Compare and Contrast Mercutio and Tybalt Essay

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Pages: 4

Compare and contrast the charactersof Tybalt and Mercutio.

Why does Mercutio hate Tybalt?

Mercutio and Tybalt are very different in some ways and in others, they are very alike. Socially they are extremely different, Mercutio is always trying to have fun and crack jokes and enjoy his life while Tybalt, is very straight laced and serious in his manner. From a modern standpoint, we would say that Mercutio is the life and soul of the party and all of his friends like to be around him but when it comes to Tybalt, we see him as the guy nobody likes because he is too serious and is always looking to start a quarrel. Whereas, from an old fashioned religious point of view, Mercutio would be seen as a hell raiser and a trouble maker and

If Romeo had listened to Mercutio, he might have lived and wouldn’t have died for love. His advice saved Romeo in the street, when in reality; he set himself up to die. Being Romeo’s best friend was the catalyst to his death. Also, when being Romeo’s best friend, he didn’t mix his words where other people would not be so forthcoming

Mercutio and Tybalt are alike in one more way, neither of them approved of Romeo and Juliet’s relationship but they did not go about trying to change it in the same way. Mercutio went the right way about it by trying to be diplomatic about the matter, but the belligerent and pedantic Tybalt tried to solve it with violence which ultimately led to a string of deaths starting with Mercutio and ending with the starstruck lover’s Romeo and Juliet.
Mercutio’s character adds lightness and hilarity to one of the world’s supreme stories of heartbreak and shows that even in Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy, he can still inject humour.
Tybalt and Mercutio being like the ying-yang of the play makes the play flow better and keep Romeo in check. Without them, everything would go as planned with Romeo and Juliet’s love and the play would not have lasted for years as one of the most famous plays in the world and Shakespeare would not be the well known writer he is