The name Mercutio was present in Shakespeare's sources for Romeo and Juliet, though his character was not well developed and he was presented as a romantic rival for Juliet. The name is first used in Luigi Da Porto's 1530 "Giulietta e Romeo".
Mercutio's dying remarks in act 3, scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet provide tragic humor as Mercutio fills his last minutes with biting remarks at Romeo. Mercutio, even after being lethally stabbed, continues to present his witty character by telling Romeo that he will find him to be a "grave man" in the morning.
After Tybalt fatally wounds Mercutio, Mercutio immediately curses both of the families and attempts to dismiss his injury by telling Benvolio, "Ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch; marry, 'tis enough" (Shakespeare, 3.1.93). Mercutio makes use of a literary device known as understatement when describing the extent of his wound.
Ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch. Marry, ’tis enough (3.1.94). Mercutio 's sense of bawdy humor is with him until his last moments. Although he has been fatally stabbed by Tybalt, he refers to his wound as a "scratch," yet also more somberly notes that it will be "enough" to end his life.
Mercutio (/mərˈkjuːʃioʊ/ mər-KEW-shee-oh, Italian: Mercuzio) is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's 1597 tragedy, Romeo and Juliet. He is a close friend to Romeo and a blood relative to Prince Escalus and Count Paris.
Baz Luhrmann's decision to make the iconic Shakespearean character Mercutio both African American and queer is an interesting one.
13 yearsIn Shakespeare's original story, Romeo is given the age of 16 years and Juliet is given the age of 13 years. The Montague and Capulet families originated in the Divine Comedy by the Italian author Dante Aligheri, rather than in Shakespeare.
If love be rough with you, be rough with love; Prick love for pricking and you beat love down.
They meet their friend, Mercutio, who has tickets to the party, and Romeo takes ecstasy as they proceed to the Capulet mansion. The effects of the drug and the party overwhelm Romeo, who goes to the restroom.
Mercutio is the cousin of Prince Escalus and Count Paris, and is a close friend of Romeo and his cousin Benvolio. He supports and fights on the Montague side of the feud, and just like a Montague, hates the Capulet family.
Because actors ostensibly need training and skill to navigate Shakespeare's words, most productions of Romeo and Juliet cast performers who are older than the characters as he wrote them: Juliet is 13 (“she hath not seen the change of fourteen years,” according to her father); Romeo's age is unspecified, but he's ...
Juliet is thirteen, but the word “thirteen” never appears in Romeo and Juliet . Instead we are repeatedly told that she is not yet fourteen. The fact that Juliet's father is looking forward to a birthday she will never reach emphasizes that Juliet's life is cut very short.
Juliet Capulet (Italian: Giulietta Capuleti) is the female protagonist in William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliet. A 13-year-old girl, Juliet is the only daughter of the patriarch of the House of Capulet....Juliet.Juliet CapuletSpouseRomeo MontagueNationalityItalian7 more rows
Mercutio, with his cheerful yet cutting personality, symbolizes the city of Verona, and his death symbolizes what unnecessary wars do to society as a whole.
Mercutio refers to his wound as “a scratch” immediately before telling his page to “fetch a surgeon.” His ordering the boy to get a doctor lets the audience know that he realizes his wound is much more serious than a scratch. Mercutio says one thing and means the opposite; therefore, he employs verbal irony.
Mercutio and Juliet were never in the same place. But she was so young. She was 16, and he was 21.
Benvolio enters and announces that Mercutio has died. Romeo, enraged, states that “this day’s black fate” will begin a great “woe”... (full context) ...fool,” quickly runs away. The citizens’ watch enters, looking to arrest the man who slayed Mercutio, and Benvolio points out Tybalt’s body on the ground.
Benvolio warns Mercutio, but Mercutio is unconcerned by their presence. Tybalt approaches them and says he wants a... (full context) ...in fact loves the Capulet man, whose surname he loves “as dearly as [his] own.”. Mercutio, angered by Romeo’s “vile submission,” draws his sword.
The nurse tells Romeo how little she cared for Mercuti o ’s “saucy” jokes and chides Peter for remaining silent in the face of Mercutio ’s impropriety. Peter... (full context) Tybalt, Petruchio, and some other Capulets approach. Benvolio warns Mercutio, but Mercutio is unconcerned by their presence.
Tybalt draws his, too, and though Romeo... (full context) After Tybalt and the other Capulets leave, Benvolio and Romeo ask Mercutio if he’s badly hurt. He insists at first that he’s suffered just “a scratch”—but moments... (full context) Benvolio enters and announces that Mercutio has died.
Mercutio understands that Romeo's love for Rosaline isn't true and ridicules him for it, saying openly that Romeo, being the dreamer, can often lie. Mercutio is loyal when Romeo refuses to fight Tybalt, as he decides to fight Tybalt instead.
Later on in the play, when Tybalt arrives to fight Romeo, Mercutio stands in for Romeo as he is loyal towards his best friend. Mercutio cannot believe that Romeo would sacrifice his honour in this way, so he fights Tybalt instead.
When Romeo is depressed because of his unrequited love for Rosaline , it is Mercutio that suggests they should all gate-crash the Capulet party. Later on in the play, when Tybalt arrives to fight Romeo, Mercutio stands in for Romeo as he is loyal towards his best friend.
He is taunting Tybalt suggesting he is slow to get his sword ready to fight. The fact that Mercutio is telling Tybalt to 'make haste' will only taunt Tybalt further, as he is suggesting Tybalt is a coward.
The characters of the play can be categorised into two groups - the Montagues and the Capulets. Their conflict fuels the play’s events and how they interact with one another.
Though often fun-loving and witty, the latter demonstrated in his Queen Mab speech in the first act, Mercutio's sense of humour can at times be facetious or even coarse, much to his friends' annoyance. He is also moody and given to sudden outbursts of temper, one of which sets a key plot development in motion.
After Romeo receives a death threat from Juliet's cousin Tybalt, Mercutio expects Romeo to engage Tybalt in a duel.
The name is first used in Luigi Da Porto 's 1530 Giulietta e Romeo.
In 1936, John Barrymore portrayed Mercutio in George Cukor 's film Romeo and Juliet opposite Leslie Howard as Romeo. In 1961, Russ Tamblyn played the Mercutio character, Riff Lorton, in the film adaptation of West Side Story, the musical modernised version of Romeo and Juliet.
In 1947, Paul Scofield played Mercutio in a production directed by Peter Brook. In 1958, Alec McCowen enjoyed a major success as Mercutio in London. In 1976, Michael Pennington played the role opposite Ian McKellen and Francesca Annis in Trevor Nunn 's production for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Orson Welles performed the role of Mercutio in repertory during the 36-week US tour of the Katharine Cornell company (1933–34) In 1933–34, Orson Welles played the role of Mercutio in the Katharine Cornell company's seven-month nationwide tour.
The addition of Mercutio into the fray increases the tension, and Tybalt is seen as a slightly more peaceful character than in previous versions, as Mercutio is disgusted by the fact that Tybalt continues to search for a quarrel with Romeo, when Romeo is trying to bring peace between them.
"A scratch, a scratch," Mercutio says of his wound before dying. - Verbal irony
Which is the most effective paraphrase of the passage? Six men from every ship were killed, leaving six empty benches. We escaped with our lives, but …