How Did Mercutio Contribute To The Death Of Romeo And Juliet

Mercutio’s Murder One of the main supporting characters in William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, is Mercutio. Mercutio plays a vital role to the overall feeling of the play. He is the much needed comic relief and good friend of Romeo. Mercutio’s purpose in the play is to provide the audience with comical moments, and to mock Romeo in his search for love. In doing so, Mercutio, as a character, subtly pokes holes in a wide sheet that could be a serious love story. This ends with his demise. Shakespeare decided to remove Mercutio from the play all together by killing him off. What most know is why Shakespeare killed off Mercutio, but how did Mercutio die? Mercutio died because of his inability to be serious, his overarching pride and

Romeo never directly hurt Mercutio, rather, it was done indirectly without Romeo’s full understanding of what the consequences of his action might be. First, Mercutio being around Romeo could’ve contributed to his demise. Although Mercutio was neither a Montague or a Capulet, it wouldn’t have been wise to associate with either party for fear of being seen by the other. Second, Romeo incidentally evoked the spar between Mercutio and Tybalt. This started at the Capulet banquet. Knowing full well that it was strictly for Capulets, Romeo, Mercutio, and Benvolio all went disguised. Mercutio and Benvolio mainly only went to accompany Romeo in his search for Rosaline. However, due to the fact that they were consistently around Romeo at the banquet, Tybalt therefore associated Romeo as an enemy, as well as Mercutio. Finally, Romeo fortuitously caused the fatality of Mercutio by attempting to break up his fight with Tybalt. With Romeo in between then, Tybalt was able to sneakily stab Mercutio and fatally wound him. Mercutio’s dying words, “Damn both your houses! They’ve made worms’ meat of me! I’ve had it, well and truly.” (3.1.3-4) give a new depth to the character that would be thought impossible to see. In Mercutio’s dying words, he realises where his relationship with Romeo has gotten him, and where his inability to be serious and his own hubris have landed him. He damns both Capulets and Montagues without hesitation due to what they have caused to happen to him. In Mercutio’s death, he blames people, specific people. This is different from other characters that die because unlike them, Mercutio doesn’t blame fate or destiny; He blames a concrete noun, something physical. Mercutio blames those that are truly responsible for his demise and his ultimate finish. With Mercutio’s death, the story takes on new meaning and especially feeling. Without a comedic relief character, we see