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Mercutio's Presentation Of Love In Romeo And Juliet

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Which Shakespeare lover doesn't know the famous words:

"If love be rough with you, be rough with love.

Prick love for pricking, and beat love down."

These words are spoken when Romeo, Benvolio and Mercutio first enter the stage. With just a few words you know immediately that Mercutio is skeptical when it comes to love. This contradicts with the lovesick Romeo and levelheaded Benvolio, who don't doubt true love exists. Mercutio is a hit with the public, but dies relatively early in the play, why would Shakespeare kill such an important character? A diversity of reasons could be found for this, but first you have to know who Mercutio really was.

Mercutio first enters the stage together with Romeo and Benvolio, in act 1 scene 4 the talk about the party Romeo wants to go to, the reason for this is because of love. Mercutio here expresses his disapproval towards love in the famous Queen Mab speech. He compares love to a wish which originates from dreams, these dreams are visited by the queen of the fairies Mab. In this speech Mercutio shows he is quick-witted and headstrong. He also used a lot of puns, like when Romeo tells him he is talking about nothing. …show more content…

These puns continue all through the play and even when he is dying.

The queen Mab speech could even be seen as foreshadowing, because he talks about love being just a dream and dreams are just for a few minutes. Those minutes lasted a little longer for Romeo and Juliet, but they still only had three days together. These days could be seen as an extended dream, which ended as soon as they got the love they wanted. Mercutio tells Romeo the love he wants is just an illusion and in the end that becomes

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True love is a concept perceived as achievable by many and a myth to some. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio’s purpose is to foreshadow an important aspect of the play, be a foil for Romeo, and lead to the woeful turning point of the comedy turned tragedy. Mercutio is used to foreshadow Romeo and Juliet’s tragic fate. After being stabbed by Tybalt under Romeo’s arm, Mercutio manages to tell Romeo that he wishes a “plague curse both your families” (III,1,94). After Mercutio’s death, only tragedy ensues- Tybalt dies, Romeo is banished, the Friar does not deliver a message, and Romeo and Juliet end their lives.

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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

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