Mercutio Is To Blame In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

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It is human nature to place blame and point fingers at someone, but it is a lot less common to take responsibility for your own actions. Sometimes, we put ourselves in positions that are detrimental to our lives or well-being. Even though we are responsible, it is likely that we will place the blame elsewhere. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio found himself with a similar conflict. Tybalt, Juliet's cousin, killed Mercutio during a fight in the town square. It would be easy to say that Tybalt caused Mercutio’s death since it was his sword that killed him, but that is simply false. Mercutio ignored many warnings and continued to antagonize the fight that lead to his death. The character ultimately responsible for Mercutio’s death is
Had Mercutio unintentionally set Tybalt off, it would be easier to place blame elsewhere. However, Mercutio made many attempts to start a fight. When Tybalt asked to have a word with someone, Mercutio’s response was “And but one word with one of us? Couple it with something. Make it a word and a blow,” (Shakespeare 117). Granted, Tybalt didn’t have good intentions, but he made no snide remarks that would call for a response such as the one Mercutio offered up. Without provocation, Mercutio made comments that he knew could start a fight. When Tybalt did not fight him after that, Mercutio continued to provoke him by saying, “Will you pluck your sword out of his pilcher by the ears? Make haste, lest mine be about your ears ere it be out,” (Shakespeare 121). For no reason other than the fact that Tybalt is a Capulet, Mercutio threatens him. He told Tybalt that he must pull out his sword and fight if he doesn’t want to be an easy target. By continuously provoking it, Mercutio is responsible for the fight that caused his
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

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