#kofi post

A study of Tybalt and Mercutio, from play to movies

Introduction:

Most movie adaptations only focus on the star-crossed lovers and often cut or misunderstand the roles of Tybalt and Mercutio. The goal is to shed another light on these two characters through a study of the text and an analysis of chosen scenes in the movies.

Part 1A

Part I – A royal jester, a mercurial clown: who is Mercutio?

A – The one who talks a lot: five centuries of analysis and interpretations

Mercutio’s weapon of choice is language. He loves to hear himself, he loves puns and jokes. He goes from prose to verse incessantly, showing his volatile and erratic temperament. He also strives on public admiration, and often makes a spectacle of himself to attract attention.

Part 1B

Part I – A royal jester, a mercurial clown: who is Mercutio?

B – The Queen Mab tirade: Mercutio’s bravura

One of the most famous tirades of Romeo and Juliet is said by Mercutio. He launches into the phantasmagorical recital of his dream after Romeo reveals that he had a dream. The Queen Mab speech is riddled with innuendo. But it is not just a long speech made of puns and funny, goofy, Mercutio-esque jokes.

Part 2A

Part 2 - Tybalt, honour and loyalty: the angry Prince of Cats

A – Villain?

Tybalt is skilled with a sword. Indeed, Tybalt’s first appearance in the play is sword in hand. He is the second main character to appear, after Benvolio, and his very first course of action is to insult and seek a fight. The same way Mercutio’s weapon is words, Tybalt’s is his skills with a sword.

Part 2B

Part 2 - Tybalt, honour and loyalty: the angry Prince of Cats

B - Or another victim?

There is something else already in these two lines, the first he speaks: his attention to ranks and social value, his obsession with the system of Verona. The realisation that Tybalt is perhaps not all that he seems to be sheds another light on his behaviour on the streets and towards the Montagues.

Part 3A

Part 3 - A strange rivalry: Tybalt vs Mercutio

A – Through each other’s eyes

Their personalities, beliefs and views of the world end up clashing and the resulting fight is the turning point of the play. Up until the Duel, the play was more axed towards comedy than tragedy, but the fire that Mercutio and Tybalt alight by meeting tips the play towards tragedy. But who are they to each other, really?

Part 3B

Part 3 - A strange rivalry: Tybalt vs Mercutio

B - Death comes for everyone

The Duel is the tipping point of the play. While the prologue says that the feud is ancient and has been reawakened with a new rage, the Prince’s warning speech in act 1 scene 1 implies that the fights had not yet been deadly – nobody has died because of the feud.

The END

Conclusion

References

Tybalt is often misrepresented as the villain of the play, when he is just as much a victim as the rest of Verona’s youth. As for Mercutio, he is most of the time only remembered for his puns and innuendos, even though there is much more to him than just a clown.

Hi people ! I've been thinking of this since a while now and kind friends are encouraging me to do it so here it is. Just to have fun and to allow you to support the time and dedication I've been giving to this blog and Lando's supporting community and more generally the F1 community.

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