Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet

One of Shakespeare’s most well-known plays, Romeo and Juliet, written in 1594 and first performed in 1595 tells the story of two “star-crossed” lovers from feuding families that are victims to unfortunate circumstances that force them to eventually take their own lives.

However, it would surprise many to know, that the plot idea is not originally his but goes back a long way through many generations of many different people.

At a time when theatre was flourishing, Elizabethans would have flocked in their thousands to see Romeo and Juliet performed before them, enjoying the excitement and tragedy of it. For an audience who wouldn’t have travelled, a play about Italians would have been enough to have set the scene for them. Regarded as hot-headed, violent and passionate, the stereotype of Italians would have appealed to the audiences.

The play was most probably taken from a poem by Arthur Brooks called “The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet” in 1567. However, Brookes based his poem on a French version of an Italian story by Matteo Bandello. There are also many other stories, poems, myths and folk takes that have a strong resemblance to the Romeo and Juliet we all know today.

Shakespeare did however make several small yet significant changes to the play including changing Juliet’s age from 16 to 13. By dramatically reducing her age, Juliet seems more of a victim and this intensifies the tragedy. You feel more emotionally protective over her as she is at such a young and naive age. Shakespeare also shortened the overall time of events in the play from the original nine months to the shortened time of three days. This creates a real sense of drama as it is fast paced and it also adds to the tragedy as Romeo and Juliet only...

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...would not be what it is. Romeo is angered by his friend’s death, possibly blaming himself and goes after Tybalt seeking revenge. Tybalt and Romeo fight to the death, Tybalt losing.

The rest of the play is a downhill spiral of misfortunes, leading to the death of both Romeo and Juliet who take their own lives.

Mercutio’s role in the play, as the joker, the catalyst, the best friend, is an essential part to what is such a famous and respected play. Without him, Romeo and Juliet wouldn’t be the play it is today. He is, though, a very subtle character in the way that he isn’t seen as a main character but probably has the most important role. He introduces the idea of fate, adds to the effect of tension, and causes the reason for Romeo to murder Tybalt. He also shows another side to Romeo emphasising the effect that Juliet has on Romeo and how he changes around her.