How Does Shakespeare Present Mercutio

Compare the ways that Shakespeare and Luhrmann present the character of Mercutio.

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 .

When introduced to the play Shakespeare presents Mercutio as possessing a sexual idea of love, through his cynical views polarised

to that of Romeo's idealisation of love. This is shown in 'when maids lie on their backs ,' this sexual position suggests that Mercutio has an objective view of women, as it illustrates his idea of regarding love as solely physical. Furthermore the woman being in a low position represents her as vulnerable and weak which is how women would have been viewed in an Elizabethan patriarchal society.

These views are another sort to Romeos who believes in the traditional poetic love as seen in Petrarch's sonnets , shown when he uses the cliché comparison of love to the thorns on a rose. These ideas are mocked by Mercutio in ' prick love for pricking and you beat love down,' through this pun Mercutio shows their opposing views on love as well as their close relationship ,seen by him trying to cheer Romeo as well as him being the only friend who can mock Romeo successfully in the play, this ribalding wit sets in Romeo's role as the innocent protagonist and

Mercutio as a foil to Romeo . Mercutio's Queen Mab speech, is told through storytelling, as it allows the Elizabethan audience to grasp the message of the speech, an alternative interpretation is he uses this method to emphasise the naivety and childlikeness of love, as stories are for children. It demonstrates the full extent of this cynical views especially on women, as the words 'Queen' and 'Mab' would've been associated to prostitutes by Elizabethan England. Although cynical, his views expressed in the speech show an accurate portrayal of society, as he describes the violence, desires and views of Elizabethan England. Queen Mab is demonstrated as manipulative, as she invades people's minds, turning their desires more extreme from 'O'er ladies' lips, who straight dream on kisses dream,' to 'O'er a soldier's neck.....dreams he of cutting foreign throats,' the speech slowly turns into something darker which suggests the structure of the speech is purposely written to resemble that of the structure of the play from starting light hearted and comedic to then transpire into an increased pace leading to violence, which sets in Mercutio being presented as prophetic. Mercutio also possesses cynical views on dreams as they are ' children of an idle brain,' the Queen Mab speech demonstrates this , that dreams are the product of earthly desires and can therefore easily be used against you. This would link into Elizabethan context as they believed your position and gender held influence over the interpretations of your dreams and therefore your status binds you to your future. Mercutio further shows this when he claims 'dreamers often lie,' the pun 'lie' suggests Mercutio believes that dreams lie, they don't reflect reality but fantasy's of human beings and will only enslave you.
Baz Luhrmann in contrast to Shakespeare presents Mercutio as explosive and volatile. Mercutio enters in a red sports car playing loud music, the digetic music is used to present Mercutio as intimidating. His high status is shown by the low angle close- up of his personalised number plate as well as emphasising his vanity. The red colour of his car demonstrates his volatile and dangerous character as well as suggesting his platonic love for Romeo. Similarly to Shakespeare Luhrmann has presented Mercutio as prophetic through the colour of his car as it could be foreshadowing the danger yet to come. Luhrmann shows Mercutio's and Romeo's polarised views through costumes, Mercutio is wearing a sparkly revealing outfit seen to be objectifying women through his over sexualised movements whereas Romeo is wearing a Knights outfit the present him as chivalrous and gallantry an idealistic presentation compared to Mercutio's cynical representation on women. Whereas Shakespeare presents Queen Mab as manipulative, Luhrmann presents the fairy as addictive through the portrayal of an ecstasy pill as well as illustrating the addictive nature of the dreams as it allows escapism from reality. This representation of Queen Mab would allow the modern audience relate to the feeling of being in a dream like euphoric state due the 90s drug scene. Through fireworks in the sky at the time of his arrival and a massive firework at the end of his speech, Mercutio is presented as explosive. Luhrmann through their costumes both being silver portrays their close friendship, this closeness is further emphasised through their frequent body and eye contact. Similarly to Shakespeare, Luhrmann also presents Mercutio and Romeo's relationship through building on each other language as seen in Mercutio: 'that dreamers often lie,' Romeo: 'while they do dream things true.' The pun of 'lie' illustrated here shows their close friendship and also further emphasises Mercutio's witty character.
In act 2 scene 4 Shakespeare illustrates Mercutio as loyal, first shown when he states Tybalt's challenge of Romeo is also '' a challenge on my life'' this depicts Mercutio's strong platonic love for Romeo as he's stating he will be his second and that if Romeo's hurt he will take over the fight to defend his friends honour, this would have been seen as courageous by an Elizabethan audience as they believed duelling was the only way to settle disputes to keep their reputation and respect.

This close relationship is further shown by Mercutio, using rhetorical questions, in “why, is not this better now than groaning for love? Now art thou sociable, now art thou Romeo?” by complementing him with the adjective 'sociable' Mercutio is trying to cheer up Romeo, developing the audiences sense of their close relationship and providing a catalyst for subsequent tragedy. This is ironic because although Mercutio believes he was the one to cheer Romeo up in reality the audience knows it was Juliet that did. This infers to the reader that although they have a close relationship Mercutio has a false impression of Romeo, as he presents himself as someone he's not, seen in the sexual pun ''why then is my pump well flowered'' he is seen to be using this to humour Mercutio to keep their friendship, this displays that their relationship is not based on honesty but lies, which is used by Shakespeare to add to the tragedy of the play. In addition in this scene Shakespeare is again presenting

Mercutio through his views on women depicted through his bawdy humor in interactions with the nurse, '' An old hare hoar'' through the pun ''hoar'' you can see Mercutio's disrespect for women as without knowing her he has insinuated that she is a prostitute, an Elizabethan society would find this witty humour entertaining and pay no offence to the insults directed towards the woman due to them being in a patriarchal society, with women always being treated lower than men this also links into the theme of gender as the way she is treated and perceived is according to her sex. Shakespeare repetitively presents Mercutio through his views on women to emphasise Romeo's and Mercutio's opposing views on love and Mercutio's role as a foil to Romeo. Mercutio is also again seen to be criticising Romeo's idealism in 'Dido a dowdy, Cleopatra a gipsy, Helen and Hero hildings and harlots,' by mocking tragic figures in history he again emphasises the foolishness of love as it only ends in tragedy, through these cynical views he is also seen to be foreshadowing the tragic conclusion to the play as well as foreshadowing his own death which illustrates the recurring theme of fate.