How does Shakespeare present the character of Mercutio?
In the exam, you should always underline important information given to you about the extract, as well as important words in the question.
Read this extract from Act 3 Scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet and then answer the question that follows.At this point in the play Tybalt is challenging Romeo, with Mercutio as a witness.
MERCUTIO
Ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch. Marry, ’tis enough.
Where is my page?—Go, villain, fetch a surgeon.
ROMEO
Courage, man. The hurt cannot be much.
MERCUTIO
No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a
church-door; but 'tis enough,'twill serve: ask for
me to-morrow, and you shall find me a grave man. I
am peppered, I warrant, for this world. A plague o'
both your houses! 'Zounds, a dog, a rat, a mouse, a
cat, to scratch a man to death! a braggart, a
rogue, a villain, that fights by the book of
arithmetic! Why the devil came you between us? I
was hurt under your arm.
ROMEO
I thought all for the best.
MERCUTIO
Help me into some house, Benvolio,
Or I shall faint. A plague o' both your houses!
They have made worms' meat of me: I have it,
And soundly too: your houses!
Exeunt MERCUTIO and BENVOLIO
ROMEO
This gentleman, the prince's near ally,
My very friend, hath got his mortal hurt
In my behalf; my reputation stain'd
With Tybalt's slander,--Tybalt, that an hour
Hath been my kinsman! O sweet Juliet,
Thy beauty hath made me effeminate
And in my temper soften'd valour's steel!
Re-enter BENVOLIO
BENVOLIO
O Romeo, Romeo, brave Mercutio's dead!
That gallant spirit hath aspired the clouds,
Which too untimely here did scorn the earth.
ROMEO
This day's black fate on more days doth depend;
This but begins the woe, others must end.
Starting with this extract, explore how Shakespeare presents the character of Mercutio.
Write about:
• how Shakespeare presents Mercutio in the extract.
• how Shakespeare presents Mercutio in the play as a whole.
[30 marks]
AO4 [4 marks]
Shakespeare’s tragic play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is about how strong emotions have tragic consequences. Mercutio’s strong feelings of honour and masculinity lead him to fight Tybalt in an attempt to prove the Montague honour. Through Mercutio’s death, Shakespeare could be suggesting that strong feelings of honour, tied to traditional views around masculinity, can have tragic consequences.
In the extract, Shakespeare uses Mercutio to explore strong feelings of anger. In the final moments of his death, Shakespeare has Mercutio say ‘a plague on both your houses’. In other words, Mercutio is saying that he wants to curse the Montague and Capulet households because the feud between them has caused his death. Mercutio says this phrase more than once, which emphasises his anger in this scene. Additionally, Shakespeare uses exclamation marks when Mercutio says this words, which suggests that he is shouting these words loudly to the other characters. The word ‘plague’ is an interesting choice by Shakespeare as it links with the actual plague later in the play, which stops Friar John from delivering the letter to Romeo. Perhaps Mercutio’s curse comes true. As a result of the ‘plague’, Romeo never receives the news of Juliet’s plan, so he impulsively plans his suicide. This also leads to Juliet’s death and results in huge grief for both families. Perhaps Shakespeare present Mercutio in this way to foreshadow the tragic events later in the play.
Also in the extract, Shakespeare uses Mercutio to explore ideas of male honour. Shakespeare has Mercutio respond to his wound with the words ‘a scratch! A scratch!’, which suggests that he is wanting to pretend that he has not been too hurt by Tybalt’s sword. Shakespeare has Romeo reply with the words ‘Courage man. The hurt can not be much’. In order words, Romeo is telling Mercutio to act bravely as a man should, and not complain too much about the pain from the wound. Perhaps Shakespeare is presenting Mercutio in this way to challenge the view that men in Elizabethan society should always act bravely, not admitting that they feel pain or emotion. It is this need to be masculine and brave that got Mercutio into trouble in the first place. If Mercutio had not felt the need to prove how masculine and brave he was, then perhaps he would have avoided his own death.
Early in the play, Shakespeare uses Mercutio to provide comic relief for his audience. When Romeo complains that love ‘pricks like thorn’, Shakespeare has Mercutio transform Romeo’s words into a sexual innuendo, responding with ‘prick love for pricking’. In other words, Mercutio is advising Romeo to have sex with other women to get over Rosaline. The word ‘prick’ is a sexual innuendo because it is another word for ‘penis’. By using this innuendo, Shakespeare not only demonstrates that Mercutio is more interested in the sexual aspects of a relationship, but also provides comic relief for his Elizabethan audience, who would have found the innuendo humorous. Additionally, this is another example of Shakespeare presenting Mercutio as a very masculine character, who is more interested in sex than he is in an emotional relationship with a woman. This choice to emphasise Mercutio’s masculinity throughout the play could be deliberate. Perhaps Mercutio’s constant need to prove his masculinity is what leads to his downfall.
Shakespeare uses Mercutio’s actions to explore the way traditional ideas about masculinity could lead to conflict. After the Capulet ball, Tybalt wants to fight Romeo because he is very angry that Romeo attended uninvited. When Tybalt asks Romeo to fight, Shakespeare has Romeo say to Tybalt that he ‘loves’ him. This response is extremely shocking to both Tybalt and Mercutio because Tybalt is supposed to be Romeo’s enemy. Shakespeare makes clear that Mercutio is extremely angry with Romeo by having him say that this refusal to fight is ‘vile submission’. Shakespeare’s use of the word ‘vile’ indicates that Mercutio is disgusted by Romeo’s choice not to fight. An Elizabethan audience may have understood Mercutio’s reaction because, at the time the play was written, it would have seemed cowardly and dishonourable for a man to refuse to fight to defend his family name. Whereas Romeo now thinks only of his love for Juliet, Mercutio still thinks of male honour. As a result, Mercutio steps in to fight and dies. Perhaps Shakespeare presents Mercutio in this way to show his audience that a traditional view of what made someone ‘manly’ could lead to unnecessary fighting.