Mercutio is Romeo's best friend. He is also a kinsman of
the Prince.
As for the relationship to the play, he
functions as the comic relief. Shakespeare realized that in a tragedy, it was
necessary to relieve tension created by the circumstances in the story. The best way to
do this is through comic relief. Until his death, Mercutio is a jokester. He doesn't
seem to take anything seriously. Life seems to be a lark for
him.
The fight between Mercutio and Tybalt is just playing
around for him. The reality that he or anybody could be killed doesn't enter his mind,
it is all just blowing off steam. I think he is very surprised that he has been morally
wounded.
Of course his death is important for several plot
reasons. Romeo kills Tybalt and is banished although earlier the Prince had declared
that if any broke the peace they would die. Since it was Tybalt who started the whole
thing and Romeo was avenging the death of his friend and the Prince's kinsman, the
Prince relents and banishes Romeo.
Mercutio's relationship
to the play is important because his death triggers the resulting deaths of both Romeo
and Juliet.
No comments:
Post a Comment