line 17). Furthermore, when Romeo argues that love is “too rough, rude and boist’rous” and that it "pricks like a thorn," Mercutio instead tells him some clever remarks, “If love be rough with you, be rough with love; Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down”. Romeo takes love very seriously, while Mercutio mocks him time after time with the belief that love is a
He was considered witty and irrational, but Mercutio was also immature, prideful and short-tempered. By Mercutio forcing Romeo to attend the masquerade, he was aiding his own death. If Mercutio had never prompted his friends to go to the gathering, Tybalt never would’ve spotted Romeo therefore he wouldn’t have sent the challenge letter for the duel that Mercutio fatally took upon himself to fight. More explicitly though, if Mercutio would’ve listened to Benvolio when he said,“I pray thee, good Mercutio, let’s retire./The day
He was able to better his mood even when he was down. Life can be hard without laughter, but Mercutio was able to lessen the pain. On page 1078 Mercutio says, "Nay, I am the very pink of courtesy." He brings light where ever he goes, which is such a important part to anyone's well being. Romeo was just as witty ,by using rhetorical devices such as alliteration.
Jokester Inside Mercutio The embodiment of personas is what makes us act the way we do on a regular basis. In William Shakespeare’s, “Romeo and Juliet”, most times Mercutio is all laughs and jokes and doesn’t have a care in the world for anything. Mercutio even makes jokes to his enemy Tybalt who is a Capulet. Shakespeare uses witty comments and casual remarks to portray Mercutio to be the jokester of the book.
This shows that even though Romeo is extremely depressed and grief-stricken, Mercutio still tries to lighten the mood and bring up Romeos spirits. Romeo is a
Well, the audience does not know much about Mercutio beyond the facade that he places upon himself towards the other characters of the play, and additionally to the audience themselves. The moment that the audience can most easily see this facade break is when Tybalt, the enemy of the Montagues, confronts Romeo, and Mercutio intervenes. Mercutio’s empathy in this matter does not reach extraordinary lengths, or even somewhat understandable lengths, as when Romeo is pleading to Tybalt that he does not want to fight and instead wants to love Mercutio states, “O calm, dishonourable, vile submission!” (III.i.1571). At this moment, he believes that the act of submission itself is dishonorable.
In William Shakespeare’s play the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet we are shown how love at such a young age can really make adolescents do crazy things and overreact in many situations. In this play Shakespeare uses foil and many literary devices to convey emotion and to help us understand the way a character acts or feels in a certain situation. Foil is when a character provides a strong contrast to another character. An example of foil would be when two servants, one from Capulet and one from Montague, are fighting and the Capulets and the Montagues enter the scene (Act 1, Scene i, Lines 70-75). Capulet.
Mercutio is a close friend of Romeo he is seen with wit, humor, and a quick temper. He is very independent and refuses to let others' expectations have a constraint on him. Mercutio begins to understand himself through interactions with other characters such as Romeo, he begins to find his place in the world. He has a deep commitment to himself and his identity disregarding the social norms. Even though he is a great character it gets to the best of him and leads to his death against Tybalt.
Character Defense: Romeo We perceive that Romeo is innocent due to his apparent love for Tybalt and his clear disesteem to the brawl unfolding. He wanted to advent the violence thrust upon him by his love (Tybalt). He cared too much to fight him but when a good life-long friend, Mercutio, is murdered in front of his very eyes he is shaken to the core. He did this while not in the correct state of mind, cleary in a haze of sorrow and guilt not yet fully comprehending the effects of his actions. His gentle altercation with Tybalt defines his love for his friends and family.
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.
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
Romeo’s humor is very lack-luster and Romeo himself is more sensitive, so he doesn't crack a lot of jokes, while Mercutio on the other hand loves to have a good laugh and makes a lot of jokes himself. Mercutio is a very optimistic man, but will definitely fight someone if it is anywhere near needed. Differently, Romeo is very against violence and tries to stop any fights that build up. Finally, Mercutio does not understand Romeo’s love for others, and how much he lets it affect him. Even though the two are so different, Romeo and Mercutio still manage to be best friends throughout the play.
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.
Jennifer Romo English 9 Hr 2 12/11/15 Romeo and Juliet: Mercutio’s Impact A lot is lost when dealing with book to movie portrayals. Although it’s mostly small details that do not contribute to the story, personalities of the characters often change. Mercutio from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a victim of this change. In the play, Mercutio acted as a foil for Romeo with little understanding of love.
Shakespeare uses foils to illustrate parallels and disparities certain qualities in characters. In Romeo and Juliet he created four foils, there was Tybalt and Benvolio, Romeo and Mercutio, the nurse and Lady Capulet, and finally Tybalt and Lord Capulet. Each of these characters contrast others in their own genuine way, these alterations made systematic qualities more extravagant than most generally are. The most attention-grabbing and hysterical foil that Shakespeare used was Lady Capulet and the nurse, as the nurse made more juvenile jokes Lady Capulet contracted a more grave attitude. Lady Capulet is a woman of dignity.
In the play Romeo and Juliet one of the main characters, Romeo, is a rather impulsive fellow who acts on what he sees and feels. He falls in love in the blink of an eye and just as fast he can get over it. He is always impulsive but when he finds himself in love his impulsiveness doubles. Romeo’s impulsive decisions causes his love, Juliet, to ultimately get killed.