Mercutio

Mercutio

      Mercutio is widely perceived as one of the most complex and interesting characters of Romeo & Juliet. His clever use of words and witty remarks makes him stand out from the more sentimental characters. Although Mercutio has a generally laidback personality, he is shown to be a critical thinker owing to the relationships he has to people such as Romeo, often criticizing his ideology of love.

     Compared to Romeo's sullen personality Mercutio has a generally upbeat outlook towards life and chooses not to be caught up in emotionally distressing dilemmas such as relationships opting for a more "hit it and quit it" lifestyle when it comes to women. Mercutio does not believe in such things as fate or the supernatural and thinks that the actions of a person determine their future. For example upon hearing Romeo mention he had a dream he replied that he also had a dream and that "dreamers often lie". Although usually laidback Mercutio switches moods very easily as he teased Romeo playfully about Rosaline but then adopting a more serious and erratic tone during his Queen Mab speech.

"O, then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you. She is the fairies’ midwife, and she comes In shape no bigger than an agate-stone On the fore-finger of an alderman, Drawn with a team of little atomies Athwart men’s noses as they lie asleep; Her wagon-spokes made of long spiders’ legs, The cover of the wings of grasshoppers, The traces of the smallest spider’s web, The collars of the moonshine’s watery beams, Her whip of cricket’s bone, the lash of film, Her wagoner a small grey-coated gnat, Not so big as a round little worm Prick’d from the lazy finger of a maid; Her chariot is an empty hazel-nut Made by the joiner squirrel or old grub, Time out o’ mind the fairies’ coachmakers. And in this state she gallops night by night Through lovers’ brains, and then they dream of love; O’er courtiers’ knees, that dream on court’sies straight, O’er lawyers’ fingers, who straight dream on fees, O’er ladies’ lips, who straight on kisses dream, Which oft the angry Mab with blisters plagues, Because their breaths with sweetmeats tainted are: Sometime she gallops o’er a courtier’s nose, And then dreams he of smelling out a suit; And sometime comes she with a tithe-pig’s tail Tickling a parson’s nose as a’ lies asleep, Then dreams, he of another benefice: Sometime she driveth o’er a soldier’s neck, And then dreams he of cutting foreign throats, Of breaches, ambuscadoes, Spanish blades, Of healths five-fathom deep; and then anon Drums in his ear, at which he starts and wakes, And being thus frighted swears a prayer or two And sleeps again. This is that very Mab That plats the manes of horses in the night, And bakes the elflocks in foul sluttish hairs, Which once untangled, much misfortune bodes: This is the hag, when maids lie on their backs, That presses them and learns them first to bear, Making them women of good carriage: This is she—"- Mercutio, Queen Mab Speech, Act 1

      Due to his wild and fun personality readers and audience generally tend to take a liking to Mercutio as he is such a bright contrast to the more sombre characters of the play. He is portrayed as a party animal which more modern people can relate to rather than the intense political, religious, and family affairs of his time. I believe Shakespeare had his own sense of humour that he inserted into the play in the form of Mercutio. It is already known that Shakespeare liked to insert his personal opinions under the guise of character personalities such as the corrupt Friar Lawrence and how much of the clergy at the time was corrupt. Knowing this I think Shakespeare enjoyed writing about Mercutio as it was a piece of his own mind about topics such as love and conflict between families.

     Although Mercutio is neither Montague or Capulet, he spends most of his time with members of the Montague family. His relationship with one of his closest friends, Romeo, is something that he holds dear to him. He is a fiercely loyal man when it comes to protecting his friends as shown when he stepped up to duel Tybalt in Romeos place. As he lays dying however he curses both the Montague and Capulet families for their long lasting feud and blames Romeo for his death.