Mercutio Foils

Foils Essay Romeo’s character in Romeo and Juliet is the teenage son of Lord and Lady Montague. In the events of the play, he falls in love with Juliet, a member of the enemy household, Capulet. Over the span of three days, the two “star-crossed” lovers kiss, marry, and commit suicide for the sake of love. Mercutio is neither of Montague nor Capulet, but he is Romeo’s best friend. He serves as a comic relief throughout most of the production, though his death is a turning point in the events of this play. These characters, though good friends, differ in everything from demeanor to views on love. Thus, they become foils for each other in the play. Romeo is as young and idealistic as anyone his age. He is immature and hasty to say the least, but he possesses a passion and fresh outlook that makes him an interesting character to follow throughout the play. Romeo channels his passion in both positive and negative ways in the play, such as when he and Rosaline separated at the beginning of the play, “O brawling love, O loving hate, O anything of nothing first created...Still-waking sleep, that is not what it is! This love feel I, that feel no …show more content…
Mercutio is known for being the jokester of the play. He doesn’t take love too seriously, in fact, much of his humor regarding love is based in sexual innuendos. "Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down" (1.4) Mercutio openly criticizes the idea of love, often skeptically. Since the entire play is based upon the experience of young love, this kind of character can seem refreshing to the audience as opposed to the more serious and heartfelt moments of the play. Romeo, on the contrary, is very earnest toward love, even if it gets him into a bit of trouble. He is often more eager to jump at the opportunity of love than his foil counterpart. Romeo being naive and smitten, believes that perhaps, love can conquer all, even a feud between the