"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare is quite an unusual play with interesting characters. Romeo, the dashing young boy with the love for Juliet whom he just married, had killed Tybalt, Juliet's beloved cousin. Romeo originally killed Tybalt with the anger of his good friend Mercutio dying. Tybalt and Mercutio had gotten into a fight when Mercutio was stabbed under the arm and died. Though Tybalt is quite a violent yet interesting person, Mercutio seems like a completely different character to me and is my favorite person in the whole play.
Mercutio isn't the type of person to cry over a person who he loves, or to obsess over someone who he just met 3 hours ago like Romeo. He is different... he isn't a soft person, he is brave, daring and an outrageous person with his thoughts. For example, he danced at the Capulets mask party which to me was hilarious. Although it was funny Mercutio could have gotten killed. Now the Capulets and the Montagues dislike each other and can't stand peace within themselves... at least Tybalt can't. In act 1 scene 4, Mercutio tries calming Romeo down and tells him to loosen up and enjoy himself when he goes to the party. This is one of the reasons why Mercutio is one of my favorite character in the play, he cares about Romeo a lot.
Another reason why Mercutio seems the most interesting to me is because he really doesn't care about love. All he wants to do is have fun with his life. This to me is totally fine. Romeo should understand that at this age love shouldn't be taken seriously because of the rashness that might occur. Mercutio understands this idea but tells Romeo to do the opposite... which is to have sex. "If rough is love with you, be rough with love." Mercutio says to Romeo <- I dont consider that right or a possible answer. But aside that, Mercutio is a nurturing person even if you can't catch it right away. In this scene Mercutio gives MANY advices to Romeo to overcome his "love" for Rosaline. I really did wish Mercutio kept on till the end of the play!
In act 3 scene 1 Mercutio bravely says "Ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch," when he gets stabbed by Tybalt. I know that if that were me getting hurt I wouldn't have been as brave as Mercutio who handled it pretty well. His bravery makes him even more interesting. He is a very courageous person with no fears. Everyone in the book has fears but Mercutio seems different. He doesn't seem like the person to have such terror inside them. As for him dying, I would've started crying and rushing to a doctor but he just said it was a scratch and didn't even show a bit of exaggeration to his language.
Mercutio is an amazing character and Romeo and Juliet wouldn't have been the same without him.
I really like your post, I wrote about Mercutio too! and i agree he is very brave and interesting. also unique in a way. Hes not upset and obsessing over love like you said Romeo is, and hes not like Tybalt whose always up for a fight. He thinks positive about everything and that's what I like about him.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you completely on his character. He is brave and daring and a type of person that doesnt need attension when he is hurting. I think he differs from the rest of the cast which is what i like about him
ReplyDeleteI liked your post because it made me think more about the character of Mercutio. It made me think that maybe one of Shakespear's reasons for creating Mercutio was to draw attention to Romeo's qualities in the way that Mercutio was the opposite--like the way Mercutio doesn't obsess over girls he just meets.
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