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Foils In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

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Some say that opposites attract; in some cases they do and in some they do not. A foil is a character who is opposite of another character in order to highlight certain characteristics in both characters. An example of foils in a play that Shakespeare wrote, Romeo and Juliet, including rambunctious Tybalt and the tranquil Benvolio. Another example is the obnoxious funny Mercutio and the lovey dovey Romeo. Romeo and Juliet was a Shakespearean play written 1595 by William Shakespeare. This story of two star crossed lovers takes place in Italy featuring two rival families who cannot stand each other. These two characters are total opposite of each other and bring out the worst and best of each other. The two foils in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet …show more content…

Mercutio is different from Romeo because he does not believe in love and makes fun of Romeo and falling in love so heavily all the time. When Romeo describes his love for Rosaline using a rose with thorns as a metaphor. Mercutio laughs and says ”If love be rough with you, be rough with love; Prick love for pricking and you beat love down”(I.4.27-28). In another scenario of Romeo and Mercutio’s foils is when Romeo tells his friends about a dream he had about the party and is expecting a disastrous outcome of the party. Mercutio makes fun of Romeo because he does not believe that dreams can become visions of impending danger. “ True. I’m talking about dreams, which are the products of a brain that’s doing nothing. Dreams are nothing but silly imagination, as thin as air, and less predictable than the wind, which sometimes blows on the frozen north and then gets angry and blows south”(1.iv.97-107). Romero is a lovestruck man forever trying to find his love and Mercutio resents love and fills his needs and desires with a good party and jokes. Romeo's a tragedy in the play and Mercutio is a comic relief. In conclusion that I believe that the foils that can be detected in the story are Romeo and Mercutio and also Tybalt and Benvolio. Romeo's a lovesick Mopper who cherishes love and is always searching for his one true love. Mercutio on the other hand is a witty jokester and is not interested of finding love. Tybalt is a

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