“Sometimes she driveth o’er a soldier’s neck,
And then dreams he of cutting foreign throats”
These two lines are, in my opinion, some of the more important lines spoken by Mercutio, because he seems to be predicting his own death in a sense. The “soldier” is Tybalt while the “foreign throat” is Mercutio. Following on from this, his death is the beginning of the climax in a way. I think this because his death seems to have the greatest impact and triggers off a series of other events like the death of Tybalt and the banishment of Romeo which alls adds up until the deaths of Romeo and Juliet themselves.
Mercutio lives up to his name in the way that he has sudden changes of heart/mood (Mercurial). This is shown during the Queen Mab speech where he is talking of how great Queen Mab is “Through lovers’ brains, and then they dream of love” and then his view of her diminishes into an evil prospect “And bakes the elf-locks in foul sluttish hairs” as he begins to scorn her. The impact of his sudden change of mood is that we suddenly become alarmingly aware of his despise for love and learn more about his way of thinking.
“True I talk of dreams, Which are the children of an idle brain” Mercutio thinks that dreams are merely fantasy and shows this well by relating them the ever-changing wind “More inconstant than the wind” This relates, in a way, to Romeo and Juliet’s love. The pair of lovers are separated by their families and hardly ever see each other making their love “inconstant.”
Mercutio is opposed to Romeo’s love for Rosaline “That same pale hard-hearted wench, that Rosaline” and shows this whenever it becomes possible for him to do so. This may be because Mercutio has homosexual tendencies, and wants Romeo for himself. There is evidence for this when Mercutio call the nurse a prostitute because the nurse is taking Romeo away for a private talk “A bawd, a bawd, a bawd! So ho!”
This could be the reason why he curses both the houses of the Capulets and the Montagues, because he never got what he wanted from them.
“But I’ll be hanged, sir, if he wear your livery.”
This, in a sense, is true because now that Romeo is wed to Juliet he is now a member of the Capulet family and vice versa, and then, but a few minutes later, he is mortally wounded under Romeo’s arm “I was hurt under you arm”, making Romeo sort of seem like a Capulet due to the fact that he has attempted to “kill” Mercutio. In this same instance it also seems like Romeo is a Capulet because when he arrives at the scene he is unnaturally kind to Tybalt “I do protest I never injuried thee, But love thee better than thou canst devise” but we know that this is because he is married to Juliet no-one else in the play knows so there is a sense of dramatic irony in Act 3 Scene 1.
As well as being on of the more dramatic characters in Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio also adds a much needed touch of comedy to the play. He provides this throughout the scenes he participates in, such as when the nurse turns up in the street looking for Romeo “Two, two: a shirt and a smock”. He seems to excel in making sexual innuendos “the bawdy hand of the dial is now upon the prick of noon.” Even when he is dying from a mortal wound he still quips jokes until he finally passes away which makes it seem as if although he isn’t afraid to embrace death but wants to spend his last few moments with the people he loves, doing what he does best “Ask for me tomorrow, and you will find me a grave man.”
He is easily compared with Sampson from Act 1 Scene 1, both love to use sexual puns “My naked weapon is out” and both are “hot-headed” “I will bite my thumb at them.” Another similarity between the two characters is that while Sampson is in the employ of the Montagues, Mercutio also acts like a member of the Montague family.
He is an interesting character in the way that he contrasts both Romeo and Juliet, using his bawdy jokes “for the bawdy hand of the dial is now upon the prick of noon.” as a contrast to Romeo and Juliet’s true love. While Romeo sees love a wonderful thing and would do anything so that his love for Juliet should be fulfilled which is why he devises the plan so that they shall be married “Bid her devise some means to come to shrift this afternoon...shrived and married. Here is for thy pains” while Mercutio sees it as an almost fictional feeling or a dream and thinks nothing of it “this drivelling love is like a great natural that runs lolling up and down to hide his bauble in a hole” His ability to spew his vulgar puns out at an alarming rate differs to Romeo’s complex but less sexual speaking, making Mercutio an interesting character as well as being a key part in the play.
Even Mercutio’s death scene is an amazing spectacle to witness; he continues to be the centre of attention throughout the scene and seems to shrug off the pain from his wound and continue in his youthful antics up until the point where he starts to curse the two families “A plague a’both your houses!” At this point, in my opinion, Mercutio becomes a bringer of fate. His words seem to reflect what happens later in the play. Both of the families lose something dear to them i.e. Romeo and Juliet.
“Through lovers’ brains and then they dream of love.”
This shows that Mercutio is not entirely opposed to love because if he was then why would he bother to say this short but important line. He may feel love towards one of the other characters, male or female. He may have been trying to deter Romeo’s love for Rosaline “Why that same pale hard-hearted wench that Rosaline” because he wants her for himself and not because he is concerned for Romeos well being.
Although Mercutio comes from neither family, he sides with the Montagues and yet still gives the impression that he shares a special bond with both Tybalt and Romeo. Tybalt appears to despise Mercutio as if he were one of the Montagues “Mercutio, thou consortest with Romeo” and yet, during the fight scene, Zeffirelli makes it seem like they are enjoying the fight, as if it is some sort of a game, and this gives them a bond of sorts in the way that they are never truly enemies but never truly allies.
Mercutio is a brave person and is not afraid of Tybalt or the Capulet family. He refuses to give up or refuse a challenge and is unlike someone who boasts about himself and then is too afraid to stand up for himself, Mercutio can boast, and hold his own in a fight. Although this gets him into a lot of trouble when he becomes “hot-headed” and takes on Tybalt “The prince of Cats” resulting in his untimely death.
Mercutio, although only appearing in a minority of the scenes seems to have the greatest impact amongst all of the characters involved in the play, and without him I do not think the play would be able to run smoothly and would probably fall apart at certain points as well as leaving many questions unanswered. I feel that he plays a vital role and if he was removed then the play would fall apart. Shakespeare manages to use Mercutio in a subtle and interesting way that provides many clues into the future of the play and then, by killing him off, uses him to a greater extent, as a trigger to the forthcoming events.
