Liam Callahan Mr. Lynch English 1 Honors 26 March 2024 Act III Scene I Fault Analysis Essay Although many others are at fault for the events of Act III Scene I in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the character that bears the most responsibility for the fight that occurs in this scene is Mercutio. This is because he raises the tension against Tybalt by insulting him, leading to the duel and the death of both himself and later Tybalt, but ultimately the exile of Romeo from Verona. Furthermore, Mercutio had the opportunity to stop the duel between himself and Tybalt after Tybalt had drawn the first blood, but instead, Mercutio continued the fight, throwing his glove in the face of Tybalt, and engaging in further combat until his untimely death.
Romeo says, “My very friend, hath got his mortal hurt in my behalf — my reputation stained with Tybalt’s slander — ” (Shakespeare III.I 428). There are two reasons Romeo blames himself. Originally, Tybalt challenged Romeo, not Mercutio. If Romeo had fought Tybalt, he could have prevented Mercutio’s death. Or if Romeo didn’t try to stop the fighting, Mercutio might’ve had a better chance of survival.
However, Romeo enters the scene and attempts to end the fighting completely by acting calmly even after being called a villain. Mercutio is utterly disgusted by Romeo not standing up for himself, for he says, “O calm, dishonorable, vile submission! Alla stoccata carries it away” (3.1.76-77). By saying this, he shows that he feel as if Romeo is afraid
The first change of the movie, which most people saw almost immediately as this character appeared was Mercutio. He acted a lot different in the movie than he did in the play, in the movie he was more childish, immature, more dramatic. For example when Mercutio started telling Romeo the story of Queen Mab, he was more dramatic and sarcastic but by the end he was almost screaming, and during the Capulet party he was extremely childish, which most people thought was funny but if the situation was more serious, many people would be upset and angry with him. I believe that the director decided to change Mercutio in this way is to make it more dramatic than the play was originally, to make the scenes more tense if needed.
Tybalt and Mercutio have a little banter before Romeo enters the scene. While Tybalt wants to fight Romeo, Romeo does not want to fight him because they are now cousins by marriage. Mercutio gets mad and furious because of all the insults Tybalt is saying. Mercutio and Tybalt fight and Romeo gets in the way, trying to stop the fight. Tybalt goes under his arm and stabs Mercutio.
Robert Tew once famously said “You are always responsible for how you act, no matter how you feel”. During Elizabethan times, people made diligent decisions that were deemed acceptable within the confines of society. In Shakespeare’s timeless play ‘Romeo and Juliet’, the author demonstrates how certain choices people make, frame the pathway of their future. The witty character Mercutio makes various decisions throughout the play that ultimately determine his fate. His abrupt decision to attend a Capulet party with Romeo angered his enemy Tybalt, stepping in out of his own free will, Mercutio voluntarily placed himself into a duel, and blinded by his own vengeance, was the first to draw his sword.
Romeo does nothing to fight back so Mercutio steps up and fight Tybalt but loses his life in doing so. After Mercutio dies Romeo is full of anger and craves vengeance, he immediately chases after Tybalt and kills him. Romeo starts off not wanting to fight but after the death of Mercutio he is conflicted with so many different emotions and he only listens to one, anger. Mercutio lost his life defending Romeo who refused to fight Tybalt, but his death made Romeo do the exact thing he lost his life for.
Mercutio is trying to make Romeo be a person that he is not. Romeo is a very passionate person throughout the play, him having the same view on life and women like Mercutio, Romeo’s demise wouldn’t have made much sense. This action helps build to pushing Romeo away from Mercutio.
Mercutio plays the role of Romeo’s cousin, and a troubled friend. He shows this part of himself during the Queen Mab speech where he is seen longing for something. In the speech, he continuously gets angrier and angrier, telling Romeo and his friends “This is the very Mab..” (1.4.89), “This is the hag…” (1.4.93), and then finally “This is she-”
Shakespeare has formulated several memorable characters throughout his writings, such as Nurse from The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Lady Macbeth from Macbeth, and Mercutio from Romeo and Juliet. Mercutio is such a memorable character due to his characteristics of being sarcastic and cynical, as well as his major impact on plot development. Mercutio isn’t completely serious though, as he was cracking jokes on his deathbed. Although Mercutio isn’t a Montague, he is good friends with Romeo and takes the side of the Montagues in the war of the opposing families.
My character analysis is on Mercutio, a kinsmen of the prince and a best friend to Romeo, in William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet. In the play, Mercutio comes off as being the sarcastic, bipolar, and immature. First, Mercutio first comes off as being sarcastic, because he makes fun of Romeo’s dream about him dying. On the way to the Capulet party that Benvolio invites Romeo to, Romeo talks of a dream that foreshadows his death.
(Introduction) Why did William Shakespeare put Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet? Mercutio is a big asset to the story because he is Romeo’s best friend. He knows Romeo more than anyone which means he knows how to handle things that go on in his life. (Descriptive Paragraph 1)Romeo being royalty, he has to have an ounterage with him: Mercutio and Benvolio.
Tybalt challenges Romeo to a duel and he declines the challenge and insists that he won’t fight Tybalt. Mercutio is angered by Romeo’s “cowardice” and takes on Tybalt himself. Romeo wants Mercutio to stop fighting Tybalt so he decides that it’d be a good idea to block his arm in mid combat and Tybalt stabs Mercutio from under Romeo’s arm and Mercutio falls dead after rambling about plagues and a pun or two. Romeo doesn’t realize that it is his own fault that Mercutio died after Mercutio even blamed his wound on him. Romeo lets his emotions decide his actions and becomes enraged and ignores that Tybalt is now his family and fails to see that he was the reason Mercutio was killed.
Romeo and his two relatives, Mercutio and Benvolio, are preparing to enter the Capulet House. It is a costume party, thankfully, so everyone is in costumes, giving them the chance to use masks to hide their true identities. Romeo, still distraught from the Rosaline incident, wonders how they will get into the Capulet's’ feast since they are Montagues. Romeo also displays the theme light vs dark when he then asks them for the torch. He says,‘“Give me a torch.
Mercutio fights with Tybalt, which led to Tybalt stabbing him through Romeo’s arm in Act 3 Scene. Mercutio is responsible for his own death in the sense that he decided to provoke Tybalt. He would make fun of Tybalt through various jokes, which angered Tybalt. Mercutio even said, “Tybalt, you rat-catcher, will you walk?” (3.1.68).
