Explore the Character of Mercutio in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet has many themes which are fate, death and love, these are all intertwined. At the very beginning of the play, before we even know the characters, we know that ‘death-marked’ ‘Star crossed lovers’ will ‘take their lives’ which already brings in the major themes. Shakespeare uses dramatic irony throughout the play and builds up the tension until Act 3 scene 1 where death starts to play a role. The Prologue also informs us about the Montagues and Capulets dislike for each other. The theme of love is also there thought the play. There are different types of love, the unrequited love the Romeo feels for Rosaline and that Paris feels for Juliet. There is also the love between friends such as with Romeo and Mercutio as Mercutio dies to protect Romeo’s honour and then Romeo avenges his death, and then the romantic love Romeo and Juliet share. I believe the Mercutio is one of the main characters in this play. His speeches tell us a lot about him and his actions have a large affect on the ending of the play. Mercutio’s name means mercurial meaning “an unpredictable and fast changing mood” which is an accurate description of Mercutio's personality because in Queen Mabs speech at the beginning he is joking and seeking attention, but at the end he becomes serious and angry.

Mercutio is the comic character in the play and when he dies, the humour is replaced by seriousness. He is a relative of The Prince who is serious and formal whereas Mercutio is informal . Because he is neither a Montague nor a Capulet he can chose not to be involved in there feud yet the death of Mercutio increases the tension between the two families. He is a close friend of Romeo and Benvolio although he is very different to both. Mercutio likes to ho...

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... relating to a knife. His quick wit is very useful when insulting Tybalt and Benvolio ‘And but one word with one of us? Couple it something, make it a word and a blow.’ ‘thou wilt quarrel with a man that hath a hair more or a hair less in his beard than thou hast’ Benvolio whose name means peacekeeper knows it’s best not to argue with Mercutio.

In my opinion, Mercutio is a good character but is one of the characters to blame for the tragic events because of his negative characteristics such as being ill-tempered and being provocative. I think Shakespeare included him into the play because he is the link between the Montagues and Capulets and his death symbols the humour leaving the play and seriousness playing a larger role. And his actions brought Romeo and Juliet together by bringing Romeo to the Capulets and he is also the one of the people to end their lives.