Comedy has always played a part in numerous performances to enrich happiness and lighten the impression. The theatrical production, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, is filled with various entertaining elements and characters. Mercutio, an enthusiastic character, is in the middle of the Montague and Capulet family feud that creates destruction and calamity in the city of Verona. He uses animated mockery, vivid dreams, and mischievous teasing to change the melancholy atmosphere. Many comedic elements occur throughout the play, and through these hilarious events, Shakespeare shows even in a tragedy the tale can be amusing. Humor adds a livelier mood to the drama when Mercutio, Romeo's witty friend, teases Romeo …show more content…
Shakespeare uses Mercutio's misanthropic attitude to distinguish Romeo and Juliet's love as ingenuous, divine, and passionate. This playwright exploits the provoking and exasperating lines of Mercutio to indicate a humorous act; to demonstrate, Mercutio arouses, “One nick-name for her purblind son and heir, / Young Adam Cupid, he that shot so trim / When King Cophetua loved the beggar-maid! / He heareth not, he stirreth not, he moveth not; / The ape is dead, and I must conjure him. / I conjure thee by Rosaline’s bright eyes” (2.1). Mercutio's vulgar physical imagery and sensual jokes contrast abruptly with Romeo's spiritual description of love. Mercutio's harassing is ironic because he is unaware that Romeo has fallen in love with Juliet and mistakenly recalls images of Rosaline to shake him out of his daze. This entertaining scene can be perceived as a laughable moment in the performance because Mercutio presents a contrast of light humor to dark tragedy. Once Mercutio relates “Cupid, he that shot so trim” to Romeo being blindly in love it expresses the humor of suddenly falling in love. The audience pictures a visionless, funny figure darting arrows, which attract couples. Moreover, Mercutio pronounces that Romeo “heareth not, he stirreth not, he moveth not;” hence, Mercutio’s hysterical portrayal of Romeo influences the comic relief. The uproarious character, Mercutio adds satire to this overwhelming
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
In “The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare, two very young people fall in love but cannot be with each other because of the feud in between their families. The feud ends when Romeo and Juliet both kill themselves because of heartbreak over the other. The minor characters Mercutio, Tybalt, and Friar Lawrence serve as foils to Romeo, to help support the theme of patience.
Throughout the speech, he frequently adds a sort of flare to the way he speaks; for example, he uses over ten lines(in the text)to simply describe the size of Queen Mab. The manner in which he speaks is loud, confident, and stylish; therefore, he attracts attention. He also manages to subtly mock Romeo when speaking about how those who are in love dream of love; this is to add a comedic flare, even though that is what he is. Mercutio’s entertainer like personality is due to the fact that he is amusing. In this tragic and serious play, he is the obnoxious character that breaks the seriousness for a while with a witty remark.It also explains why he is the dramatic foil to Romeo. This goes along with his flamboyant attitude. Nevertheless, he is also vulgar at times, which adds to his loud personality. Now, brown represents Earth and reliability, and Mercutio, in his own way, represents
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
William Shakespeare, the author of many various forms of writing, was born in Stratford upon Avon, in 1564. He wrote plays and sonnets alike, and occasionally combined the two. “Romeo and Juliet” was an example of this as many sonnets are used in it so as to display their love. This play was perhaps the shortest one that he ever wrote, and it is a tragedy that still warms the hearts of people today. It is, no doubt, amongst the most well known plays by him, and is greatly enjoyed by children and adults alike. In this essay, I will identify the various techniques used in this work of art, explicitly focusing on dramatic irony and foreshadowing.
Romeo and Juliet is the tragic story of two young, “star-crossed” lovers from feuding families, destined for disaster. The Capulets and the Montagues have an ancient grudge on one another that has been passed down over generations. Unfortunately, Romeo and Juliet end up victims of their families’ vicious loathing. Romeo and Juliet’s story has several intertwining themes such as the aforementioned hatred between the Capulets and Montagues and the revenge Romeo strives for after his friend Mercutio’s death. Also, the love and passion between Romeo and Juliet and the loyalty of Romeo and his friends. Honour and revenge also feature frquently throughout the play including Juliet’s pressure to honour her family, and the revenge Romeo sees as his duty when Tybalt kills Mercutio.
Who would be willing to die for their loved ones? Romeo and Juliet would and did. Romeo and Juliet’s love and death brought two families together who could not even remember the origin of their hate. When the parents saw what their children's love for each other, they realized that their fighting had only led to suffering and insoluble conflict. Romeo and Juliet loved each other to an extent that they killed themselves rather than live apart. They did it with no hiatus. Juliet says before she kills herself, “O happy dagger, This is thy sheath. There rust and let me die.”( 5, 3, 182-183) demonstrating how she would rather die than not be with him.
Use of Humor in Romeo and Juliet & nbsp; Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare's most famous plays. One. could give many reasons as to why this play became such a huge success, but one of the most important reasons could be the use of humour in the play. The main reason for doing this could be to relieve the tensions in the play. and to entertain and keep the Elizabethan audience interested. &
Romeo changes throughout the book. When Romeo went to the Capulets party, he was in love with Rosaline. He saw Juliet and immediately loved her. In act two scene two it Romeo says this about Juliet, "Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven, Having some business, do entreat her eyes To twinkle in their spheres till they return." He compares her eyes to stars in the night sky. Romeo talks about Juliet and is wanting to talk to her. This shows how Romeo is loving and sweet. In the last act of the book Romeo sees Juliet dead in the tomb. She is not really dead, but he doesn't know that. He kills himself so he can be with her in heaven. Romeo is a very loving person, but in one scene he turns into a very hateful person.
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:
In this context, Romeo's last words in this scene are tremendously significant. His sense of dread, after Mercutio's strange behavior, has deepened rather than diminished, and for the first time he actually defines what it is he feels: he senses that the events which are about to unfold will result in his death-the ultimate dreamless sleep. He is, of course, right. The violence which Queen Mab will set in motion that night are no dreams, but real. And yet Romeo seems to realize that there is nothing to be done except face the future squarely; there is no running from it. "But he, that hath the steerage of my course, / Direct my sail!" (I, iv, 112-13). His final words, "On, lusty gentlemen!", are to Mercutio and their other friends, but they might have been addressed to himself as well. It is his passion, his impetuosity, his lust, which will spell his doom-all of it foreshadowed in Mercutio's "talk of dreams."
Humor can be found to be a virtue and a vice; however, in the grimmest situations humor may allow the gravity to turn into glee and gayness. Mercutio’s greatest aspect is his sense of humor. Which he doesn’t fail to display even in the most inappropriate moments. An instance of such portrayal is during the scene where Romeo has ditched Benvolio and Mercutio in pursuit of Juliet, in the Capulet’s garden. In which Mercutio comically says, “Nay, I’ll conjure too. / Romeo! Humors! Madman! Passion! Lover!” (II.i.7-8). This moment can be considered much graver than Mercutio depicts it to be which makes this scene much more like comic relief than a serious scene. The fact that there are Montague’s in Capulet’s territory is serious enough and can cause some major consequences for the perpetrators if caught. And now to betray their positio...
Countless people all around the world are familiar with the idea of the famously tragic tale of two star-crossed lovers in William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet. Their heart wrenching love story has been an inspiration for many literature pieces throughout various genres and later cinematic works of art. The young couple was not only memorable for their passionate, devoted love, but also the tragic events that ultimately lead to their death. One aspect of the play that has a strong impact on the audience is Shakespeare’s use of charismatic and compelling language seen throughout the play. The unique personality traits used to describe Romeo and Juliet allows many to relate to the young lovers. Shakespeare’s use of descriptive language, allows the audience to understand the societal expectations, beliefs, and values set out for the men and women of Verona, Italy. Romeo’s character, however, can be been seen defying these expectations and also
In William Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet,” Mercutio is introduced as Romeo (the main character) and Benvolio’s (Romeo’s cousin and friend) good friend and relative of the Prince. Mercutio is a very beloved friend to Romeo, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t unkind or disrespectful. He is also very dramatic and perverted, yet somehow laid back and relaxed at the same time. He is very interesting in the way that he can seem kind, but be an awful person and friend at the same time. If Mercutio weren’t as dramatic or such an attention-seeker, he wouldn’t have died and eventually caused Tybalt, Paris, Romeo, and Juliet’s deaths and the sadness that followed each death.