Mercutio

Mercutio (Mur-Q-She-O) is a character in William Shakespeare's famous tragedy, Romeo and Juliet. He is a relative of Prince Escalus (also called The Prince), and is a good friend of the Montagues, or, specifically, the son of Montague, Romeo.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mercutio is apt to make long, drawn out speeches (Queen Mab is the most well known), and is generally thought to be a bit crazy. He dies when Romeo attempts to stop his bejoking sword-fight with Tybalt (Tih-bult). He dies, but not before cursing both the houses of Montague and Capulet (of which Tybalt is a member, being Juliet's cousin). His death is tragic, in that his friends thought that he was only pretending to be wounded. His line describing his wound, "'Tis not deep as a well, nor wide as a church door, but 'tis enough, 'twill serve," has become famous. In revenge Romeo slays Tybalt and is "exiled hence" from Verona, the Italian city state wherein the story takes place.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It's worth noting that Mercutio's name may possibly be from the word "mercurial", meaning, "having an unpredictable and fast-changing mood", a fairly accurate description of Mercutio's personailty.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

William Shakespeare: William Shakespeare (baptised April 26, 1564 – April 23, 1616) was an English poet and playwright who has a reputation as one of the greatest of all writers in the English language and in Western literature, as well as one of the world's pre-eminent dramatists....

Tragedy: This article refers to the literary work. For the punk band see Tragedy (band)...

Romeo and Juliet: Romeo and Juliet is a famous play by William Shakespeare concerning the fate of two young lovers....