As life proceeds its slow waltz, and humans live their lives, meeting countless other people in the same predicament of nearing an unavoidable end. In this cycle of monotony and conversation there can be people found that are different. Those who are never bothered by the burdens of death and monotony, and hurry through life to greet death as a lost friend they had encountered many times on their sprees of invincibility. From the handful of people who resemble these characteristics, one can be found in the William Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet. In which the zany character to be found is Mercutio, who is of neither Montague nor Capulet but falls to the hands of Capulet in the defense of Romeo of Montague in a fight of a childish altercation. In which even at his fall in Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare still displays his distinct characteristics that greatly define him such as: humor and impulsiveness.
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...
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...s both traits in cases of somber situations such as the moments leading up to his death, such as his decision to stay and fight Tybalt, and once defeated ending with a joke. As a character Mercutio resembled a man of foolish courage. This is a major issue for many of the characters in this play for many of the plans created follow the gist of being brash and quickly, but not thoroughly, prepared. Yet in life preparation is sometimes not always granted and having this swift impulsiveness may benefit some in certain situations. Although life may seem to always take some calculated thinking before proceeding to the next step, but sometimes it just requires a little instinct and gut feeling for the most important and hardest decisions.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William. “Romeo and Juliet.” Introduction to Shakespeare. Evanston:
McDougal Littell, 2003. 16-151. Print
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.
Mercutio is a confusing character. He rarely seems to hate anybody yet he is almost always “Hot-headed;” getting into fights and losing his patience towards others.
Mercutio's prankster personality plus Tybalt's hatred of all Montagues instigates the common end to three very different characters. Romeo does not wish to draw a sword, and therefore becomes the peacemaker. "Gentlemen, for shame! Forbear this outrage!" (III, i, 82). Under Romeo's peacekeeping arm, Tybalt thrusts his rapier, and Mercutio curses both Montagues and Capulets. "I am hurt. A plague a both houses! I am sped" (III, i, 86-88). To Mercutio, destiny is not the cause of his death, but rather specific people brought about his fatality. His behavior is static as he teases while being carried away by
(CLOSING STATEMENTS) With his audacious nature, Romeo kills Tybalt in a challenge and later kills himself, which causes significant problems in the plot. Unfortunately, as a result of Romeo’s actions, Juliet stabs herself with his dagger because she no longer wants to live in a world without him. Along with Romeo, Mercutio is another character who makes poor decisions based on his overdramatic personality and tendency to disagree with Benvolio's way of thinking. These two choices cause characters around Mercutio to not take him seriously, and for this reason, he later dies in the play. Although Mercutio’s actions impact the storyline, Friar Laurence’s choices primarily cause the play to become such a tragedy. For instance, his poor decisions to marry Romeo and Juliet and flee Juliet’s tomb eventually cause the couple’s love for one another to become inseparable, and they take their lives at the end of the plot. (CLINCHER) As the readers delve deeper into Romeo and Juliet and unravel what went wrong, they will begin to realize that the decisions made by the characters created catastrophic
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
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 began, so Mercutio expecting 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! Tybalt! Mercutio! The Prince expressly hath forbid this bandying in Verona streets. Hold, Tybalt! Good Mercutio!” (Shakespeare 121). Romeo tried to stop the fight and therefore gave Mercutio more time before death, albeit minimal. The blame cannot be placed on Romeo since he did all that he could to stop the fight from
Shakespeare strongly establishes Mercutio’s desire to prove himself as strong through his unwillingness to back down, his carelessness to danger, and his need to be seen. Shakespeare displays Mercutio as a stubborn character when he refuses to leave even when Benvolio urges him to because the conversation was becoming heated. This is best shown when Mercutio says “I will not budge for no man’s pleasure, I.” (1, 1, 58) He uses his persistence to prove himself as though he is stronger than all of the Capulets who were getting angry. Even when the sense to leave the scene is presented by Benvolio, Mercutio abandons his better thinking and stands his ground.
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:
& nbsp;   ; Romeo's friend Mercutio was a very witty energetic man. If he held his tongue and thought about what he said before acting on them he would not have gotten into so many fights. His jokes were probably taken lightly. friends Romeo and Benvolio because they were accustomed to hearing Mercutio's voice constantly. Mercutio should not have tried to tease Tybalt because of the rivalry between Tybalt's family and Romeo's family. & nbsp; While avenging Mercutio, Romeo should have thought about the consequences of slaying Tybalt. On one hand he filled the urge to kill the man. who had killed his friend.
== = == With these words Mercutio is attempting to entice Romeo into a playful and social mood and this gives us an insight into Mercutio's personality- good humoured, witty and charismatic. I think that Mercutio's main role in the play emphasises these traits
Mercutio is the Prince’s kinsman and Romeo’s close friend, he’s not a Capulet nor a Montague and is one of the few characters that can mingle with both households. In this scene, Mercutio, unlike Romeo, doesn’t think that dreams can be warnings and explains that dreams are the outcome of the stress and eagerness of those that sleep. Because Mercutio isn’t a Capulet or Montague, he’s invited to the Capulet’s party while Benvolio
Mercutio, is a witty skeptic, a foil for Romeo. An anti-romantic who mock's Romeo's visions of love and is a friend to our leading hero himself.
One of the many ways Romeo Montague shows his noble qualities is through his loyalty to Mercutio and Juliet .Ro meo is willing to die for those he cares about as he speaks to Benvolio his strong loyalty is proven as his friend,mercutio, lay dead ”For mercutio's soul is but a little way above our heads… either thou or I must go with him.” as he states he or Tybalt must die for him to feel at peace (3.1. 125). Shakespeare uses cosmic irony to make us expect a violent end when he runs head first into a life or death instance but in the end romeo ends up with a mostly peaceful end by poison. Romeo fights his cousin of less than an hour he has watched his friend fall to a blade of his own kin.Romeo’s blade brings about
“What's wrong my dear?” Albert said concerned. “I don't think we are a good match” she responded coldly. Albert was hurt and taken aback “What do you mean? I love you more than the world!” he said. Piggi snorted “ I don't love you, I love Porksalot! He is better looking than you are” Wiith those words Piggi trotted away.