Comparing Mercutio And Tybalt In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

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Mercutio and Tybalt are characters with inherently similar characteristics, but hold contrasting attitudes in the way the deal with in everyday life. Both Tybalt and Mercutio play integral roles in the famous play “Romeo and Juliet’ by William Shakespeare. To summarize, ‘Romeo and Juliet’ tells the tale of two lovers from opposing families that fall in love. The love they have for each other is forbidden, and after a series of misfortunate events, it results with them taking their own lives, thus expelling the long lasting feud between their families. The event that sends the play towards its doom began with Mercutio’s death at the hands of Tybalt. After lamenting the loss of his friend, Romeo then sets out after Tybalt on a quest of vengeance, …show more content…

He serves as a comedic foil to Romeo, a sort of anthesis, whose vivacity, witty humour and boisterous intellect contradict that of Romeo’s brooding, romantic and naive nature. The same can be said for Tybalt and Mercutio; although in a slightly different manner. Mercutio clashes with Tybalt in respect of the fact that Mercutio presents himself as lax yet lively person bursting with energy with a propensity for comedy and wit, which contrast with Tybalt, who shows himself to be arrogant, serious, quarrelsome and hot tempered. Much like that has been previously said, Tybalt and Mercutio deal issues very differently, and simply exude a different presence amongst their peers; with that being said there are several distinct qualities that overlap amongst the two. Mercutio is skeptical cynic, thinking love is nothing but a physical pursuit, fictitious and nothing to be taken seriously. Tybalt himself is a very bitter person, cynical at any attempt of reconciliation. A slight difference between this however lies in the fact that Mercutio’s cynicism is played in an often lighter tone whilst Tybalt lies begrudgingly on the darker side. Mercutio does not care much for love and feuding very much, whilst Tybalt holds the latter very

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