The Role of Comic Characters in the Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet
Shakespeare uses Mercutio and the Nurse to explore the relationship
between comedy and tragedy in Romeo and Juliet. These characters, in
their comic roles, serve as foils for Romeo and Juliet by highlighting
the couple's youth and innocence as well as the pure and vulnerable
quality of their love.
Mercutio, Romeo's quick-tempered, witty friend, links the comic and
violent action of the play. He is initially presented as a playful
rogue who possesses both a brilliant comic capacity and an
opportunistic, galvanized approach to love. Later, Mercutio's death
functions as a turning point for the action of the play. In death, he
becomes a tragic figure, shifting the play's direction from comedy to
tragedy.
Mercutio's first appearance in Act I, Scene 4, shows Romeo and his
friend to be of quite opposite characters. Mercutio mocks Romeo as a
helpless victim of an overzealous, undersatisfied love. Romeo
describes his love for Rosaline using the clichéd image of the rose
with thorns to stress the pain of his unrequited love.
Mercutio ridicules Romeo as a fashionable, Petrarchan lover for his
use of conventional poetic imagery. He puns lewdly, "If love be rough
with you, be rough with love; / Prick love for pricking and you beat
love down." Whereas the naïve Romeo is in love with the idea of being
in love and devoted to the distant Rosaline, Mercutio is a predatory
lover, hunting for objectified, female prey. His bawdy wit thus sets
up Romeo to take the role of the innocent tragic hero.
When Mercutio delivers his Queen Mab speech (also in Act I, Scene 4),
he again c...
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further isolates the couple and fuels the tragic consequences of their
elevated love. Thus, while the Nurse drives some of the most comedic
scenes in the play, within her comic commentaries are woven the
subtler threads of tragedy created by enslavement to social
conventions.
Shakespeare uses the comic roles of Mercutio and the Nurse to develop
the roles of Romeo and Juliet as young tragic lovers. Prior to Tybalt
and Mercutio's deaths, the Nurse had served primarily as comic relief.
After Mercutio dies, the Nurse's comic role changes to a less
sympathetic one-helping to shift the focus to the tragic plight of
Romeo and Juliet. Both comic characters' rejection of the ideal of
love shared by Romeo and Juliet emphasizes the vulnerable quality of
that love and its inability to survive in the world of the play.
Mercutio is an extremely cocky jokester who views the subject of love as a very physical matter. When the Montagues are on their way to the Capulet party, Mercutio mocks Romeo saying, "If love be rough with you, be rough with love. Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down" (I, iv, 27-28). Mercutio is trying to comfort his friend by proclaiming that Rosaline is just another love prick in his life, and Romeo will love again after this phase of heartbreak. Several lines past, Mercutio's Queen Mab speech about a fairy creeping on people's dreams stretches on and on (I, iv, 53-94). Romeo tries to calm his friend, and the kinsman of the Prince admits to talking of nothing; he is one "that loves to hear himself talk and will speak more in a minute than he will stand in a month" (II, iv, 137-139). His tangent proves that his witty, light-hearted remarks puncture yet highlight the passionate, love-seeking qualities of Romeo.
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 excerpt shows how even Mercutio recognizes the feud between the Montagues and Capulets being destructive, and how it is now gotten so out of hand he has been dragged into it. Mercutio tries to open Romeo’s eyes on how if this feud continues there will be a demise for both families; but by Romeo choosing to ignore this advice and killing Tybalt he is setting himself up for his failure/downfall. Thus, Romeo is shown as a tragic hero because his demise is partly his fault and not an accident.
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:
Although they are the basis of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, these main characters are dull, undynamic, and do not specifically appeal to certain readers. Nurse could be considered as a more interesting character because she brings her wit, drama and insight into the plotline.
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.
In Act One of William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, we meet Romeo, Mercutio, and Tybalt. Right away, we get an idea of who these characters are and what kind of role they will play throughout the story. Romeo, Mercutio, and Tybalt share many distinctive characteristics and personalities in the story. We learn that Romeo is the romantic and handsome son of the Montagues. In the beginning of the story, he was depressed, but his mood quickly changed as the story went on. We also learn that Mercutio is Romeo’s closest and good friend who tries to make Romeo forget about his first love, Rosaline. He is a great entertainer and he’s very sarcastic too. Instantly, we learn that Tybalt is a Capulet and Juliet’s cousin. He is very hot-headed, aggressive, and violent. He loathes the Montagues very much. Finally, in Act One of William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, we meet three characters, Romeo, Mercutio, and Tybalt and we directly get an idea of what the characters are like.
Romeo is the only son of Lord Montague, the head of a reputed and rich
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.
The story Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy of two kids who regardless of their family feud, fall in love. Romeo and Juliet is a play by William Shakespeare which takes us back to the Renaissance era and tells of a tragic love story. Because of the love both Romeo and Juliet had for each other, they suffered tragic consequences. In the end of the play both characters die because of their love. There are many characters that are to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet such as, Lord Capulet, the Prince, and Friar John. Although some may argue about who could be blamed, the person that would mostly be blamed is the nurse. The nurse is the character that is responsible for their deaths, because she encourages Juliet to fall in love with Romeo, she does not prevent Romeo and Juliet’s relationship, and she keeps secrets from everyone.
to light that it is a false death. Romeo rushes to her side to murder
love for him, "be but sworn my love, And I'll no longer be a Capulet."
“O Romeo, O Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?” This quote from one of Shakespeare’s most well known plays “Romeo and Juliet” is probably one of the most well known quotes from the story. The tragedy of “Romeo and Juliet” starts out as a tale of two star-crossed lovers whose fate led them to meet while they each came from two families who hate each other. Throughout the play, they fall more and more in love and are so desperate to be together they end up killing themselves in the process. This may have ended the feud, but it still ended with two teenagers, one’s mother, one’s cousin, and one’s best friend dead. Romeo and Juliet may have killed themselves, but their deaths were caused by fate, and their families’ hatred toward one another.