The Queen Mab speech, spoken by Mercutio, the man whose actions would never betray his name, has often been heralded as one of the most poetic and beautiful speeches in Romeo and
Juliet. This speech, when channeled through a talented actor, shows Mercutio to be a mad, tortured man, or, at the very least, one who has a fond distaste for dreams. Mercutio utters this diatribe at a transitional point in the play. Previous to this scene, Romeo has mourned over the never consummated love of Rosalinde, and Juliet’s family spoke about marrying her off to Paris.
One could choose to read this violent protestation as a bit of foreshadowing: Mercutio warns
Romeo here that dreams are worthless—if one puts a hand to a dream, it withers. This could be a statement regarding Romeo …show more content…
Mercutio’s concern no longer lies with the human world; he does not talk about the effects of Mab’s power on humans as much as he does her power in general. Mercutio has begun to move into the fairy realm. The speech speeds up—he is conquered. Queen Mab has drug Mercutio into her nutshell chariot, and imagination (in his case, a sort of madness) threatens to drag him off into fairyland. He attempts to move on with his speech with what would normally be nothing more than a bawdy joke, but when Mercutio mentions “…the hag, when maids lie on their backs, / That presses them and learns them first to bear, / Making them women of good carriage” (92-94) in such close proximity to the tangled, “foul, sluttish hair” the audience doesn’t laugh, but curls back in revulsion. Mab even conquers Mercutio’s wit.
Though Mercutio protests quite vividly that dreams, love, and madness (that inseparable trio) have no power and are worthless, his manner of expression expresses that great
Lykens 5
Shakespearean tension between dreams and reality. Do humans control dreams, or are
Juliet. This speech, when channeled through a talented actor, shows Mercutio to be a mad, tortured man, or, at the very least, one who has a fond distaste for dreams. Mercutio utters this diatribe at a transitional point in the play. Previous to this scene, Romeo has mourned over the never consummated love of Rosalinde, and Juliet’s family spoke about marrying her off to Paris.
One could choose to read this violent protestation as a bit of foreshadowing: Mercutio warns
Romeo here that dreams are worthless—if one puts a hand to a dream, it withers. This could be a statement regarding Romeo …show more content…
Mercutio’s concern no longer lies with the human world; he does not talk about the effects of Mab’s power on humans as much as he does her power in general. Mercutio has begun to move into the fairy realm. The speech speeds up—he is conquered. Queen Mab has drug Mercutio into her nutshell chariot, and imagination (in his case, a sort of madness) threatens to drag him off into fairyland. He attempts to move on with his speech with what would normally be nothing more than a bawdy joke, but when Mercutio mentions “…the hag, when maids lie on their backs, / That presses them and learns them first to bear, / Making them women of good carriage” (92-94) in such close proximity to the tangled, “foul, sluttish hair” the audience doesn’t laugh, but curls back in revulsion. Mab even conquers Mercutio’s wit.
Though Mercutio protests quite vividly that dreams, love, and madness (that inseparable trio) have no power and are worthless, his manner of expression expresses that great
Lykens 5
Shakespearean tension between dreams and reality. Do humans control dreams, or are