Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a play which explores oppositional ideas throughout the story. Mercutio is a minor character in the play. However, Mercutio plays a vital role in the play, he acts as a comedic foil to Romeo, his loyalty to Romeo brings him closer to the storyline and helps to set up the story. His death signifies a complete tonal shift towards tragedy from romance and his role, both regarding his characterisation and the significance of his death, serves to develop the opposing themes and genres within the play such as Love & Violence and Fate & Destiny.
Mercutio’s character is used to develop the primary themes, such as the horrific consequences of mindlessly-preserving honour and reputation, shown through his meaningless death. The massive shift in the play shines light upon Mercutio’s stance on reputation. He was willing to defend Romeo’s honour no matter the circumstances by risking his own life. This ambition is recognised when Mercutio insults Romeo and decides to fight Tybalt himself just to defend Romeo’s reputation: “O calm, dishonourable, vile submission! Alla stoccata carries it away.” The diction of “dishonourable, vile
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As a result of this action, the hopes of the audience is similarly crushed. The regret Romeo feels after killing Tybalt shows how consumed he was with ideas of revenge. After the death of Mercutio, Romeo is told by Benvolio that Romeo’s death is inevitable when he gets caught. Then, Romeo's regret is portrayed when he calls himself “O, I am fortune's fool!” The personification in “fortune’s fool” suggests that Romeo feels like destiny has tricked him. This event highlights how the fates of Romeo and Mercutio were intertwined so that the transition between light and dark exists through both