Essay: Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet: Loyal, Derisive and Witty!

Mercutio, a kinsman to Prince Escales and friend to Romeo, uses iniquitous language and shrewd wordplay to show how he is finally glad that Romeo has conquered his infatuation and uses visual imagery and words to portray his honour, loyalty, his wittiness, and the derisive aspect of his character.
Even though Mercutio is not the main character the play, he does a phenomenal job at catching the audience or reader’s eye by playing with his words and passing witty comments, mainly sexual puns. Mercutio believes that love is for little children and that the adult man should only believe in sex. For example, in Act Two Scene Four, when he replies to Romeo’s statement about Romeo’s “pump” (Shakespeare 73) and he says, “Sure wit! Follow me this jest now, till thou hast worn out thy pump, that when the single sole of it is worn” (Shakespeare 73). This quote demonstrates how he uses his wit and comedic nature to capture the audience’ eye, along with his idealism about how men should be.
Mercutio, we can say, is a kind of a foil for Romeo. A foil is a character that is put in play to contrast another character, mainly the protagonist. Such a system is used to highlight the qualities in the actor indirectly. For example, Mercutio hates the entire concept of loving someone, but Romeo doesn’t. Hence, Shakespeare uses Mercutio to juxtapose their qualities.
Mercutio speaks rudely and shrewdly to show how he is glad that Romeo is finally becoming a man and that Romeo has gotten over his infatuation towards Rosaline. For example, in Act 2 Scene 4, he says, “Now art thou sociable, now art thou Romeo” (Shakespeare 75). This statement shows us who Romeo was before he came across the idea of true love and infatuation. He was by all accounts a kid with a mind as fast and derisive as Mercutio’s. This statement is why Mercutio believes that this Romeo is the ‘real’ Romeo. Romeo was in love with Juliet, but Mercutio didn’t know that, however, he was still in love. The love had blinded Romeo, causing him to be very proper and sophisticated, however, in this scene, Romeo is seen as someone else. Hence, we can say that this Romeo is the ‘real’ Romeo and the other Romeo is just a mask to protect his true identity. This quote also elucidates how lonely Mercutio was. He longed for Romeo’s old self, and this also brings out the theme of love and loyalty that he had for Romeo when Romeo was away on his quest for love.
At the beginning of the passage, he is seen describing Tybalt and his sword – fighting skills. He compliments and jeers at Tybalt in his speech and this shows that in spite of his hating Tybalt, he respected him for the skills he had. Mercutio has a lot of honour, and to defend that reputation and pride, he must compliment someone if they have good skills, regardless of whether or he likes them.
Mercutio has an immense amount of loyalty toward Romeo. He loves Romeo very much. We see their love throughout the first eighty lines in Act 2 Scene 4. In Act 3 Scene 1, Tybalt challenges Romeo to a duel, but Romeo refuses to fight because he loves Juliet, Tybalt’s cousin. Due to his loyalty toward Romeo and to protect Romeo’s honour, he fights Tybalt on Romeo’s behalf. He says, “Will you pluck your sword out of his pilcher by the ears? Make haste” (Shakespeare 95). This quote shows Mercutio accepting Tybalt’s challenge on Romeo’s behalf, also showing his loyalty toward Romeo.
Mercutio is very witty and has a way with words. He uses sexual puns very frequently and is extremely shrewd. He uses a lot of visual imagery and has vivid imaginations. For example, in Act 1 Scene 4, during the Queen Mab speech, he says,
“On the forefinger of an alderman, Drawn with a team of little atomi
Over men’s noses as they lie asleep.” (Shakespeare 33). This quote has visual imagery and identifies Mercutio’s vivid imagination and how he uses wordplay to catch the attention of the audience.
An example of where Mercutio uses intelligent wordplay and sexual puns is in Act 2 Scene 4, where he speaks about the Nurse. He says, “I tell ye, for the bawdy hand of the dial is now upon the prick of noon.” (Shakespeare 75). This quote is a sexual pun, in which dial refers to a woman’s genitals, and prick meaning a man’s genitals. This quote is a fair example of a sexual pun, and Mercutio keeps saying these throughout the play to amuse himself and perhaps, to take away the loneliness he feels as he has almost lost his best friend, which is, Romeo. This quote is also an excellent example of how Mercutio is derisive and impolite towards someone perhaps elder than him and especially, a woman.
Mercutio’s Queen Mab speech highlights his qualities of having a way with words, and it also shows a cynical side of his character via the visual imagery he uses. For instance, in Act 1 Scene 4, he says, “Tickling a parson’s nose as ‘a lies asleep, Then he dreams of another benefice.” (Shakespeare 35). This quote shows Mercutio’s ability to play with words and use his wit in a very vividly creative way. However, he also says, “And bakes the elf-locks in foul sluttish hairs, Which, once untangled, much misfortune bodes.” (Shakespeare 35) This quote blatantly exposes Mercutio’s derisive side.
A quote where Mercutio uses visual imagery very well is again in Act 2 Scene 4, where he says, “Alas, poor Romeo, he is already dead, stabbed with a white wench’s black eye” (Shakespeare 71). This quote means that there is no more hope for Romeo. He has fallen into the trap made by love. “A white wench’s black eye” means that love has already looked at him, and has struck him hard. (All this while, Mercutio is still referring to Rosaline and not Juliet). This quote does bring out the theme of opposites though, as white and black go together in the sentence.
Thus we can conclude that Mercutio is glad that Romeo has gotten over his infatuation for “Rosaline” in Act 2 Scene 4. Moreover, these points do depict Mercutio’s visual imagery and words to portray his honour, loyalty, his wittiness, and the derisive aspect of his character.