Madman Mercutio

In the book Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare does an excellent job creating the character of Mercutio. Mercutio is a very difficult character to figure out, which makes him noticeable. Personally, he is the hardest character to figure out what he's up to. When I finally did kind of figure him out, he died. So that didn't really work. I like how Mercutio has multiple personalities. There's the witty Mercutio, the party Mercutio, the suicidal Mercutio, and the reckless Mercutio. It takes time to figure out exactly which one of these personalities he has in the scene, which makes him even more interesting.

When we are first introduced to Mercutio (Act 1 Scene 4) he is immediately thought of as a smart, cunning man. You think this because he says things like "You are a lover. Borrow Cupid's wings and soar with them above a common bound" or "If love be rough with yo, be rough with love. Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down." This introduces you to his cunning side, where he can outsmart anyone daring to challenge him. In Scene 5, you see him as someone you'd love to party with. But, in Act 3 Scene 1 you see a completely other side to Mercutio. The fun, witty man we thought him to be is now gone, and we are introduced to the other sides of Mercutio; the suicidal and reckless personalities. This caught me so off guard, where was the old Mercutio? His reckless personality is presented when they are confronted by Tybalt, and Mercutio challenges Tybalt to a duel. Mercutio is fatally wounded, and spends his last minutes on earth pouring out all the wit he has left in him. When he died I was shocked, he was the one person I didn't want to die.

Mercutio is very similar to the play of Romeo and Juliet itself. At first it seems like a comedy. Everyone is cheerful and having a grand old time. But, like Mercutio, it takes a dark turn. This is when Tybalt and Mercutio die. I think that if Mercutio lived through the whole play (which was highly unlikely from the start) we could have an even better understanding of who he really was. Since he was the first to die, he received the least amount of information about him, which just adds to how mysterious he is.

"Young Love" Is it really?

When someone says young love, what do they really mean? Do they mean that, although this couple is young, they have found their soul mates? I think not. Us teenagers can barely remember what we had for breakfast, much less have a good, long lasting relationship. But, even if it is a good, long lasting relationship can it still be considered as young love? Sure, lasting a few years in a relationship is great for someone my age, but it won't really amount to anything. In Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare shows us how desperate and foolish young love can really be.

First off, Romeo is first madly in love with Rosaline at the start of the play. But, when he lays eyes on Juliet he completely forgets about Rosaline and goes on to fuss about Juliet. After they met they got married within 3 days. Really? You have your whole life ahead of you, (keep in mind Juliet is 13 and Romeo is 18) and you take the most important choice of your life so quickly? You just met this person, and you want to spend the rest of you're life with them. How does that make an ounce of sense? Especially since they are so young. What if you realized your partner is a cruel, harmful person? Now what? Well, back then, you couldn't get divorced so you're kind of screwed in that scenario. Luckily, we can now get divorced. But even then, you have just spent a huge chunk of your life with this person you ended up hating. You could have done so many other things in this time that you have recklessly let go to waste.

Then again, I am just a 13 year old boy. What do I know about love? Many people may not believe me, and through time, I myself may disagree with what I have said just now. I guess, from what I've seen in my years, kids my age are horrible at maintaining a stable relationship (other than a few) and that is what I have based all my thoughts on. Anyways, Romeo and Juliet have really got me thinking in its own weird way (mostly because I don't understand half of what they're saying). It has also helped me realize that there is still a lot to learn in this world, and I must be prepared.