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Romeo and Juliet: Examining the characteristics of the Shakespearean tragedy
Introduction to Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet: Examining the characteristics of the Shakespearean tragedy
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A lot of characters had a big influence on Romeo and Juliet’s decision making, but in my opinion I feel as though Mercutio had a biggest impact on their fate. Many scenes prove this but I will only list 3. The first scene that proves my argument is Act 1, Scene 4, before the Capulet party, when Mercutio, Romeo, and Benvolio are going to the party. Romeo is hesitant about going because he had a bad dream about a series of events, leading up to his untimely death. Mercutio, however, has the audacity to tell Romeo that dreams are nothing and that they are just dreams. But Mercutio keeps on telling Romeo to go to the party and to give love another chance, “And to sink in it, should you burthen love-Too great oppression for such a tender thing...If …show more content…
I am sped.” To compensate for the fact that Romeo did not want to fight Tybalt, Mercutio jumped in and fought Tybalt instead and that led to Mercutio’s death. But without his death, Romeo wouldn't have killed Tybalt, which wouldn't have led to him getting banished, and wouldn't have led to Romeo's and Juliet's death. Further proving that, Mercutio caused the sequence of events that led to their deaths. Throughout the story Mercutio shows that he is always there for Romeo and stands up for him and supports all of the decisions that Romeo makes; he was an unflinching friend to Romeo. Mercutio also didn’t care who Romeo was in love with, he just wanted Romeo to be happy and live life and not mope around and be sad all the time. Mercutio stood by Romeo no matter what was going on in his life. In my opinion Mercutio had the biggest impact on Romeo and Juliet’s lives. He caused them to meet, he caused them to die, but most of all he was a good friend toward Romeo. Mercutio caused almost everything that happened in Romeo and Juliet’s lives, even their tragic
He is often up and happy, which immediately turns to serious brooding. The best example of this comes at his death. He has been stabbed through by Tybalt’s cruel blade and the killer has flown. All his fellows gather around laughing when Mercutio yells that he is injured. After sending for a surgeon he stumbles about saying, “No, ‘tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door; but ‘tis enough, twill serve: ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man. I am peppered I warrant for this world. A plague o’ both your houses! Zounds, a dog, a rat, a mouse, a cat to scratch a man to death” (III.i.94-99). In this quote Mercutio seems to go from cracking jokes and making puns to all seriousness, screaming plague upon the quarrel between the two houses. This was very serious considering the plague was running rampant at that time, killing thousands of people. To wish plague on someone is to wish the most feared thing of their age on them and their family. This is not the only example of such emotional instability as he often ranges from very high to very low, creating quite the dramatic and loud character. Mercutio’s characteristics are wide and varied, making him into an extremely complex, extremely prominent character. Shakespeare places this persona of varying emotions who may not be thinking exactly what he seems to be into the story of Romeo and Juliet, a stage full of such
Many would agree that the death of these lovers cannot be blamed on anyone but themselves. This question cannot be answered without looking deeply into each character's involvement in the tragedy. In many ways, Mercutio can be blamed for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. If he had not persuaded Romeo to come to the Capulet?s Ball, Romeo would most likely have never fallen in love with Juliet. If Romeo hadn?t gone to the Capulets Ball, Tybalt would not have sought his life and in time forced Romeo to be banished and Mercutio and himself dead.
When suddenly Baz Luhrmann nineteen minutes into his work presents a drag Mercutio dressed scandalously in a ridiculous white wig and wearing red lipstick to top it all off, it seems he has no regard for the original Romeo and Juliet. In his portrayal of a character as crucial as Mercutio, Luhrmann crosses the fine line between the individual possessing eloquence and profuse wit Shakespeare creates, and a downright maniac. Before entering the Capulets’ mansion Mercutio’s acclaimed Queen Mab Speech in Act One, Scene Four, displays the aforementioned eloquence and vivid imagination of the character. Specifically, Mercutio claims, “Oh, then I see you’ve been with Queen Mab/...True, I talk of dreams,/Which are the children of an idle brain,/Begot of nothing but vain fantasy,”(I iv 53, 97-99). Anyone with a rational mind does not expect Mercutio to deliver his lines about dreams being merely the result of the anxieties and desires of those who sleep while holding ecstasy and jumping agitatedly. Luhrmann offers an insane Mercutio in his take on Romeo and Juliet and all it achieves is a massacre of the brilliance of the dialogue. The unconventional director stages the exchange to end with Romeo accepting a psychoactive drug inducing him in a euphoric state, then shattering any proceeding potential romantic mood.
The most famous foil character in ''Romeo and Juliet'' is Mercutio. He is known for his sharp wit and quick, often ribald, humor and is considered a foil to Romeo. He lacks Romeo's effusive romance, his adoration and almost courtly approach to the idea of love. He often urges Romeo to just find a woman to sleep with and stop worrying about the ephemeral, yet all consuming, love Romeo is desperate to achieve. Mercutio warns Romeo to be skeptical of love and not to rush ahead, but Romeo is all rush, no
In Act 1 Scene 1 lines 228-229 Benvolio tells Romeo “By giving liberty unto thine eyes.Examine other beauties.” This is Benvolio tells Romeo that he isn’t in a commitment any more so he can look at other women. I personally think he should have left Romeo alone and let him work through his emotions for a little longer, because it takes more than a day to get over someone. Then, at the Capulet party, Romeo experiences love at first sight when he sees Juliet, the enemy.Benvolio had encouraged Romeo to go to the party at the Capulets houses, through challenging his saying that Romeo could find someone better than Rosaline at the party. Since it was a Capulet house, Romeo was not supposed to be there. If Romeo had not gone to the party, he would have never met
In conclusion, in the play Romeo and Juliet both Romeo and Juliet make decisions that, because of their adolescents are quick and are not thought through which really affects their lives and those of the people close to them. In this day and age you see people who are making bad decisions, for example the use of drugs and underage drinking. The decision to do these things is most of the time done by people who are adolescents. These people dont think about the real consequences that it could have later in their live or event the damage that it does to their bodies right now. These people do it without
Romeo was very loyal to his friends and family, and it is possible that Mercutio thought that Romeo would help him fight off Tybalt (since he was unaware of Romeo and Juliet’s secret marriage that somewhat united Romeo and Tybalt). However, this argument is easily deemed invalid. Romeo was not in the town square when the fight had first begun, so Mercutio expected his help in the fight would be a far-fetched idea. A person who is not present cannot help or hinder the situation at hand. In addition, Romeo tried to break up the fight when he said, “Gentlemen, for shame forbear this outrage!
When Romeo is down, Mercutio is there for him, much like. the nurse is who Juliet turns to, when she needs to talk. She chooses to talk to the nurse, rather than her own mother. Mercutio is the one. who gets Romeo over Rosaline, and tells him that there is more to base.
The plot for Romeo and Juliet stems from a love story based on Romeo meeting Juliet at a ball where Tybalt from the Capulet family attends. Friction begins when Tybalt voices his dislike for Romeo of the Montague family. This sets the stage for a confrontation between Tybalt and Romeo. Mercutio's character takes on importance as the confrontation takes form. If there were no Mercutio than Juliet would still be alive. Unfortunately, Romeo would not be alive because Tybalt would have surely killed
The Significance of Mercutio in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet is about two lovers whose families are at war and how the two overcome the family feud for their love for each other. Mercutio is one of the central characters in the play; he is one of the prince's kinsmen and is best friend to Romeo of the Montague. household. The sand is a sand. The name Mercutio is derived from the word mercurial which means eloquent, active and changeable; Mercutio is all three.
In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Mercutio, a friend of Romeo plays a deep role within the play. Many characters in Romeo and Juliet can represent the masculine or feminine spaces. The masculine space is chaotic and more towards the sexual and material side of the play, which have more of a tragic potential. While the feminine space is peaceful, more romantic and spiritual in giving a better chance for the comic potential. Mercutio represents the masculine space while Romeo prefers the peacefulness of the feminine space. Mercutio tells Romeo to be rough with love, he tries to keep him within the masculine space after the ball, and he fools with the Juliet’s nurse because of his actions he pushes Romeo towards tragedy.
In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the views of love held by the character Romeo contrast sharply with the views of Mercutio. Romeo's character seems to suffer from a type of manic depression. He is in love with his sadness, quickly enraptured and easily crushed again on a passionate roller coaster of emotion. Mercutio, by contrast is much more practical and level headed. His perceptions are clear and quick, characterized by precise thought and careful evaluation. Romeo, true to his character begins his appearance in the play by wallowing in his depression over Rosaline who does not return his love:
Mercutio is a multi complex character in Williams Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet written in 1595. He's described as witty, cynical, loyal and misogynistic, although only a secondary character and appearing in only four scenes Mercutio is known for overshadowing Romeo in the play with his puns and witty dialogue. This comedic foil to Romeo is neither a Montague or a Capulet and lives outside the realms of the conflict however it's this tragic friendship that sets in Mercutio's role as a catalyst for the play turning from comedic to tragic .
Mercutio, though a minor character, had and enormous impact on the outcome of the play. Before the Capulet Ball, Romeo had been debating whether to go or not. Mercutio persuaded him to go by giving a big speech to him about a dream he had. This makes him partially responsible because the Ball is where Romeo first met Juliet. Mercutio also caused Romeo to be banished from Verona. Mercutio got in a fight with Tybalt and ended up dead. His death enraged Romeo enough to make him kill Tybalt in revenge. When the Prince saw what happened, he sent Romeo into exile. Romeo's banishment to Mantua made it near impossible for Romeo and Juliet to see each other. Mercutio was to blame, though only partially for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.
I believe the person who influenced Romeo and Juliet the most was the two heads of the families, Montague, and Capulet. The reason for my thinking is that if you go back to the beginning where all of this started and their deaths became destiny, it was because they could not be together because their families were in a blood feud. If the families were not fighting then I think that Romeo and Juliet would have been able to be together and the lives of Benvolio and Tybalt could have been avoided too.