ipl-logo

Mercutio Foil To Romeo And Juliet

436 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Romeo and juliet foil characters

Throughout history, it seems that many great stories include an outrageous character that completely grasps the audiences attention. In The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio is considered to be one of Shakespeare's most memorable creations because of his unique personality with the use of his wittiness, him being a foil to Romeo, and his ruining of romantic sentiments.

Mercutio's wittiness makes him a memorable character because his silliness conveys the misery starting to screen so the general audience is able to a more prominent attitude. Mercutio begins a fight with Tybalt, but get injured when Tybalt accidents stabs him. Mercutio made a joke out his injury saying “‘tis not so deep as a well nor as wide as a/church-door, but ‘tis enough” causing it to seem less serious than it is.(III.i.64-65) His silliness in this situation shows that he decreases the sorrow and transforms it into something that can be laughed about. Mercutio's comedic actions are of use to brighten the mood of any given situation throughout the play. …show more content…

While heading to a Capulet party Romeo brings up the topic of dream, to which Mercutio describes as “children of an idle brain,/begot of nothing but vain fantasy”(I.iv.98-99). Romeo believe that dreams truly mean something important, but Mercutio believes they are nothing but a fantasy. Their thoughts compared to each other highlights Romeo’s trait of being a romantic lover who believes in fate. Romeo’s trait would not have been able to be shown with Mercutio, making him a foil because of his contradictory

Show More
Related

Romeo And Mercutio Foil

178 Words | 1 Pages

Mercutios relationship with Romeo is a foil because their beliefs are extremely controversial with each other's. Fates, dreams and love are few of the thoughts where they disagree, and there opinions on each matter were shown a myriad throughout the play , this is shown to be true when Romeo states, "In bed asleep, while they do dreams come true" (1.4, lns 52). This quote supports my answer because Romeo is stating that your dream are prophecies where Mercutio, "...nothing but fantasy" (1.4, lns 98) believes that they mean nothing and are just childish thought. Another quote from the text that supports my answer is between Romeo and Mercutio, "And, to sink in it, should you burden love- too great oppression for a tender thing" (1.4, lns 23-24)

Read More

Examples Of Mercutio's Long Shadow In Romeo And Juliet

406 Words | 2 Pages

Mercutio’s Long Shadow Quick-witted, loyal, and funny, Mercutio belongs in the list of Shakespeare’s most memorable and well written characters. Mercutio’s lines portray a man always ready and willing to laugh, a man who puts a friend’s honor over his own safety. Notwithstanding all of this, his role includes a much greater one; the character of Mercutio provides a key to understanding ‘The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.’

Read More

Mercutio Foil To Romeo And Juliet

356 Words | 2 Pages

Romeo is a very loving and caring character, so he must have a foil. Mercutio is the foil to Romeo, being a skeptic and someone who is anti-romantic. Another example of how they are foils is that Romeo is always serious about love and romance whereas Mercutio takes neither

Read More

Mercutio Brave Quotes

553 Words | 3 Pages

Mercutio is one of the most intelligent characters is this play. In this quote Mercutio is telling Romeo that he shouldn't let a dream he had keep him from doing what he wants. "True I talk of dreams which are children of an idle brain. Begot from nothing but vain fantasy; Which is thin of substance as the air, and more inconsistent than the air. Who woos even now the frozen bosom of the north and being angered puffs away from thence turning his face to the dew dropping south.

Read More

Essay On Foils In Romeo And Juliet

848 Words | 4 Pages

Mercutio is making light of Romeo’s deep depressing love for Rosaline, he’s mocking love and making it a joke. This creates an emphasis on Romeo’s utter affixation with love. Mercutio’s playfulness and ability to make a serious subject humorous and reasonable bring out the deep, dark, and depressing side of Romeo, who is completely the opposite when it comes to love. Romeo does not see love as a joke and we see him fall into a depression, Mercutio only makes this sadness more apparent as he talks so jokingly of love. Shakespeare uses Mercutio to lighten Romeo’s depression and make it more

Read More

How Did Mercutio Influence Romeo And Juliet

533 Words | 3 Pages

Mercutio the Murderer “Search, seek, and know how this foul murder comes” (5.3, 204 Prince). In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, many quarrels occur over who is to blame for innocent deaths. Mercutio is a humorous character who provides comic relief throughout the play. He is accepted by both the Capulet and Montague families. However, he despises Tybalt Capulet.

Read More

Romeo And Juliet Mercutio Character Traits

457 Words | 2 Pages

Mercutio is a round character and a close friend of Romeo and Benvolio. He is loyal and displays many characteristics. Mercutio’s beliefs and temper contributed to his death. First, Mercutio has a strong sense of honor.

Read More

Foils In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

623 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More

Mercutio's Loyalty Quotes

557 Words | 3 Pages

Connor Flanigan Mr. Zamanis English 9 6 March 2024 Romeo & Juliet Few characters are capable of bringing comedy and truth into a play like Mercutio can. Mercutio is one of the key characters in Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. This play is a tragedy of two young starstruck lovers, in the midst of a family rivalry that causes them to inevitably die together. Mercutio, Romeo's best friend, is viewed by many as one of Shakespeare’s greatest characters. He is one of Shakespeare’s greatest characters because of his loyalty, humor, and confidence.

Read More

Comparison Between Mercutio In William Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

359 Words | 2 Pages

Though Mercutio should be held accountable for the fight that led to Tybalt’s and his own death in William Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet, Romeo’s inability to make sensible decisions in potentially challenging or stressful moments makes him most responsible. Mercutio’s taunting of Tybalt is justified as Tybalt had just called Romeo, his best friend, a villain. Contrastingly, Romeo’s behavior during the fight was irrational at best. In the first scene of the third act, Mercutio and Tybalt are dueling, Mercutio develops a wound which will lead to his death.

Read More

Mercutio In Zeffirelli's Romeo And Juliet

680 Words | 3 Pages

Mercutio’s speech about Queen Mab, who is responsible for making men dream, captures Mercutio’s brilliantly witty character. With the fantastical descriptions of the “fairies’ midwife” (1.4.52) and her entourage, the monologue is reminiscent of a fairy tale or a nursery rhyme (“Her chariot is an empty hazelnut made by the joiner squirrel,” 1.4.65). Mercutio uses this speech to dismiss Romeo’s ‘prophetic’ dream that he attempts — and fails — to tell his friend about, in hopes of not going to the Capulet’s masquerade. I interpreted the speech in which Mercutio is an older figure jokingly patronising a child’s whining (Romeo in 1.1) by providing a fable of sorts to ultimately explain and rationalise that dreams “are the children of an idle brain”

Read More

How Does Mercutio Play In Romeo And Juliet

488 Words | 2 Pages

In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Mercutio, a friend of Romeo plays deep role within the play. In the play many characters represent the masculine and feminine space. Mercutio’s represents the masculine space of love and it affects Romeo in the long run. Because of Mercutio’s huge expression and dominance of the masculine space, his mockery towards the feminine space of love and fooling around with women, pushes Romeo towards tragedy.

Read More

How Is Mercutio A Memorable Character In Romeo And Juliet

398 Words | 2 Pages

Loyalty is priceless. In the play "Romeo and Juliet” Mercutio is considered to be one of Shakespeare's great creations. Yet Mercutio is killed early in the play, Mercutio helped out in many ways. Mercutio had many traits showing how he was a memorable character. Two traits that make Mercutio a memorable character are his love for his friends and family, and how helpful he was.

Read More

Mercutio Essay

899 Words | 4 Pages

While Mercutio initially seems like a comedic and joyful character, during the play, his facade slowly falls apart, revealing his tragic character. His tragic flaw, performance, is initially a strength, as it makes Mercutio a unique and charming character. As the play progresses, however, Mercutio’s nonstop performance hinders his ability to form connections with others, as he is always hiding behind a facade. Eventually, his inability to be vulnerable and his concern with how he is perceived leads to his untimely demise. At first, Mercutio’s constant performance is a strength, as it makes him an appealing and unique character.

Read More

Light In Romeo And Juliet

746 Words | 3 Pages

Mercutio makes the play more interesting with his wordplay and jokes. He makes a mockery of many characters, even telling Peter “to hide [the nurse’s] face”(2.4.109). Without Mercutio adding humour to the play, it would not be as interesting to the audience. Mercutio’s personality is one of the best to look upon in the

Read More

More about Mercutio Foil To Romeo And Juliet

Related Topics

Open Document