Mercutio is rather the wise clown the first time we meet him in the play, exhibiting
humour and wit while also showing undertones of a lot of repressed cynicism- a thing
that would have been frowned on in the upper class circles of Verona if exposed. He
is affiliated to neither house in the play, he is a relative of the price of Verona, and has
no place in the quarrel between the Capulets and the Montagues, the houses of the
protagonist and his love. As Shakespeare says, the houses are ‘at variance with each
other’. Mercutio has a role to play in peace, but only by making the ultimate sacrifice.
When we meet Mercutio in the scene before the party, he makes a protracted and calculated speech, known as the Queen Mab speech. The lead up to this is basically an argument between Mercutio and Romeo- Romeo making a metaphorical reference to his love for Rosalyne and Mercutio shooting it down in flames. Mercutio then fires his most destructive arrow at Romeo’s dreaming mind. The speech starts by references to her imagined size, for example her “chariot is an empty hazel nut”. Also, Shakespeare has subtle digs at the Anglican Church (Shakespeare was a Catholic), saying how she is as small as “an agate stone on the forefinger of an alderman”, and how she “…comes with a tithe- pigs tail, tickling a parsons nose… then dreams he of another benefice;”.Reading between the lines, you begin to notice how cynical Mercutio is of others love- inside he is a dreamer, and thinks he is the ‘authority’ when it comes to love. As the scene goes on, Mercutio seems to let his angry inner self come through; there are many lines in quick succession. He even starts to disturb Romeo, who asks him to be quiet, because “thou talk’st of nothing” . This is important because it is ironic that Mercutio had been saying how dreams were nothing- this is more evidence showing how much cleverer and sharper Mercutio is, compared to the others. The party they are attending is a masque- a place where lovers meet, so it is significant that Romeo doesn’t meet his perceived love, Rosalyne, but his star crossed love, Juliet; as Mercutio says, “dreamers often lie”.
When Mercutio realises that Romeo is missing, he blames Rosaline, the “pale hearted
wench” who “torments him so, that he will soon run mad”. He seems to take back
what he said in the Queen Mab Speech- he’s not so sure now whether Romeo and
Rosaline are actually in love- but he might just be be being sarcastic- this is Mercutio,
after all. Another of his concerns is that Tybalt, the “Prince of cats”, may be after
Romeo. Mercutio proceeds to leave Benvolio standing dazed and confused, as he
launches into a tirade full of obsure metaphors, describing Tybalt. Mercutio is above
the knowledge of others- and he knows it. Later, in the scene before the fight, he is surprised when he sees Romeo talking to the nurse- why is Romeo doing this, he must think. Why does he want to see a fat old lady? Mercutio is quite obviously vexed and perplexed by this-and he just doesn’t know what to do, so he reverts to his usual over the top humour, albeit without as much conviction as the Queen Mab speech
The start of the fight scene involves Benvolio and Mercutio on a walk through Verona, where again Mercutio annoys and befuddles Benvolio. When he sees the approaching Capulets, Mercutio is told “By my head, here come the Capulets”, by Benvolio. Mercutio replies, “By my heel, I care not”. He says by my heel- significant, because Benvolio had just said “by my head”- meaning that he was scared he’d lose his head. Mercutio says by my heel- a part of the body seen as insignificant- he couldn’t care less. This has an implication, what with Mercutio being a dreamer- it is possible that he has foreseen his own death at the hands of a Capulet. When Benvolio warns the two duellists, Mercutio and “the prince of Cats”, Tybalt, not to fight, the audience can empathise with Benvolio- they like Mercutio, and they just know, from all the subtle hints dropped, that he will die. When the two duellists meet, Mercutio shows yet more evidence of wanting a fight, and not caring of it’s outcome- maybe he has nothing to live for now that Romeo has a love in his life- he feels he is no longer needed in the world. In Shakespeare’s time, many people believed that everybody’s life was set before the day they were born- this comes through in Mercutio’s character. Romeo is the catalyst to Tybalt’s anger- he stirs it up. Tybalt doesn’t want Mercutio’s blood he wants Romeo’s. In the end, the fight begins, and Mercutio is stabbed.
When Mercutio is stabbed he says, fatalistically, “’tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door; but tis enough, ‘twill serve”. It will serve to do God’s work, the way it was meant to be. Mercutio says with his dying breaths “a plague on both your houses”, to the bystanding Romeo and his friends. This serves to frighten his friends- is Mercutio being funny? As the curse is given with Mercutio’s dying breath, Elizabethan audiences would consider it powerful, and it is. Romeo dies, and his curse does indeed come true- the pride of each house, the first children, die. This is similar to the Old Testament and God’s last plague on Egypt- the killing of the first born. Mercutio’s death was as futile as Romeo and Juliet’s in some ways, but altogether they brought peace to the streets of Verona.
Mercutio was the vehicle for the tragic outcome of the play- the demise of the young, bright character everybody in the audience likes symbolises the futility of all war- not just in the play, but everywhere, and how the innocent always get caught in the crossfire.
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Bibliography: www.bbc.co.uk
