Mercutio is a very useful character from the aspect of the audience. He uses dramatic devices such as he makes references to light signalling it is evening. Mercutio has a very straightforward attitude towards love and the feud. He mocks the feelings of love that Romeo is experiencing and he gives Romeo very blunt advice, based on what Mercutio himself feels about love, Mercutio is more interested in the physical side of love.
In Act one Scene four, Mercutio is trying to get Romeo to forget Rosaline; by telling Romeo he really doesn’t believe in love. He tells Romeo “If love be rough with you, be rough with love…” Mercutio wants to get through to Romeo about not taking love seriously. Mercutio knows that Romeo has been getting wound up about Rosaline. Mercutio is quite comical about the way that he tries to get this across to Romeo. He begins to get annoyed with Romeo going on about love, and still keeps trying to get through to Romeo about Love not meaning anything and not to bother with love. Mercutio does begin to get fed up of Romeo going on and on about love and Mercutio starts talking about himself and his own feelings. Mercutio says to Romeo “We burn daylight, ho” It’s a figure of speech; Mercutio wants to get going because they need to get into the party. Romeo doesn’t understand what Mercutio is talking about so Mercutio bluntly tells Romeo that they are wasting time. Romeo starts to talk about dreams and Mercutio tells Romeo “dreamers often lie.” Mercutio thinks that dreams are a waste of time and that it is daft and childish to believe in them. Then Mercutio launches into his famous Queen Mab speech. It is a poetic speech that Mercutio is making trying to get Romeo to enter into the fun of the evening. Romeo begins to get bored and tries to stop Mercutio. Mercutio says, “True I talk of dreams; which are the children of an idle brain, begot of nothing but vain fantasy….” This is a direct dig at Romeo because Mercutio is saying what he thinks an its quite comical in the way that he is saying it. He is also talking about Rosaline and telling Romeo to stop wooing her.
Mercutio’s main concern is always for Romeo. He is the first to see that Romeo is deeply in love. In Act two Scene one Mercutio is teasing a hidden Romeo, who can hear everything that is being said. Mercutio’s fondness for sexual jokes in this scene is now fully established, this scene adds to the comic elements of the play. Mercutio calls by saying, “Romeo! Humors! Madman! Passion! Lover!” He then says, “My invocation is fair and honest, in his mistress’ name….” Mercutio shows his concern and expresses it to Romeo. Mercutio tries to convince Romeo that his love for Rosaline will only cause problems and in the end, things will not work out. Romeo dismisses Mercutio as “A gentleman, that loves to hear himself talk and will speak more in a minute than he will stand to in a month.” Romeo does not heed the warnings of his good friend.
Act 2 Scene four Mercutio is asking Benvolio where Romeo is at the beginning of the scene, when he finds out that Romeo hasn’t been home, he calls Rosaline a pale hard-hearted wench and says that Rosaline torments Romeo, and that Romeo will sure run mad. Mercutio doesn’t know that Romeo has already secretly married Juliet. Mercutio says, “alas poor Romeo, he is already dead, stabb’d with a white wench’s black eye….” I think he is implying that Romeo is dear without Rosaline.
When Romeo enters, Mercutio is a bit sarcastic towards Romeo.
In Act 3 Scene 1 Mercutio fights Tybalt on behalf of Romeo and his relationship with Romeo. Romeo attempts to break up the fight, but Tybalt stabs Mercutio. As he is dying, Mercutio says “ A plague o’ both your houses! I am sped….” He repeats this phrase twice more before he dies. It is after Mercutio’s death that Romeo realises what will be the consequences of his love affair. This leads Romeo to kill Tybalt, which in turn leads to his exile and eventual death. Mercutio was correct in his predictions. The love affair between Romeo and Juliet leads ends up in tragedy for both families.
The ending of the play brings about the final working of fate. As Friar Lawrence suggests, the seeming bad luck of the delayed letter was in fact the intent of a mysterious higher intelligence. Prince Escalus, too, finds a fateful meaning in the tragic event. "See what a scourge is laid upon your fate," utters as he admonishes the Montague’s and Capulets The prologue had foretold that the deaths of Romeo and Juliet would "bury their parents' strife". Fate has made this come to pass. Throughout the play, love and hate are interrelated, almost as an oxymoron. Early in the play, Romeo calls, "O brawling love, O loving hate." Juliet later echoes his words when she says, "My only love sprung from my only hate." This paradox expresses a conflict that is often found in humankind. Hatred seems to be a condition of man's corrupted will, and it attempts to destroy what is gracious in human beings. The hatred between the Capulets and Montague’s is what pushed Romeo and Juliet into secrecy and ultimately lead to their deaths. Through their love, but at a terrible price, Romeo and Juliet cause the hatred to be put aside. Ironically, their brightness (they have both been described in terms of light in the play) shines through in death to disperse the darkness of the hatred. Now the two families must come to terms with their collective guilt and resolve henceforth to be worthy of the sacrifice. Throughout the play, the voice of the prince has been the voice of reason. He is a spokesman for public order. To him is given the final speech promising both punishment and pardon, and it is he who sums up the paradoxical interdependence of love and hate. He is the spokesman for the restored order through which the families are reconciled. The last scene closes the play with a moral that the sin of enmity is punished with unnecessary death for some and misery for others.
There are a lot of tragic elements to the play, such as Deaths of Romeo, Mercutio, Juliet, Tybalt and Paris the forbidden love of Romeo and Juliet
And fate played a big part. Romeo and Juliet were "star-crossed lovers," as the prologue at the start of the play indicated. They had fate against them. In that time, people were very wary of what the stars said. If two people’s stars were crossed in the sky, they would never remain together. Obviously, Romeo and Juliet didn’t live happily ever after, as their death in the end showed. But there were many unfortunate happenings that led up to their death. Fate was not on their side. First of all, Romeo only met Juliet by chance. Only because the Capulet servant was blind and unable to read the list of guests, Romeo was allowed into the ball. By unfortunate chance, Romeo and Juliet fell in love before they realized that they were from opposing families. After Romeo and Juliet’s marriage, Romeo did not want to fight Tybalt. But because Tybalt killed Mercutio, Romeo demanded revenge. Things still might have worked out between the two lovers. After enough time passed, Romeo and Juliet could tell their families what happened and Romeo could return to Verona. But, Juliet’s parents want her to marry Paris. The Friar concocts another plan. He gives Juliet a drug that will make her appear dead for 42 hours. However, fate is not on their side again. The letter sent by the Friar never reaches Romeo because of quarantine. The Friar arrives too late to stop Romeo from killing himself. Juliet awakes only minutes after Romeo has died. The list is long, illustrating the power of fate in the case of Romeo and Juliet. Mercutio’s character is essential in driving the action forward in this play. He foreshadows the devastating events, serves as Romeo’s friend, and gives the audience important information throughout the play. Mercutio’s death is a turning point in the play. For all these reasons, Mercutio is essential to the play.
