The Importance of Mercutio’s Contribution to William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
In Romeo and Juliet I found that Mercutio is the most lively and
interesting character in the play. His name means mercury which
matches his personality perfectly. Mercury changes with heat and is
very dangerous and unpredictable when unleashed. Mercutio is like this
when his mood suddenly changes from mocking people to all out sword
fights and joking around to evil, we see this in Act 1 when the
Montague’s gate crash the Capulet’s party. Mercutio is necessary in
this play as he keeps the audience focused and laughing through what
he says. However he is also intelligent and witty. Besides Romeo and
Juliet he is probably the most developed character. Also he is very
capable of violence and not to be underestimated when it comes to
personality and appearance. I will show with evidence that Mercutio is
very important in this play.
To Romeo, Mercutio is funny and a great friend for he is a childhood
friend and a Montague and this is why they contrast with each other
perfectly because they seem to have nothing in common but this is why
they can help each other along through their life because, when Romeo
is down in love Mercutio knows the cure and when Mercutio is in a
fighting mood Romeo is sensible enough to see past the wrongs and pull
Mercutio back when he is angry. Mercutio tells Romeo that sex is
better than love and Romeo then cheers up whereas Romeo thinks
opposite. Mercutio is vulgar and uses sexual puns which show that he
speaks what he wants and so he speaks from the heart and this is why
Romeo fits with him because Romeo shows affection from the heart. The
major difference between them is that Mercutio is rude but eager and
Romeo is polite, affectionate and patient so this shows that even
though they are a good couple their personalities are almost
completely different. Mercutio can be seen as the sort of person that
is taught something and thinks it’s true until proven wrong whereas