In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Romeo, Benvolio and Mercutio have a close relationship, although they are very different in personality and temperament. Romeo is a passionate lover and often acts impetuously. He rarely takes time to reflect on his feelings. Rather, he indulges in what he desires. Benvolio is level headed and a peacemaker. He usually gives good advice and is a loyal friend. Mercutio is a cynic and a fighter. He is sometimes quick...
In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Romeo, Benvolio and Mercutio have a close relationship, although they are very different in personality and temperament. Romeo is a passionate lover and often acts impetuously. He rarely takes time to reflect on his feelings. Rather, he indulges in what he desires. Benvolio is level headed and a peacemaker. He usually gives good advice and is a loyal friend. Mercutio is a cynic and a fighter. He is sometimes quick tempered and belligerent.
Romeo is a lover who wears his heart on his sleeve. When he is first introduced, he is moody and depressed about his unreciprocated love for Rosaline. He bears his soul to Benvolio about his feelings in Act I, Scene 1:
Griefs of mine own lie heavy in my breast,
Which thou wilt propagate to have it pressed
With more of thine. This love that thou hast shown
Doth add more grief to too much of mine own.
Romeo's depression, however, doesn't last long. When he first sees Juliet he forgets all about Rosaline. His temperament is mercurial as he instantly falls for the daughter of Capulet. One glance and he is in love. He says in Act I, Scene 5,
O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
As a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear—
Beauty too rich for use, for Earth too dear.
Of course, his impetuous nature gets him in trouble. He rushes into marriage and then can't control himself after Tybalt kills Mercutio. He condemns himself to suicide on the word of a servant and doesn't consult with those who are wiser.
Benvolio is a good friend and, although he is loyal to the Montagues, he has sense enough to avoid fighting. In Act I, Scene 1, he tries to break up the fight between the servants. Later in that scene he is a good friend to Romeo when he advises his cousin to move on from his failed love for Rosaline. And, in Act III, Scene 1, he is again the peacemaker as he urges Mercutio to get off the street:
I pray thee, good Mercutio, let’s retire.
The day is hot, the Capels are abroad,
And if we meet we shall not ’scape a brawl,
For now, these hot days, is the mad blood stirring.
As his name suggests, Benvolio is good (the Latin root "ben" means good). He is loyal, honest and sensible. Unfortunately, his words often fall on deaf ears.
Mercutio is volatile. Soon after he is introduced, he launches into his Queen Mab speech. The speech reveals a preoccupation with both sex and violence. Throughout the play, Mercutio makes bawdy jokes, especially in the scene with the nurse. He also displays a violent nature in Act III, Scene 1 when he fights Tybalt. The audience may be believe that Mercutio is only standing up for Romeo but Mercutio is also anxious to match swords with Tyblat. He suggests such in Act II, Scene 4 as he goes on about dueling:
More than prince of cats. O, he’s the courageous
captain of compliments. He fights as you sing
prick-song, keeps time, distance, and proportion.
He rests his minim rests, one, two, and the third in
your bosom—the very butcher of a silk button, a
duelist, a duelist, a gentleman of the very first house
of the first and second cause. Ah, the immortal
passado, the punto reverso, the hay!
Mercutio also has a great wit. What other character would make jokes about their own death? To the very end, he is displaying his humor and cynicism as he puns on the word "grave" and at the same time condemns the feud:
No, ’tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as
a church door, but ’tis enough. ’Twill serve. Ask for
me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man. I
am peppered, I warrant, for this world. A plague o’
both your houses!
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