mecrutio

• 'prick love for pricking, you beat down love'- mercrutio to romeo prick is a slang term for penis but romeo previous used it as a metaphor for love 'it pricks you like a thorn' shows the continous connection of violence and conflict to love, love is destruction and brings conflict.
• mercrutio is presented as implusive
• mercrutio is a foil of romeo, shakespeare uses mercutio to emphaise romeo femine traits to the auidence who align more with mercutios bawdy humour
• mercutios death is the turning point of the play, the time for joking is done, only tragedy awaits
• 'a plague on both houses' mercrutio- mercutio disgraces both houses and the disrespect to high status houses amplified by the 'plague' cursed on them. both houses are to blame and are equal in honour and hate. mercrutio wishes they pay with their lives, a plague is a infectious disease mirrors how hate corrupts the characters. this curse brings forth the central tragedy of the play
• mercrutio curse to the houses is amplified as reputation plays a big part in elizabethan society for the upper class.
• Mercutio


  One of Romeo's friends, does not belong to the Capulet or Montague families, related to the prince
• Mercutio often functions as little more than Romeo's comic sidekick, similar to the role of the nurse for Juliet
• Mercutio's dialogue revolves around sexual innuendo and body humor
• Mercutio meets Romeo in Act 1 Scene 4


  Mercutio's innuendo-ridden words remind the audience of the body humor of Samson and Gregory in the play's opening scene
• Mercutio twists Romeo's words into a sexual pun
• Romeo's romantic view of love


  Contrasts with Mercutio's more sexual view of love
• Mercutio


  • Aggressive and sex-obsessed
  • Can be seen as a foil to Romeo, highlighting Romeo's character traits
• Mercutio's long-winded speech about Queen Mab reveals a lot about his character and foreshadows the turmoil and chaos in the play
• Blank verse


  Iambic pentameter that does not rhyme, used for characters of high social status or serious scenes
• Prose


  Ordinary written language without a rhyme scheme or specific metrical structure, used for comic scenes or characters of low social status
• Rhymed verse


  Lines of verse that rhyme, often used to signal the end of a scene
• Shakespeare uses prose to mirror Mercutio's uncontrolled and rule-breaking character
• Mercutio's early exit from the play is significant, as the comic sidekicks disappear and the tragic elements build
• Mercutio: 'Prick love for pricking'
• mercrutio is related to the prince and parris which emphaises the influence mercrutios death had on the play