Mercutio
Mercutio is a character in Shakespeare's *Romeo and Juliet*, Romeo's witty and volatile friend who dies in a street fight with Tybalt.
His name has become shorthand for a charismatic supporting character whose early death profoundly affects the plot: Every story needs its Mercutio.
His dying words, "A plague on both your houses," curse the feuding families whose conflict kills him.
Clever, inventive humor
- wordplayVerbal wit techniques
- punWordplay using double meanings
- cynicismDistrust of human sincerity
- bawdyHumorously indecent
irreverent · mocking · jester · provocateur · quicksilver · volatile · temperament · sardonic
Ardent male lover
- JulietFemale name, phonetic J
- ShakespeareElizabethan dramatist and poet
- VeronaItalian city, famous tragically
- tragedyDisastrous or sorrowful event
Tybalt · Montague · Capulet · swordfight · death · curse · plague · kinsman
Deadly epidemic disease
- curseInvoked harm through words
- dyingCeasing to live
- stabbedPierced with blade
- fatalCausing death or ruin
wound · pox · houses · both · tragic · irony · catalyst · turning point
Position or part
- actorOne who portrays characters
- performanceCarrying out a task
- stageRaised performance platform
- interpretationAssigned meaning
portrayal · Baz Luhrmann · casting · costume · blocking · delivery · ensemble · supporting
wit
Clever, inventive humor
bawdy · irreverent · mocking · jester · provocateur · quicksilver · volatile · temperament · sardonic · ribald
Romeo
Ardent male lover
- JulietFemale name, phonetic J
- ShakespeareElizabethan dramatist and poet
- VeronaItalian city, famous tragically
Tybalt · Montague · Capulet · tragedy · swordfight · death · curse · plague · kinsman · friend
plague
Deadly epidemic disease
fatal · wound · pox · houses · both · tragic · irony · catalyst · turning point · consequences
role
Position or part
- actorOne who portrays characters
- performanceCarrying out a task
- stageRaised performance platform
interpretation · portrayal · Baz Luhrmann · casting · costume · blocking · delivery · ensemble · supporting · scene-stealer
- Shakespeare CharactersHamlet, Macbeth, Othello, Romeo, Juliet
- Shakespeare RoguesFalstaff, Iago, Pompey, Edmund, Aaron
- Sidekickssidekick, Dr. Watson, Watson, right-hand man, number two
- Literary HeroinesJuliet, Ophelia, Cordelia, Desdemona, Lady Macbeth