What use does Shakespeare make of the character of Mercutio in the play Romeo and Juliet.(TM)
Romeo and Juliet Coursework‘Mercutio’What use does Shakespeare make of the character of Mercutio in the play ‘Romeo and Juliet?’The Playwright William Shakespeare uses a variety of skills such as language, structure, as well as plot and character development in order to display the different themes and messages in the tragedy Romeo and Juliet. The character of Mercutio is significant as Shakespeare uses him as tool to enrich the play and to add humour, as well as a device to lead to development of plot and to appeal to the audience. The character of Mercutio is flavoursome, as he adds a comedic dimension to one of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies. The character of Mercutio is presented as boisterous, reckless and free spirited; as well as flamboyant. He is the joker of the play, as his gags and puns are constant throughout his scenes. Mercutio is associated with this use of the ‘double entendre’, or puns with more than one meaning, which in his case were often smutty and sexual. There are several examples of this is when he tries to console Romeo about his unrequited love for Rosaline in scene 4, Act 1. Mercutio says: “Prick love for pricking and you beat love down.” If we are to keep in mind, Mercutio’s often crude nature, it appears that suggests to Romeo that in order for him to conquer love and cure him self of love he should have sex excessively. One interpretation is that Mercutio suggest to Romeo that sex is all that the glorified emotion of love is. Thus it is meaningless. This is just one of many occasions in which he engages in smutty, boisterous language. We can gather that Mercutio was a non –romantic unlike Romeo. He believed that what people called love were just desires based on sexual appetite. An example of Mercutio’s use of punning is in Act 2 Scene 4, when the nurse requires some confidence with Romeo. Benvolio implies that she is a prostitute. The idea of this tickles Mercutio as she is an older woman. He shouts “A bawd, a bawd, a bawd! So ho!”This is a mockery because he demonstrates a typical hunter’s cry, upon spotting their quarry- a prostitute in this case. When Romeo asks him what he spotted, he replies with a string of double entendres saying “No hare, sir; unless a hare, sir, in a Lenten pie, that is something stale and hoar ere it be spent"
The literal meaning being that Mercutio had not seen anyone worthy of sexual pursuit . Mercutio intended the phrase to have a crude meaning. He used it to refer to the Nurse as a whore whom you’d use when you could not get any better, in which case they’d be so mouldy and stale that you’d be repulsed before you were done with her. The phrase is loaded with alliterative couplets such as the malapropisms of the words ‘hoar’ and ‘hare’. This is what makes it a ‘Double entendre’ .The word ‘hare’ was slang for prostitute. A Lenten pie was ...
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The literal meaning being that Mercutio had not seen anyone worthy of sexual pursuit . Mercutio intended the phrase to have a crude meaning. He used it to refer to the Nurse as a whore whom you’d use when you could not get any better, in which case they’d be so mouldy and stale that you’d be repulsed before you were done with her. The phrase is loaded with alliterative couplets such as the malapropisms of the words ‘hoar’ and ‘hare’. This is what makes it a ‘Double entendre’ .The word ‘hare’ was slang for prostitute. A Lenten pie was eaten during lent and was tasteless and without a meat filling. The intentional use of ‘hoar’ which sounds the same as ‘whore’ referred to something that was mouldy. Mercutio was delighted by his wit that he repeats the phrase and turns it into a ditty. This added to the comical aspect to Mercutio and displayed him as a character designed to entertain and procure a reaction from its audience. Mercutio as well as being a joker, was Romeo’s closest friend. They had a dynamic relationship as they had the same sense of humour and they understood each other. He would often tease and pun with Romeo, as well as with Benvolio. Mercutio in the play shows constant concern for Romeo, mostly about his infatuation Rosaline. Mercutio often tries to lift up the spirits of the heartbroken Romeo throughout the stages of his infatuation with Rosaline. Mercutio persuades Romeo to go to the party at the Capulet Manor to take his mind of Rosaline. Romeo adopts his usual solemn and depressive disposition. Romeo protests that he should not enter the party as he was too sad to dance. Mercrutio says: “Nay, gentle Romeo, we must have you dance”.Mercutio, tries to make Romeo laugh and to cheer up by punning. He tells Romeo to: ‘…borrow Cupid’s wings, and soar with them above a common bound.” This is metaphoric of Romeo taking matters into his own hands and going out to find another girl at the party to replace Rosaline. Mercutio teases Romeo when he thinks that Romeo runs off to find Rosaline. He calls him a ‘madman!’ and ‘passion… lover!’ We can gather that there is an element of frustration on Mercutio’s part as Romeo refuses to snap out of his bout of depression. Even though Romeo and Mercutio are best friends, Romeo fails to confide in him about his relationship with Juliet. The act of Romeo confiding in him about Juliet, could have prevented his death. It would have helped Mercutio understand why he could not attack Tybalt , and prevent him from drawing swords with him, and prevent Romeo’s banishment and ultimately the death of the ‘star crossed lovers’ Romeo and Juliet. It can be seen that Romeo did not confide in Mercutio , whom he told all other aspects of his life because he was afraid that Mercutio would feel that he was second best to Juliet, and that perhaps he would not understand what he felt for her, being that he held strong non-romanticist beliefs. As well as Mercutio’s gift for wit, Mercutio forever played with language. His most famous speech is that of Queen Mab. His speech on Queen Mab in Act 1, Scene 4 is loaded with imagery and symbolisms. Queen Mab is a fairy who rides around on her carriage in the night, putting dreams in sleepers. It starts of, first of all like a flight of fancy. The speech is very imaginative and goes into intricate details, like the fact that her “chariot was an empty hazel nut shell” with spokes “made of long spinners’ legs” which was driven by a “small grey-coated gnat.” As Mercutio continues his speech, he becomes more engaged in it, going into more detail, and talking of dreams. Towards the end of his speech bitter undertones are cast at which point Romeo stops him, and calms him down. For example, Mercutio describes in great detail how Queen Mab travels over the minds of those lost in sleep. Mercutio says “ she gallops…through lovers brains and then they dream of love….’ This conveys the image of Queen Mab being charming and enchanting and a bringer of good dreams. Mercutio, further describes how Queen Mab travels “O’er ladies lips, who straight on kisses dream.’’ This quotation has connotations of love and romance, thus linking Queen Mab to love and romance. Both quotations represent one aspect of the tone, used in such a way as to capture Queen Mab as alluring and enchanting. The tone of the speech changes quite abruptly however. Mercutio exposes Queen Mab to be a ‘hag’ saying that she sometimes, will drive over soldiers necks “…and dreams he of cutting foreign throats…” causing them to wake up in the night afraid. “…he starts and wakes, and being thus frightened swears a prayer or two…”The above evidence is a sharp contrast to Mercutio’s intial depiction of Queen Mab. She is portrayed as wicked and ruthless. Her description of being a hag suggests that perhaps she could be an image more representative of a witch than a kind natured fairy. This evidence vastly changes the tone of his speech also. What is notable is that Queen Mab is depicted as enchanting and melodic and with the change in tone, she is depicted as wicked. If we are to further analyse, perhaps Queen Mab is allegorical of the infatuation of love in that it appears to be one thing, but if you look under the surface it falters and is not what it seems. With futher analysis we can link this to Mercutio. It can be seen that Mercutio wants to believe in love as Romeo does, but he does not because he realises that love is not what it seems. Another aspect that Mercutio may be trying to communicate is that Queen Mab speech does not always bring good dreams, but reflects the inward traits of the sleepers such as lust, greediness and violence. Through, the speech, Mercutio was trying to suggest that such ideals as fantasies and love are nonsensical, and lead to corruption just as was the Story of Queen Mab. From the speech we can grasp Mercutio’s views inward thought. This adds another layer of meaning into understanding his role in the play Mercutio character is compounded by the view that he is hot- headed and short tempered character, with no regard for consequence. The name Mercutio indirectly translates as one with a fast changing or unpredictable mood. It is likely that Shakespeare chose his name, due to the meaning it held. We can find examples of Mercutio short temper in Act 3, scene 1 of the play, when Tybalt approaches Mercutio and Benvolio in pursuit of Romeo. Mercutio jests at Tybalt, telling him quite crudely to give him a ‘blow’. Tybalt snipes back by saying “Mercutio, thou consortest with Romeo.” This greatly vexes Mercutio and he hurls retorts back at Tybalt, with the intention of duelling him. This section of Act 3 shows how easily his fuse was blown, and how quickly he got ready to pounce upon Tybalt, after he said a fairly minor, meaningless remark. If we analyse that point however, we can understand the reason behind Mercutio’s overreaction. In those times, society was structured into a patriarchal state. This meant that men where the dominating sex and that father’s were the head of the family and had a great influence over the rest of the family. There was also the idea that all men should defend their honour and family name. Tybalt’s reference to Mercutio as a consort to Romeo would have been particularly insulting as it suggests that Mercutio has a sub subservient role to Romeo, and it suggested homosexuality, which was frowned upon at the time. One interpretation however, is that in this case, Mercutio’s jest, has a deeper layer of meaning and that with a note of seriousity, Mercutio challenged Tybalt to a duel. This in keeps with Mercutio’s nature to defend his honour and that of Romeo’s. The most significant occasion in which Mercutio becomes loses his temper is when Romeo refuses to fight Tybalt. Mercutio becomes incensed and he cries: “O calm, dishonourable vile submission!”He does not understand Romeo’s refusal to fight his sworn enemy, as it goes against patriarchal law. He is so baffled that he takes it to be cowardice on Romeo’s part, and he decides to fight Tybalt himself on Romeo’s behalf. As a result, Mercutio is killed under Romeo’s arm. Despite this, Mercutio manages still to pun until the end saying: “Ask for me tomorrow and you will find me a grave man”. The death of Mercutio is poignant as it brings home the shift in the play from a comedy to a tragedy. It is also unusual being that the comic characters in plays usually does not die. This death of Mercutio is designed in such a way that it resonates with the audience because through Shakespeares use of dramatic irony, they hold in their knowledge the fact that Mercutio was unaware of Romeo’s union with Juliet. This knowledge, could have spared Mercutio his life, and not led to the banishment of Romeo and his and Juliet’s ultimate death. This makes Mercutio’s death more moving. His death, halfway through the play, ensures that he is also used as a plot device, to trigger the murder of Tybalt, by Romeo and creating a further knock on effect, leading to the eventual deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Mercutio also adds the element of entertainment and laughter to the play, making it enjoyable for the audience. To conclude, If we examine Shakespeare’s play of ‘Romeo and Juliet’, we notice that the character of Mercutio in the play holds many uses. Mercutio is primarily regarded and the comedic role, he entertains the audience and is a relatable character. Mercutio is also character who creates a dynamic with the main character Romeo, and enables us to explore his relationship with him, away from Juliet. Mercutio is also a clear plot device, and his influence in Romeo’s life lead to the meeting between him and Juliet; adversely, in the same way his death can be seen as the trigger that lead to the death of the ‘Star crossed lovers.’ Overall, it clear that Mercutio is an overall enrischment to the play of ‘Romeo and Juliet.’
