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Romeo and juliet literary analysis
Grade 9 analysis of fate in romeo and juliet
Grade 9 analysis of fate in romeo and juliet
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Mercutio character & quote analysis
By: Johnson Tran
Section 1: Character description (Mercutio)
During the story “Romeo and Juliet”, written by William Shakespeare, the character, Mercutio, plays a role that impacts the story completely. Mercutio is a very good friend of Romeo’s and Benvolio’s. Mercutio has many characteristics which William Shakespeare defines and delivers a deeper understanding as the story continues. Mercutio is a kinsman therefore he is neither a Capulet nor Montague. In Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio makes up a lot of the funny atmosphere which makes the story more engaging. Mercutio makes many jokes and because of these jokes his outgoing and amusing personality begins to show. Mercutio is a tall man with blonde hair. He is decent at sword fighting and when he talks he tends to use hand gestures which send a stronger message when he talks. As Romeo’s best friend, Mercutio remains loyal to him throughout the story and is also benevolent as he even fought Tybalt in Romeo’s name. Mercutio is a reckless person. When his mind is set on something he will complete it and no one can stop him from completing it. During the scene when Mercutio expresses his outrage towards Tybalt, Romeo intervenes the fight and tries to stop it, Mercutio continues to fight and in the end Mercutio meets his end. Even after Mercutio is stabbed he insisted that it was”a scratch, a scratch” (Act III, Scene I, Line 89) this shows how tough he is. It was foolish of him but he wanted to show how tough he was to Romeo. Mercutio is also very supportive. He has a kind side which he only shows to Romeo. When Romeo was heartbroken because of Rosaline Mercutio encouraged Romeo by telling him “gentle Romeo, we must have you dance.” (Act I, Scene IV,...
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...s Benvolio his thoughts on Rosaline which shows how he cares about Romeo as much as himself or even more.
Quote: “No hare, sir, unless a hare, sir, in a Lenten pie, that is something stale and hoar ere it be spent.” (Act II, Scene IV, Line 119-120)
Modern day language: “You are like a hare that is useless unless it is in a pie that doesn’t have meat which is something stale and moldy.”
This quote is said from Mercutio to Juliet’s nurse. Mercutio is shown to have a sharp tongue because of this quote. This gives a deeper insight on Mercutio’s character because it shows how he likes to joke. This joke is also said towards Juliet nurse which is Capulet. Even though Mercutio isn’t a Montague he will be loyal to the Montague and be against the Capulet.
Reference (APA format)
Shakespeare, W., & Levenson, J. L. (2000). Romeo and Juliet. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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
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
“Consort! What, dost thou make us minstrels? An thou make minstrels of us, look to hear nothing but discords. Here’s my fiddlestick; here’s that shall make you dance. ‘Zounds, consort!” (Shakespeare, page 120).
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
Examine other beauties!” (1.1.236). The Capulets hire the help of a servant to send out invitations for the feast, and Romeo accidentally gets an invitation.... ... middle of paper ...
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.
Mercutio doesn’t have much respect towards women even when Juliet’s nurse comes to deliver a message to Romeo, Mercutio messes with her. His actions say that he doesn’t care for what the nurse wants to tell Romeo.. As the nurse tries to tell Romeo Juliet’s message Mercutio gets in the way making fun of her by saying she’s ugly, “Good Peter, to hide her face; for her fan’s the fairer of the two.”(Shakespeare, 2.4: 89)
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.
They will go to extremes to be together, such extremes as death. Romeo is obsessed with a pledged nun named Rosaline, whom he cries about many times at the beginning of the play. He tells his cousin (Benvolio), “She is too fair, too wise, wisely too fair to merit bliss by making me despair/ Do I live dead that live to tell it now” (I i 217-220).
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.
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 Romeo and Juliet it stays true that the noble character Benvolio knows the diversity between what to do and what not to do. Benvolio is the character to help others out of situations that can be heated,and offering guidance when needed.Although in Act 3,of the play during the fight between the Capulet and Montague it drove how Benvolio was a deceiver to his friends. Benvolio's character reflects on many people today,showing that there is good and bad in the world;and as people we need to learn how to help each other when situations go
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
Montague and his wife discuss Romeo’s strange behavior with Benvolio and ask him why he is acting that way. They find Romeo and have Benvolio talk to him. Benvolio advises him to forget Rosaline, but Romeo refuses.
...yalty. The line said by Mercutio: “O calm, dishonourable, vile submission! Alla stoccata carries it away (He draws) Tybalt, you ratcatcher, will you walk” The use of Descriptive triplet in the words ‘vile,’ ‘dishonourable’ and ‘submission’ all have negative connotations which emphasises Mercutio’s anger with Romeo because he won’t defend for himself, thinking Romeo is submissive and cowardly in not wanting to fight.. Mercutio had paid the ultimate price of love, to protect Romeo’s honour and loyalty, his life. Mercutio’s tone of bitterness emphasises his anger with the conflict with the two families taking his life cursing them both (families): “I am hurt. A plague a’ both house! I am sped. Is he gone and hath nothing.”