Mercutio's Significance
- He was mainly the comedian in the play. Even at serious moments in the play, he could always find a place to say a joke.
- Often times, the other characters thought that Mercutio was a jerk and was too inappropriate with his jokes. The Nurse especially thought this because Mercutio made fun of her a lot.
- He also could take a lot of the responsibility for making Romeo and Juliet meet because Romeo didn't want to go to the party, but Mercutio told him to let go of Rosaline and see other women. It was at that party that Romeo met Juliet and without Mercutio convincing Romeo to go, they would have never met.
- Mercutiio is an accurate representation of the time period because of the jokes he tells and the way he acts. Instead of just telling a joke like we would today, he slides in puns that are funny to that crowd.
- To reiterate a little, Shakespeare did put Mercutio in the play mainly for comedic purposes. However, he was a little more than that. He was also one of the few characters that could float in between both houses. Even though he was mainly with the Montagues, he still got invited to the Capulet party and knew most of the Capulets. So yeah, he was funny, but he also had a role in the plot of the story.