In the story of Romeo and Juliet, this dramatic tale ends with the deaths of two lovers. However there are two more deaths that are thought provoking. Tybalt is one of the "bad" characters in this story and he causes the death of Romeo's best friend Mercutio. Then Romeo kills Tybalt to avenge his best friend. But why wasn't Romeo hesitant to kill his loved one's cousin? Why didn't Romeo's love for Juliet stop the initiation of Tybalt's killing? In this scenario, Romeo's love for Mercutio was so strong that it made him forget all about Juliet while killing her cousin. Even though he was sorry after, that wasn't enough to stop Tybalt's death.
However much that Romeo loves Juliet, this romantic kind of love doesn't seem to overcome Romeo's brotherly love for Mercutio. In my opinion, Romeo loved Mercutio more than Juliet while Mercutio was alive. Before the party, Mercutio was trying to persuade Romeo to come along. When Romeo is hesitant, he asks why. Romeo talks about a dream he had, and Mercutio laughs and mocks him. He even gets their friends to laugh at him. But in the end when they are almost done talking, Romeo decides to agree with Mercutio when he claims that dreams are nothing but dreams. Romeo says "Peace, peace Mercutio, peace/ Thou talk'st of nothing" (1.4. 101-102). This proves that Romeo has a very strong relationship with Mercutio. Also in Act 3, the deaths of Tybalt and Mercutio come up. When Tybalt kills Romeo's best friend, Romeo automatically draws his sword to gain revenge on Tybalt. He says "Staying for thine to keep him company/ Either thou or I, or both, must go with him.," ( 3.1. 133-134). This quote means that Romeo will fight Tybalt, and one of them or both will go with Mercutio to death or "heaven." This also proves that Romeo really does love Mercutio, and is not a bit reluctant to risk his own life to kill the person that slayed Mercutio.
This connects to another topic. The fact that Romeo did not think about the consequences of killing Tybalt until after. This shows that Romeo's revenge will was very powerful, and he was not unwilling at the least to kill Tybalt. That anger and fury Romeo had proves how deeply he cared for his best friend. After, Romeo calls himself "O, I am Fortune's Fool." (3.1. 142). He was saying that it was stupid for him to kill Tybalt. However, Romeo does not say that he wish he hadn't done this. If someone really regrets killing another, they wouldn't have ran away from banishment like Romeo did. In his mind, it had to play out like this. Romeo doesn't try to think of an alternate motive other than killing Tybalt at the moment, or even after. In Act 3 Scene 3, Romeo starts to feel the consequences of committing this crime. By doing this murder, he is not allowed to see Juliet anymore. Before, it was hard to see Juliet, but now it would be impossible. This sinks into Romeo, as he says "...and every cat and dog/ And little mouse, every unworthy thing/ Live here in heaven and may look at her/ But Romeo may not." (3.3. 32-35). This quote means that every little animal and bug is allowed to see Juliet, but Romeo is not, and it breaks his heart. He claims this is worse than death. Also, then Romeo purposely tries to take his own life because of not thinking about Juliet. "Doth my name lodge? Tell me, that I may sack/ The hateful mansion." ( 3.3. 166-117). Then Romeo proceeds to draw his dagger. This shows that during Tybalt's murder, he was just thinking about the avenging of Mercutio, and nothing else.
Some of the other things that led me to believe Romeo loved Mercutio more than Juliet, is the fact that even though he is sorry Tybalt died, he does not see the need to take his own life to repay Tybalt. (Juliet is another story.) He says, "Tybalt liest thou there in thy bloody sheet/ O, what more favor can I do to thee/ Than with that hand that cut thy youth in twain/ To suner his was thine enemy?" ( 5.3. 92-101). This quote means that Romeo wants to know how to repay Tybalt, but doesn't suggest taking his own life. This proves my theory.
In conclusion, the evidence gathered in this essay proves my statement that Romeo's love for Mercutio was so strong that he didn't think about the fact that Tybalt was his loved one's cousin at all while killing him. I wonder if Romeo loved Juliet even more because of Mercutio's death. Maybe he didn't want to lose another close person.
No comments:
Post a Comment