Romeo And Juliet Foil Essay

"Opposites attract." People use this popular phrase to describe a variety of relationships, and it's true: opposites do attract. The concept is well represented through the use of foil characters in many literary works, including Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. In this play, Shakespeare pairs Romeo and Mercutio as foils to develop the theme that interacting with people different from yourself can help achieve balance in your relationships.

Romeo is a romantic idealist, and he easily loses himself in his emotions. Mercutio, on the other hand, is cynical and takes a hateful view toward love. When apart, the characters are too much. However, when paired together they stabilize each other. Romeo’s pairing with the negative Mercutio brings out

Love has torn Romeo down. As the duo is about to enter the Capulet party, Romeo says "To soar with his light feathers: and so bound, I cannot bound a pitch of dull woe: Under love's heavy burden do I sink" (p. 48). In this line, Romeo is talking about how he cannot partake in the party because of his sadness over Rosaline. Mercutio, though, soon shows how he sees love as a game to win--not a thing to work with. Through Romeo’s pairing with Mercutio, Shakespeare shows Romeo to be a dreamer at heart, which is emphasized when he says "'And we mean well in going to this masque, bit 'tis not wit to go.' 'Why, may one ask?' 'I dreamt a dream tonight'" (p. 49). This quote demonstrates how Romeo believes he has had a premonition, despite having just an ordinary dream. Romeo believes in the Oneiric, whereas Mercutio believes dreams are pointless and fake. Along with all these qualities, Shakespeare shows Romeo to be a compassionate character. When Romeo says "I do protest I never

Mercutio is negative and spiteful towards the idea of love. His spite towards intimacy manifests when he says "If love be rough with you, be rough with love: prick love for pricking, and you beat love down" (p. 49). Mercutio thinks that one must win against love. To him, love is something to beat down and get over. Where Romeo is torn down by love, Mercutio tears it down. Along with love, Mercutio abhors dreams, when he says "True, I talk of dreams: which are the children of an idle brain, begot of nothing but vain fantasy" (p. 51). He makes his distaste apparent, a stark contrast to Romeo's willingness to trust his own dreams as though they are prophecies. The final thing that separates Romeo and Mercutio is how forgiving they are. When Tybalt insults Romeo, he brushes it off, mainly because of his love for Juliet. Mercutio on the other hand, takes the slander personally. He says “O calm, dishonourable, vile submission! ‘Alla stoccata’ carries it away, Tybalt, you rat-catcher, will you walk” (p. 78). Romeo’s love for Juliet blinds him, though he doesn't appear to be a fan of violence, he probably would have become angrier, but not fought if he had not been in love with Juliet. Mercutio however, immediately stands up for Romeo and begins fighting Tybalt, showing how he at least cares about his friends, but is also short-tempered to a